Lenka Burnett, Vice President Global Client Services, Korn Ferry
What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?
I am incredibly proud of the transformation journey that I take each of my clients on and the results that we achieve. It’s always exciting to partner with a new client, to understand what their challenges are and where they want to get to. When we deliver this it’s an amazing sense of achievement.
If you weren’t in your current position/career, what would you be doing?
I had a traditional academic education but am also creative and studied Architectural Design for my bachelors’ degree. Although I chose not to pursue a career in design, it’s still a passion of mine that I indulge through various projects at home!
What would you tell your younger self now if you could?
Trust your instincts and be authentic! I see many new managers and leaders believing that they need to adopt a specific management style to be successful. Take inspiration from people who you admire, but be yourself, people will buy into you.
What is your favorite place you have travelled to, and where have you not been that you would like to go?
Travel is a huge passion of mine and I’m incredibly lucky to have travelled lots both with work and for pleasure. Istanbul is one of my favorite cities, it’s at the edge of Europe and Asia with a with a vibrant and unique culture that I love. I love the Mediterranean in the summer and I’ve spent that last few years visiting Elounda in Crete. The weather, food and people are amazing, plus the Island has an incredible history and culture. Costa Rica has been on my list to visit for some time, and I hope to get there when we can all travel again.
Have you ever met anybody famous?
I met the famous Manchester United team of 1996 when I spent a summer working for their club sponsor at the time. This included Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs, Peter Schmeichel, and a very young David Beckham. They were all quite aloof, but their manager Alex Ferguson was completely charming. Whenever I meet famous people, I become very English and assume they want to go about their day to day life without being interrupted and asked for selfie’s.
What is the best meal you have ever had?
Visiting L’Enclume in Cartmel in the Lake District in England was truly memorable and a restaurant I hope to return to one day.
Favorite book, song, movie?
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt is one of my stand out novels of the last 10 years.