Crushing feedback became strength

The team led by Pavel Maksimenko delivered. On the surface, many things looked good, but underneath the surface, the situation was different.

The team was in the midst of a transformation, and Pavel's own leadership style was, in his own words, catastrophic. When the feedback came, it felt like a criticism not just of the leader, but of the whole person.

– Based on the assessments, I felt that I would have been a terrible person, not just a bad leader, Pavel says.

Pain raised its gaze forward

The feedback was halting because Pavel's goal had always been to help the people around him succeed. He was faced with a conflict between his intentions and the consequences of his actions.

The experience hurt so much that it took a long time to talk about it openly.

– My emotions went from one extreme to the other, Pavel admits.

My previous sports career helped me deal with failure. Sports taught me that even in crucial moments, you can fail. In those cases, there is ultimately only one option: to look forward and focus on what will lead you towards your goal.

At the same time, he began to be disturbed by the way emotions were ignored in working life. Emotions were constantly discussed in sports. Their impact on performance, concentration and decision-making was recognized.

– In working life, people often behaved as if decisions were made based on reason alone. Of course, that is not true.

Emotions and the ability to focus on what is important

Pavel began to delve deeper into emotional intelligence and the psychology of decision-making. He wanted to build his team into elite athletes in the workplace: people whose baseline level would be so high that challenging situations would no longer easily derail them.

Gradually, difficult feedback became the foundation of his work.

Today, Pavel coaches leaders, supervisors, and sales and expert teams to perform better under pressure. His own experience helps him reach people in a way that theory alone cannot.

– I have actually been in situations where many leaders struggle. Many superiors recognize the experience: you should produce results, lead change, and at the same time maintain people's trust.

According to Pavel, working under pressure requires the ability to focus on what is essential. If a person does not recognize the impact of their emotions on their own behavior, their actions can easily become confused and unpredictable. In leadership, this is reflected in the uncertainty around them.

That's why emotional intelligence is not an additional soft skill for Pavel, but a key part of effective leadership.

He hopes that others can learn before they find themselves in the same stopping situation as he did.

– A leader is also a human being just like everyone else.

Perhaps that's the most important lesson in his story: difficult feedback doesn't mean the journey should end. Sometimes it reveals a direction in which growth can begin.

Pavel talked about his own path and finding direction at the Your Idea – A Common Path event held in Riihimäki on August 20, 2026. The free event is aimed at those interested in entrepreneurship, those considering starting a business, and those working in entrepreneurship and integration.