PACE®: Position, Align, Communicate, Elevate!
CEO ONBOARDING AND EXECUTIVE TRANSITION SUPPORT FOR NEW CEOS
Give your new CEO a chance to drive transformation and achieve sustainable success by providing them with robust CEO onboarding and professional executive transition support so they can land on their feet and hit the ground running in their new top leadership role.
Program in a Snapshot:
For Whom:
First-time and experienced CEOs starting in a new role in a company active in a post-communist or post-Soviet country
Duration:
Minimum 6 months, maximum 18 months
Includes:
Individual executive coaching and mentoring sessions focused on helping the new CEO gain clarity in their new role and make good decisions fast
Investment:
€12,000 / individual 6-month executive coaching program
ROI:
5x and higher
Goal:
A new CEO who is able to orient themselves quickly in the realities of their new executive team and company and make solid decisions that drive results and enduring transformation.
The first year in a new CEO role is like walking through Dante’s Inferno – you’ll never stop being stunned by what you discover. That’s why you’d better have a solid Virgil by your side as you carve your way to Paradise.
This is precisely my job with PACE®: Position, Align, Communicate, Elevate – to help you normalize your new CEO experience and orient yourself quicker in the complex realities of your new culture, executive team, company, market, and intricate stakeholder ecosystem.
Consider PACE®: Position, Align, Communicate, Elevate When …
FOR WHOM IS THIS PROGRAM?
PACE®: Position, Align, Communicate, Elevate is an executive development program designed to help new CEOs joining companies across Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia succeed faster in their new roles. It includes reflective strategy sessions and premium executive coaching and mentoring sessions aimed at helping your new CEO achieve clarity quickly and make solid, informed decisions with full confidence.
You should consider this program when:
- You are a strategic CHRO in charge of securing support for your new CEO. In this case, you are my main partner as we map the circumstances and design the best possible support package for your new CEO.
- You are a new CEO and you are mature enough to recognize that your chances of success in the new role are higher when you receive external support. In this case, you are my direct client and we partner to map precisely what you need so you can define and pursue success in your new role on your terms.
Companies I Serve
WHERE DO MY CLIENTS WORK?
Over the Last 16 Years I Served…
LET THE NUMBERS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES
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Companies
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Individual leaders
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Participants in Group and Team Programs
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Client Success Rate
Your Success Is My Success!
CLIENT TESTIMONIALS
Learn how I partner with top executives and their companies across post-communist and post-Soviet countries to help new CEOs succeed sustainably and without suffering.
From strategic succession planning and CEO readiness development to CEO onboarding and executive transition, from success during the first year in the role to sustainable success throughout the CEO mandate, and from regional promotions to corporate exit, I support CEOs and C-Suite executives in managing their careers and succeeding with good power.
My mantra is: “Once a client, always a client.”
Read what my clients and lifelong business partners have to say about my work.
If you are looking for a mentor/coach to guide you through the journey of finding your true vision and navigate smartly in this complex world, Cristina is definitely the right choice. Cristina is a natural coach and facilitator. She is patient, intuitive, and wise beyond her years. And she has a masterful knack for knowing when to invoke these various skills to bring out a clarity of purpose and desire that is often hard to pinpoint on your own. She has a way of repackaging your own, sometimes confusing, thoughts in a way that adds meaningful direction. I’m very grateful to have worked with her during a challenging period professionally throughout 2019 and the result is remarkable. Thank you Cristina for joining me into my “big leap”!
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.
Cristina had a great impact on my communication style and my emotional intelligence during an important development time in my life. She helped me get to the next, higher level in my professional and personal life. She was extremely patient and flexible while serving my needs. Cristina opened my “analytical mind” and broadened my perspective to include the importance of seeking to understand. Cristina can point very sensitively to all the aspects that need improvement or focus in your communications and she can fully respect your personal needs at the same time. Emotional intelligence and psychology is a very abstract science to me, yet Cristina managed to change my perspective on the importance of improving these skills.
It takes a rare gift, outstanding knowledge of the media world, and the skill of a coach to teach a person to craft a message both interesting to journalists and memorable to the reader. Cristina Muntean does an outstanding job of teaching you to be a media-savvy CEO while still being yourself.
Just have to rave about The Elevator coaching program with Cristina! The way it started was a pure accident (read: luck)☺️ As part of an Accelerator that I joined the Vornica – The CEO Elevation Circle community and thanks to my active participation I won an exclusive 6 week coaching program with her. And I’m really glad I did it, because least to say, it came at the right moment😉
The established safety made me feel I can talk about anything, without judgement. The best part – Cristina is this amazing mix of being totally honest, pushing you to think outside the box, asking all the right questions (to many I had no freaking clue!) and giving exact, practical tips (differentiating her from others, really☝️). Plus, she is fantastic listener. She helped me improve my “growth mindset” (which in other way just means, feeling pumped to tackle anything).
