My Story
Cristina Muntean here.
From a small village in Transylvania, Romania, to where I am today, I bring you stories of resilience, a passionate love affair with human potential, and a raw dedication to what is real and true.
My core values are integrity, freedom, and partnership. I believe in strategic thinking, co-creation, and good power – our human capacity to lead while having a positive impact on our world.
Welcome to my page!
Welcome to My Website – And to My World!
MY STORY
Hi! Thanks a lot for being here. I appreciate your interest in getting to know me better.
Our lives and leadership are shaped by our origin stories, and so is mine.
On this page, you’ll get a glimpse of the woman behind “the CEO whisperer.”
I hope my personal sharing will help you understand my thinking, vision, and values, and inform your decision about whether I might be the right executive coach for you.
Thank you for being here and welcome to my world!
Who and What Shaped My Leadership
MY ORIGIN STORY
I came into this world at a moment when my country, Romania, was plunging into its darkest and last years of communism.
I was born during a fiery winter in 1981, in a small village in Transylvania.
With two hours of electricity per night, I grew up listening to my grandfather’s stories.
I learned how to read and write by candlelight. I discovered chocolate only when I turned eight and the first truck with humanitarian aid reached our village after the Romanian Revolution in December 1989.
I left home when I was 14 to attend high school.
In 2000, I moved to Bucharest to study journalism. In the end, in September 2004, after graduating from university, I emigrated to the Czech Republic.
Here, in Prague, I started working as an economic reporter for Czech Business Weekly, the only English-language economic magazine in Czechia. In six years, I rose through the ranks to become its deputy editor-in-chief.
After the magazine’s abrupt closure in April 2010, I decided to start my own business.
I launched my executive development practice by training CEOs and C-Suite executives in media relations and crisis communications.
As they say, the rest is history 😊
These are the main experiences that shaped who I am, what I bring to the table, and whom I serve today.
My Core Values
In everything I do, I honor three things: integrity, freedom, and partnership.
Integrity means that I am fiercely dedicated to what is real and true.
No (self)deception. No fluff.
Just the truth – with a smile. That’s why some clients call me The Velvet Hammer 😊.
I call this integrity.
I am also an entrepreneur.
This means that I have a clear sense of my own path in life.
I learn by being curious, courageous, and open-minded. This attitude helped me grow beyond my humble origins and into the global executive developer, founder, and CEO that I am today.
I call this freedom.
Last but not least, here is my promise to you: You can lean on me with all you’ve got.
Not only with your career.
You can lean on me with all the complexities of your life. They will be met with respect, curiosity, and as much support as I can provide so you can succeed without suffering.
I call this partnership.
That’s what enters the room with me, and that’s what you will experience during our sessions: integrity, freedom, and partnership.
Watch My TEDx UNYP Talk to Get a Better Sense of My Values
A Holistic Executive Coach for
C-Suite Executives
My job is to help you succeed without suffering.
Whether you’re a newly appointed CEO, an experienced CEO, or a C-Suite executive building your CEO readiness, I’m here for you.
Once I accept you as a client, I go with you all the way.
I am used to throwing my full weight (tongue-in-cheek pun intended 😊) behind my clients so you can uncover your blind spots and navigate the complexities of your challenge safely and with more ease.
But that’s not all. What does success even mean if you lose your health or your marriage on the way to glory?
My job as an executive coach goes way beyond your definition of success in the role. I consider it my duty to help you keep your eyes on ALL the right balls – the balls that will yield BOTH long-term career success AND a good life for you.
Thanks to my rich experience since 2010 and extensive professional credentials, I can call myself a holistic executive coach.
From media relations and crisis communications to personal branding and reputation management, from emotional intelligence and complex stakeholder management to CEO resilience and burnout prevention – together we can address precisely what you need so you can succeed as a CEO or C-Suite executive without losing chunks of yourself on the way.
Are you facing a major challenge as a CEO or C-Suite executive? To that I say: Bring it on!
An Activator of Good Power
Here is my personal mission in this life: To bring more good power into the companies and communities active in post-communist and post-Soviet countries in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe (CESEE), the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
For me, good power means solid and ethical decisions made with utter consideration and care for everyone involved. Decisions after which you can still look yourself in the mirror and stand tall over the long-term.
