Leadership today can mean many things, and it unfolds across different spaces: in universities, in the workplace, and in our personal lives.
Todor Jekov’s journey reflects this multiplicity, from his early years as a student, through his academic path including the Executive MBA program at the American University in Bulgaria, to his leadership role at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and as a father.
Each of these roles requires a different set of leadership qualities. And in many ways, all of us are called to step into leadership, whether in our careers, our communities, or our daily lives. In order to do that, we need good examples of people leading with dignity, discernment, and forward thinking.
Today, Todor Jekov shares not just familiar ideas about leadership, but a candid reflection on how it evolves and how to navigate it in modern contexts.
First steps in leadership
Before leadership becomes a skill, it is learned through experiences, challenges, failures, and wins.
Todor Jekov’s career began as a service manager in a medical import company, where he gained his first exposure to customers. “This was my first touch with customers and with how important customer experience is for companies that are delivering services.”
In 2004, he joined Hewlett Packard Enterprise as a Material Planner, responsible for coordinating spare parts across 11 countries in the Balkan region. It was a role that taught him precision, responsiveness, and execution. Over time, that scope expanded. He moved across roles, gradually stepping into management in 2018.
Today, he serves as Senior Director, overseeing global spare parts planning, while also leading the Global Delivery Center in Bulgaria. His teams support operations not only regionally, but worldwide, part of a broader network of over 1,600 professionals across EMEA and beyond.
While his path may seem smooth on paper, 22 years at HPE to be precise, the shift it required was not automatic. “In the beginning, I was more focused on operational management,” he said. “It was hands-on, working with the teams, ensuring that everything is delivered.”
At that stage, being in close proximity to the work, including its details, people, processes, and tasks, was essential to success. His day-to-day was deeply intertwined with execution, grounded in action. But true leadership does not remain there.
The first shift: from doing to directing
As responsibilities grow, so does the need to step away from the immediacy of execution and toward a broader perspective. For Todor, this shift became increasingly necessary as he moved into management roles. The challenge evolved into understanding how to sustain and scale delivery over time.
“I was looking to connect long-term perspective with current operational deliverables,” he explained.
This shift changed the nature of his leadership style entirely. It requires a broader vision and the ability to anticipate challenges while shaping direction. “Now it’s more about what we need in one or two years, and how we drive the team towards this goal,” he said.
The operations are handled by first-line managers, while his role is to guide them. “I really believe in empowering the people,” Todor shared.
The second shift: his mindset
For many leaders, the transition from operational to strategic thinking does not happen on its own. It requires a deliberate shift in perspective that builds upon both education and experience.
With an engineering background as his foundation, Todor later pursued a second master’s degree in finance and accounting. “I decided that in this fast-changing world, I also needed to understand finance and financial management,” he shared.
After gaining managerial experience at HPE, he chose to pursue an EMBA. “I decided that I needed something that would help me move from operational management to more strategic and global roles,” he said.
That’s how he arrived at the decision to study at AUBG. After extensive research and comparison, he concluded that the program offered “the best value for money, curriculum, and convenience for what I was searching for in an EMBA.”
The program offered him not only new knowledge, but a different way of engaging with it. “Before, my studies were more about learning theory,” he explained. “With the EMBA, it was about applying it immediately, working through case studies, making decisions, defending them.”
That last part was critical. “We learned how to prove our point with arguments, but also how to listen to others and challenge their reasoning,” he said. “Sometimes you think you are right, but when you hear different perspectives, you start to see the gaps.”
The diversity of the cohort also played an important role. “I learned not only from the program, but also from my peers,” Todor reflected. “Even today, I stay in touch with them. Sometimes I call someone just to ask, ‘How do you approach this in your industry?’”
His biggest takeaway is this: “The EMBA didn’t change my career. It changed my way of thinking.”
Leading in the age of AI
This conversation wouldn’t be complete without addressing artificial intelligence, which has become an essential part of our workflows, regardless of industry or position.
Todor discerningly recognizes AI as an integral part of daily work, embedded in workflows, decisions, and communication. The questions we posed is not whether he uses AI in his leadership position, but how does it redefine what leadership requires.
“It’s helping me a lot. I’m gaining time,” he said. Tasks that once required careful drafting, data extraction, or hours of analysis are now completed in minutes. “Something that would take me 30 or 40 minutes before, now is done in five.”
However, while AI is changing how tasks are completed, it is also raising expectations for leaders. “It can give me all the data for a decision,” he explained. “But at the end, I cannot delegate the responsibility. I have to be sure that what is proposed is meaningful.”
Todor actively supports adopting AI within his team’s workflow, which is reshaping roles and responsibilities. “People now have more time to focus on value-added work,” he noted. “They are not extracting data, working in Excel, making pivots. AI is doing this.” Instead, the human contribution shifts toward interpreting information rather than processing it.
The discipline of continuous learning
In a world defined by speed and constant change, Todor emphasizes the importance of continuous learning as a daily habit.
“The most important thing is that you are learning constantly every day,” he said. “If you miss even a few weeks, the gap becomes bigger and bigger.”
His go-to resources include publications such as Harvard Business Review and The Wall Street Journal, as well as reports from organizations like the Technology Services Industry Association and Gartner. “These are extremely powerful tools where you can benchmark how your organization is advancing compared to competitors,” he explained.
Even with AI support, daily operations can consume time. “If you’re not setting time for strategy and comparing where you are with where you want to be, then you just cannot progress,” Todor shared.
The human core of leadership
And yet, despite all the systems, tools, and transformations, what defines Todor’s leadership most clearly is his human approach.
“The soft skill of the future is listening and understanding the person in front of you,” he said. “If you are not trying to understand others, you cannot build real communication.”
Emotional intelligence, feedback, and awareness form the foundation for everything else. “You have to give feedback constantly,” he added. “And at the same time, ask for feedback, because otherwise, you don’t see your blind spots.”
This defines Todor’s leadership philosophy: to learn, to grow, and to lead with intention.