My favorite quotes I took from it:
- “Realize your own size in the system…”
- “Nurture your energy and direct it where it serves.”
- “Be patient, this is part of their development, not yours…”
I can only but recommend this program, even if you think you’ve got it!😎 Thank you, Cristina🌸
Cristina has the talent to tune in to a specific group or individual and to design a program according to very specific needs. She creates relationships based on trust that are a good basis for the development of individuals or groups. Her language skills and multicultural experience are also an added value. Cooperation with Cristina is very rewarding and at the same time very pleasant. Cristina will not push anyone to achieve their goal; everyone must find the will to develop within themselves. Yet she will gently accompany and support you in this whole process.
Cristina demonstrated a wide experience leading communications during our common projects. She supported the generation of creative ideas and concepts that contributed to our success. Cristina also managed and maximized the company’s social media presence by facilitating interviews and providing regularly published content on select media outlets. Above all, it was a pleasure working with her.
PACE®: Position, Align, Communicate, Elevate Program Content
HOW WE CAN WORK TOGETHER
When you decide to engage me to deliver PACE®: Position, Align, Communicate, Elevate for your new CEO, here is what you can expect:
- Strategic advisory. Together, we will identify, assess, and determine the best possible support package for your new CEO. This can include cultural onboarding, executive team assessment, leadership and personality assessment in relation to the company culture, strategic skill development, etc.
- Premium executive coaching and mentoring. My new CEO success framework was designed for newly appointed CEOs who strive to orient themselves faster so they can communicate with clarity and make decisions they can stand behind over the long term. Our sessions tackle the entire new CEO reality – from stakeholder assessment and engagement to strategic internal and external communications, executive team evaluation and development, new business model architecture, and strategic transformation. That’s why we need between six and 18 months – to make sure that you step into your role mindfully and create a solid foundation for your future success.
- A tailor-made approach. I treat each client with white gloves. We partner throughout the whole process to create a powerful container of rich and relevant support for your new CEO. Expect tailor-made assessments, reports, tools, checklists, and other artefacts designed to help your new CEO and their executive team develop in the right direction.
PACE®: Position, Align, Communicate, Elevate is provided primarily in English. Yet, should you so choose, we can also work together in Czech or Romanian.
Here is a sample of the potential topics we may choose to cover together:
Session 1:
My new reality – embracing the true dimension of my new CEO role. Uncovering the skeletons in the closet and their risk to your plans. Urgent needs of the role and how to tackle them strategically.
Session 2:
My key stakeholders – from owners to investors, the board, executive team, employees, clients and the media - and their expectations of me.
Session 3:
My new CEO communications strategy during my first day, month, and quarter in the role.
Session 4:
My greatest weaknesses – and strengths – in communications. Empathic stakeholder communications.
Session 5:
My decision-making and leadership style and its fit with the new company culture.
Session 6:
My greatest weaknesses – and strengths – in executive leadership. Stretching towards different leadership styles that are better suited to my new reality.
Session 7:
My health and well-being as the CEO. How to build my own physical, mental, and emotional resilience for the long term.
Session 8:
My executive team architecture and its potential upgrade.
Session 9:
High-stakes communications. Interview preparation with key stakeholders – the board, shareholders, investors, the media.
Session 10:
Crisis communications. Emotional self-mastery during crises.
Session 11:
AI, tech transformation, and mastering the journey of your company into the future.
Session 12:
Your next steps - concrete action plan for the next 6 months of your CEO experience.
Before / After
Let’s take a look at how your new CEO may experience their reality before and after PACE®: Position, Align, Communicate, Elevate.
IMAGINE YOUR NEW CEO FULLY CONFIDENT AND ON TRACK TO MAJOR SUCCESS
Before PACE®: Position, Align, Communicate, Elevate
- 1.Excitement feels a lot like anxiety right now. You are thrilled that you made it through the succession process – but you also understand that this is just the beginning of the difficult journey ahead.
- 2.You may face your inner imposter showing up to question whether your board and company made the right choice. You wonder if you have what it takes to be a good CEO.
- 3.You question what to say, to whom, and when. You know you need to communicate wisely – you just don’t have a clear strategy for it.
- 4.You know you must be prepared, but you are not sure what plan to follow – what to do first, what to do next.
- 5.The previous CEO might not be thrilled you replaced them, so they may not be in your corner to support your onboarding. Equally, you may be facing a ghost – a former CEO whose shoes are so big, it feels impossible to fill them.
- 6.Your new company is in trouble – you just don’t know how big that trouble is.
- 7.You don’t know whether you can rely on your new executive team – or whom you will need to replace in it to make it work.