Good power also means integrity and an ethical approach to leading people, budgets, stakeholder relationships, and companies. Particularly in the muddy waters of post-communist and post-Soviet countries.
Make no mistake: Post-communist markets may be fragmented and small. But they will eat you alive if you dare to approach them unprepared.
I was born in Romania. I spent most of my adult life in the Czech Republic. Since 2004, I have traveled and worked in most countries across CESEE, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
That’s why I’m particularly well positioned to help you make good decisions when you’re the CEO or a C-Suite executive active in a post-communist market. It’s my honor to support you in bringing more good power into our region.
The Swiss Army Knife of CEO Development
During the closing interview at the end of a coaching program, I asked an executive client how he perceived my work. He instantly blurted out: It’s like having a Swiss Army knife for my CEO development.
I love this metaphor 😊. It perfectly describes how I choose to serve my executive clients.
But here is the secret behind the many blades and devices available in my CEO coaching toolbox. Since I started my executive practice in May 2010, I have had no other choice but to adapt and to become a Swiss Army knife for my clients.
You see, I started my practice in a foreign market, in a foreign language, pretty much building the boat as I was sailing it.
But here is what you may not know: Czechia is a very particular market.
Even though it’s small, it requires high-quality standards and, for the most part, services delivered in Czech.
My entire practice was shaped by the constraints of this market: small, conservative, with a major penchant for excellence and comfort, and obsessed with in-person delivery AND discounts.
These constraints forced me to tailor every service to the client.
The gift? The many blades and devices now present in my Swiss Army knife.
What blades, you may ask?
Well, here are a few: media relations and crisis communications, personal branding and reputation management for CEOs (I wrote a book on this topic – in Czech), internal and external communications, CEO resilience and burnout prevention, emotional intelligence and personality development with the Enneagram, systemic intelligence and neuroscience, specific patterns of development for women leaders, strategic succession planning and executive transitions in the C-Suite in post-communist countries…
If there is a mindset, leadership, and transformation topic that my C-Suite clients need covered, we can probably address it together.
I am who I am today thanks to the constraints – and the many gifts – handed to me by Czechia, my adoptive country. For that, I will be forever grateful.
A Holistic Executive Coach for C-Suite Executives
My job is to help you succeed without suffering.
Whether you’re a newly appointed CEO, an experienced CEO, or a C-Suite executive building your CEO readiness, I’m here for you.
Once I accept you as a client, I go with you all the way.
I am used to throwing my full weight (tongue-in-cheek pun intended 😊) behind my clients so you can uncover your blind spots and navigate the complexities of your challenge safely and with more ease.
But that’s not all. What does success even mean if you lose your health or your marriage on the way to glory?
My job as an executive coach goes way beyond your definition of success in the role. I consider it my duty to help you keep your eyes on ALL the right balls – the balls that will yield BOTH long-term career success AND a good life for you.
Thanks to my rich experience since 2010 and extensive professional credentials, I can call myself a holistic executive coach.
From media relations and crisis communications to personal branding and reputation management, from emotional intelligence and complex stakeholder management to CEO resilience and burnout prevention – together we can address precisely what you need so you can succeed as a CEO or C-Suite executive without losing chunks of yourself on the way.
Are you facing a major challenge as a CEO or C-Suite executive? To that I say: Bring it on!
Strategic Career Management for Senior Women Leaders
WHOM DO I SERVE?
My work is dedicated to senior women leaders:
- Women CEOs – the top leaders who strive to succeed in their role, be meaningfully visible, create good results beyond profit, and make a positive impact in the world.
- Women founders & CEOs – the mighty entrepreneurs who are leaving corporate to start their own businesses.
- Women in the C-Suite – smart and talented women leaders who need support navigating succession pains or taking their next career step.
- Women in C-1 – the vice presidents, heads of departments, large projects and teams – in other words the backbone of each company who strive to grow in their careers and into their full leadership potential.
I serve these senior women leaders via individual 1:1 executive coaching and mentoring, or in group and team development settings.
Do I support women only?
Not at all. I am more than happy to support male leaders who also strive to bring more good power into the world.
Whoever you are – if you resonate with my values and the idea of good power, please don’t be a stranger. Reach out with trust and…
Why I Am the Right Executive Coach For You
Versatility Über Alles
Every single service I have ever developed is firmly grounded either in my personal work and life experience, or in the vast experience of over 500 1:1 clients – present, former, and future CEOs.
Strategic Communications
My experience as a former business journalist comes to serve clients best when you need to prepare for a tough presentation, Q&A, panel discussion, or media interview.
- Be authentic on any stage.
- Prepare for your next high-impact talk.
- Master storytelling, investor relations, and media interviews.
- Navigate and de-risk crisis communications.
- Be authentic on any stage.
Emotional Intelligence
Our communication is nothing but embodied emotional intelligence. This is why my robust qualification in emotional intelligence can serve you best when emotions threaten to get the best of you.
- Expand your self-awareness and self-regulation.
- Bring empathy into your communication and leadership.
- Enhance your understanding of social dynamics in groups and teams.
- Nurture humanity in yourself and others in the age of AI.
- Expand your self-awareness and self-regulation.
Systemic Leadership
Leaders don’t act in a vacuum. My job is to help clients see the intricacies of their teams, organizations, and stakeholder systems coming together, and the impact of your decisions on the entire whole.
- Develop your systemic thinking.
- Master intricate stakeholder management.
- Keep your head above the water to make better decisions.
- Drive positive impact beyond your organization.
- Develop your systemic thinking.
Purpose Beyond Profit
Profit is the hallmark of a healthy organization; profit obtained ethically and put to the service of nurturing the organization and its stakeholders long-term is even better. This is how you create a long-lasting legacy.
- Manage shareholder relationships.
- Communicate transformation.
- Be a role model of integrity and values.
- Create a sustainable legacy.
THE PROBLEMS I ADDRESS – AND SOLVE
What Keeps My Clients Up at Night?
I started working with Cristina in a period of multiple changes in my work and private life. I needed to identify my values and key priorities. With Cristina I was visiting different areas of my work and private life step by step. During our sessions we discussed topics ranging from business, philanthropy, and my personal life. I was able to name and describe the challenges and consequently decide for my concrete steps and actions. Cristina is able to help with a wide scope of questions starting with personal daily routines to hiring strategies, PR and communication, target setting, embracing diversity etc. With her great questions she helped me find my own answers. Cristina is more than a coach; she is a psychologist, a communication specialist, a lifestyle advisor, and a friend.
When clients come to me, they are usually challenged by one of the following issues:
They want to become the next CEO.
When this is the need, we start by assessing two things: the CEO succession plan in their company (if any) and their own CEO readiness. Provided that their company is willing to consider them for the top role, we start developing their CEO readiness for their specific company so they can be fully prepared when the big transition comes. And when the company isn’t considering them for promotion, many C-Suite executives choose to self-finance their CEO readiness development so they can grow in different companies.
They have just been promoted to CEO.
I have yet to encounter a new CEO who is not slightly overwhelmed by the challenges of their new role. From new North Star design – purpose, mission, vision, values, and goals – to strategic stakeholder management and alignment within the executive team and beyond, the first year on the job can make or break the career of even the most experienced CEO.
They need to drive complex company reinvention.
This is what success after year one usually means – taking the company to the next level in an enduring way. Currently, systemic transformation is driven by AI. In this stage, we define success together and we work to steer all the resources available in one direction – the intended objective. We strive to do this by moving fast and fixing things – in other words, at the right pace and with the right results.
They have to talk to difficult stakeholders.
This topic is where I feel most at home. From shareholder conversations to dialogue with politicians and state officials, and from media relations to crisis communications on social media, my executive clients engage me to sharpen their strategic communication skills so they can navigate their roles successfully and achieve what they want ethically and sustainably.
They yearn to build a legacy.
This topic emerges in two situations – when the client has already built a solid legacy in the organization they are about to leave and they want to secure a brilliant succession that would preserve their legacy, or when a former CEO wants to use their name, network, power, and influence to continue driving positive transformation in the world after exiting corporate.