- 8.You are not sure how to show up at your board or stakeholder meetings to make a great impression.
- 9.You don’t know how to introduce yourself powerfully so employees, clients, and investors trust you instantly.
- 10.You are concerned that if you blow this opportunity, your career might never recover.
After PACE®: Position, Align, Communicate, Elevate
- 1.You feel grounded and in charge. You know you’ve got this. Bring it on!
- 2.You know exactly who your stakeholders are – and what they want from you.
- 3.You have a clear communications plan and a CEO Q&A that helps you navigate your first months, quarters, and year in the new role.
- 4.You have a plan to safeguard your health and personal relationships – and you act on it confidently.
- 5.You have made peace with the reality of the business and the legacy of the previous CEO, and you have introduced yourself and your vision powerfully to all your stakeholders.
- 6.You trust your vision and your plan.
- 7.You trust the architecture of your new executive team.
- 8.You are surrounded by people who get your vision and leadership style.
- 9.You have enough support from your board, executive team, and tribe of mentors.
- 10.You remain vigilant about the reality on the market, but you know you can overcome challenges and help your company grow.
- 11.The market starts to notice you. You receive more invitations to speak in public. You select your CEO communication opportunities with discernment and for maximum impact.
- 12.You experience a strong sense of purpose. Your initiatives start to show results.
- 13.You feel ready, robust, real, and in the right place.
- 14.You can breathe again. You’ve made it to the other side – and your stakeholders, company, family and bank account thank you for it.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT PACE®
This program is for new CEOs who:
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Are mature enough not to underestimate the challenges of a new CEO role – regardless of how much CEO experience they may have behind them.
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Are not afraid to admit they don’t know – and they shouldn’t know – everything when they start in a new role.
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Are not afraid to ask for help and welcome support without fearing that this will make them look weak or unworthy.
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Come from headquarters in Western Europe or North America and have been appointed to lead a company in a post-communist market for the first time in their lives.
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Understand that, even though they may have been born and raised in a post-communist country, the experience of leading across Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia can be vastly different.
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Are curious about their blind spots and mature enough to carve out regular time for self-reflection, critical distance, and strategic thinking.
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Can see the value and welcome the support of a third party – a professional coach focused on executive transitions in post-communist countries.
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Are able to find the budget and are ready to invest strategically in CEO onboarding and executive transition during the first year in the role.
This program is NOT for new CEOs who:
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Fundamentally underestimate what it takes to lead a company in a post-communist and post-Soviet market.
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Choose to walk the new CEO path alone in order to demonstrate to everyone that they were worthy of their promotion.
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Are not strategically and emotionally mature enough to understand the value of cultural onboarding, critical distance, or third-party support as they orient themselves in their new business reality.
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Are terrified of admitting that they’re in over their heads.
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Confuse anxiety with enthusiasm and force change while leaving people – and their business reality – behind.
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Believe their energy and will are enough to drive company transformation.
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Don’t understand the value of a fast assessment of their executive team’s capabilities and the need to redesign the executive team architecture in order to achieve sustainable success.
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Don’t appreciate the value of partnership – with their colleagues, stakeholders, and external support providers.
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Underestimate the solitude of the CEO role – or, worse, choose to alleviate it by bringing work home or discussing sensitive business matters with risky partners.
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Don’t understand that their performance in a new CEO role could make – or break –their career.
Let’s Talk Money
Your Return on Investment
PACE®: Position, Align, Communicate, Elevate is priced to reflect my 16+ years of strategic advisory and executive coaching and mentoring experience helping senior leaders and their organizations succeed through and beyond CEO transitions.
My pricing also reflects the level of seniority of my clients, the value of my corporate clients’ reputations, and the expected return on investment following this program.
The price of one six-month individual new CEO onboarding and executive transition program is €12,000 (VAT not included). This program involves complex services such as 360° and leadership personality assessments, strategy sessions, executive coaching and mentoring sessions, rich individual and company feedback, and tailor-made artefacts designed to help the new CEO grow throughout the program and beyond.
The overall price of your entire PACE®: Position, Align, Communicate, Elevate program can reach €36,000 when you choose to prolong it for the entire duration of your new CEO executive transition.
Make no mistake: this program is not a cost – it’s a strategic investment. My clients who invest in CEO onboarding and executive transition support for their new CEOs experience a far greater likelihood of CEO retention, savings on external executive search costs for a new candidate, stronger enterprise leadership, stability in the C-Suite, astute risk management, and faster and more reliable transformation and long-term success.
Here is what you gain when you choose PACE®: Position, Align, Communicate, Elevate to develop your new CEO:
- 1.Higher chances of new CEO success and stability in your C-Suite. Your new CEO can hit the ground running and accelerate positive transformation for your organization.