They choose to exit corporate and start something new - a portfolio career or their own business.
I support executive leaders who strive to leave corporate and start successfully on their own. Here, my more than 16 years of experience come in handy for any executive at the beginning of their entrepreneurial journey.
You, the Brand – Personal Branding for Career Growth
PUBLISHED BOOK AUTHOR – IN MY 4TH LANGUAGE
In November 2018, I published my first book You, the Brand – Personal Branding for Career Growth.
I wrote this book directly in Czech, my fourth language.
To this day, I am deeply touched and incredibly proud of this success.
More books to follow 😊.
Take a Look at My Executive Development Credentials
MY CREDIBILITY IS DEFINED BY MY EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
Certified and Accredited Mentor and Coach
I am on track for my Professional Certified Coach (PCC) accreditation with the International Coaching Federation (ICF). I am also a Senior Practitioner with the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) and a former member of the EMCC global center of excellence in mentoring.
Multiply Certified Enneagram Professional
Since first coming into contact with the Enneagram in January 2010, I have developed a deep appreciation for this complex and robust system of people development. I became a certified individual and team coach, consultant, and trainer with the Enneagram. I am also a lifelong certified professional in the Narrative Tradition by Enneagram Worldwide (Helen Palmer), and an individual and team coach and consultant with the Enneagram as certified by The Enneagram in Business (Ginger Lapid Bogda). Equally, I am a certified and accredited member of the International Enneagram Association (IEA).
Systemic Dynamics and the Power of TED*
Besides the Enneagram, the second pillar of my thought leadership is systemic intelligence. I am a multiply certified practitioner of systemic team coaching (Prof. Peter Hawkings) and systemic dynamics in organizations (Jan Jacob Stam, Jan Bilý). Equally, I am a licensed practitioner of The Empowerment Dynamic (TED*), a powerful people development framework created by David Emerald and Donna Zajonc.
How I Tackle Executive Development Challenges
MY SERVICES
Check my page SERVICES to get a detailed perspective on the services I provide to executive clients across Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
How My Former Media Experience Serves Clients Today
Choosing What Must Endure
One of the most challenging decisions leaders must make is choosing between what they must transform and what must endure in an organization – and in their lives.
I, too, had to make this decision.
When Czech Business Weekly, the only English-language business magazine in the Czech Republic, was closed in April 2010 and I lost my job as its deputy editor-in-chief, I thought my professional world had ended.
I was a journalist through and through. When I entered the profession, I thought the only way out for me would be when I died.
Alas, life had other plans.
My saving grace after I was laid off was that, as a business reporter, I had worked extensively with CEOs and C-Suite executives to help them craft media stories.
This is how CEOs and C-Suite executives became my main focus. Immediately after losing my job, I started offering media training and crisis communication services to my former sources – CEOs and their executive teams.
The rest is history.
I will never be able to express enough gratitude for my journalistic roots.
Today, I use my journalistic skills to prepare executives for difficult situations, conduct CEO interviews, facilitate panel discussions, speak, and write my books. I also continue training senior leaders in strategic media relations and crisis communication.
Here is the thing: We never really lose anything. However, if we choose wisely between what we must transform and what must endure, we might end up on the right side of our careers – and our lives.
Download My Credentials
GET TO KNOW ME EVEN BETTER
Speaker Profile
Download speaker profileI will energize your audience with my no-nonsense, real, raw, intense, and passionate approach to the topics I discuss on stage. Expect an abundance of enthusiasm, expressive gestures, and high audience engagement. Note: Your photographers will have a field day trying to catch me in a steady position 😊
Short and Long Bio
Download short and long bioWhen you organize an event, every moment is precious. To make it a bit easier for you, please download my short and long bios in English and feel free to use them as needed for your promotional materials.
Speaker Photos
Download my photosHere is one less headache: Feel free to download my speaker photos and use them in a way that best fits your marketing needs, color scheme, and overall event design..
Let's Talk
If you are a senior executive – a CEO or a member of the C-Suite - striving to boost your CEO readiness, amplify your strategic communication skills, grow in your career, nail executive onboarding, succeed in your top role, or exit corporate - I would love to hear from you. Book a call with me and let’s talk.