- 2.Smart and responsible risk management. You strengthen your company’s resilience by making sure your new CEO can build on the strengths of your business while driving transformation where it is needed.
- 3.Cost savings. You save on external executive search services because your new CEO is equipped to succeed in the role well beyond their first 18 months on the job. You also save on repeated CEO onboarding and executive transition services when your CEO remains in the role for more than two years.
- 4.Bonus: A trustworthy reputation and more influence and impact for you, the CHRO. When you become a kingmaker, your influence in your organization expands. This can advance your career – and your own future CEO ambitions.
The Difference Between PACE®: Position, Align, Communicate, Elevate and Other Options
WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU CHOOSE TO DO NOTHING?
Here is what happens when you choose PACE®: Position, Align, Communicate, Elevate versus other generic executive development programs and versus doing nothing (on a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 is the maximum):
| IMPACT CATEGORY | DOING NOTHING / TRYING IT YOURSELF | GENERIC EXECUTIVE DEVELOPMENT | PACE®: POSITION, ALIGN, COMMUNICATE, ELEVATE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access to best practices in CEO onboarding and executive transition from other organizations, industries, and countries | 0-1 | 0-1 | 10 |
| Access to a battle-tested framework designed to help new CEOs succeed with greater ease | 0-1 | 0-1 | 10 |
| Professional support from a global executive coach specializing in executive transitions and CEO success in post-communist and post-Soviet countries | 0-1 | 0-1 | 10 |
| Executive transition coaching delivered in Czech and Romanian in addition to English | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Specific cultural and market intelligence, especially when your new CEO leads a cluster in Central Europe (Poland - Czechia – Slovakia – Hungary) or Southeastern Europe (Romania – Bulgaria – Serbia – Moldova) | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Professional leadership and personality assessments focused on new CEO success, onboarding, and executive transition | 0-1 | 3-4 | 10 |
| Rapid identification of your new CEO’s blind spots and relevant priorities | 0-1 | 4-5 | 10 |
| Access to specific market intelligence and a solid network of executive transition and leadership experts | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Advice from a former business journalist with 12 years of media experience in Central and Eastern Europe | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Greater confidence about what to do next | 0-1 | 4-5 | 10 |
| TOTAL | 0-6 | 11 - 17 | 100 |
With whom will your new CEO work?
Hi, Cristina Here!
Hi! Cristina here 😊.
I am a multiply certified senior executive mentor and coach specializing in executive transitions, strategic communications, personal branding, and career acceleration for CEOs and C-Suite executives. If you want to learn more about me and my specific qualifications, visit the page ABOUT ME.
During our program, we will work together – no exceptions. This is how you can tap into my 12+ years of business journalism experience and my 16+ years of executive coaching and mentoring experience gained while serving over 100 companies and developing over 500 senior leaders since 2010.
The program you are considering, PACE®: Position, Align, Communicate, Elevate, is the embodiment of my own purpose and positive contribution to our world. This is why I’d be honored if you chose me as your strategic CEO onboarding and executive transition advisor and coach.
The first year in a new CEO role can make – or break – your career. Don’t underestimate the challenge, but also, don’t let it overwhelm you. Better yet – secure the support you need so you can succeed as the new CEO beyond your stakeholders’ wildest dreams.
I am here to support you all the way in your efforts to succeed in your new CEO role without suffering. Bring it on!
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some of the questions I receive regularly from potential clients. Take a look, clarify your next steps, and let’s talk.
How does one get access to PACE®: Position, Align, Communicate, Elevate?
PACE®: Position, Align, Communicate, Elevate is a tailor-made strategic advisory and executive development program that you can book whenever you want to help your new CEO gain clarity and succeed in their new role. I recommend engaging my PACE® services a minimum of three months before your new CEO is appointed.
Exactly how much does the program cost?
PACE®: Position, Align, Communicate, Elevate is priced to reflect my 16+ years of strategic advisory and executive coaching and mentoring experience helping senior leaders and their organizations succeed beyond and through CEO transitions.
The price of one six-month individual new CEO onboarding and executive transition program is €12,000 (VAT not included).
This program involves complex services such as 360° and leadership personality assessments, strategy sessions, executive coaching and mentoring sessions, rich individual and company feedback, and tailor-made artefacts designed to help the new CEO grow throughout the program and beyond.
The overall price of your entire PACE®: Position, Align, Communicate, Elevate program can reach €36,000 when you choose to extend it for the entire duration of your new CEO executive transition.
You will receive a detailed tailor-made price and ROI calculation during the proposal presentation call so you can make an informed decision.Is the program online or in person?
If my data safe?
Absolutely. All tools and platforms are set up to protect the privacy and confidentiality of my clients under all circumstances.