Integrity Day at LEAD: How company values show up in real work
Integrity Day at LEAD: Rumen’s Story
You don’t fully understand a workplace while you’re inside it. Not really. When you’re busy delivering, solving, and adapting, certain things blend into the background. It’s only after you step away, when the pace changes and comparisons appear, that some details become clearer.
That’s the perspective Rumen brought to Integrity Day at LEAD.
Integrity Day is a moment where people at LEAD share real stories from their work. Stories that show how our values show up naturally through the way people think, make choices, and work together. Because when you hire people who genuinely believe in those values, you don’t need to explain them. You see them in how the work gets done.
Rumen spoke about a longer stretch of his professional experience, including time at LEAD and time away, and a new perspective that distance gave him.
That perspective runs quietly through this interview. You hear it in how he talks about his work and the people around him. It’s also why this conversation takes its time. Culture doesn’t rush, and neither does reflection.
Now, let’s dive into Rumen’s story – in his own words.
In his own words
Q: Hi Rumen! You’ve had a unique journey with LEAD - you joined, left, and later came back. What made you return?
R: That is right. I first joined LEAD as a Business Analyst in 2022 and after two years, I left in 2024, only to rejoin in 2025. To better explain my journey, a little background may be helpful.
Before LEAD , I had spent my entire career (around 8 years) in the energy trading sector. I had no prior experience outside the energy world. So, joining LEAD was my first interaction with the ETRM and IT consulting sector.
In my first two years in the company, I gained very valuable hands-on experience with some of the most reputable ETRM softwares in the sector. I saw aspects of energy trading that I never saw before because they are only visible from the IT side of the business.
At the same time, I was somehow missing the firsthand energy trading activity since this has been something that I have been doing for quite some time before. I was realizing how beneficial my experience at LEAD has been so far since it allowed me to gain a very solid understanding of the interactions between energy trading, ETRM and IT. Yet, I wanted to be again part of an energy trading company.
So, I struggled, hesitated for a while and decided to make the move. I left LEAD and rejoined the sector I was used to.
I needed a few months in the new old setup to realize that my decision was not the right one. Whether the company I joined was not a good fit for me, whether it was something else, I cannot say. But what was very clear was that I was going to look again for a new role.
That was in early 2025 and I was wondering what my next move should be. The experience I had after I left LEAD did not turn out as expected but was indeed very useful. Firstly, because it helped to catch up with some new trends in the energy trading sector that have emerged since I last worked in the sector. Secondly, and more importantly, it allowed me to put my experience at LEAD into perspective and to compare it with where I had landed. Because some things become relevant only when we put them into perspective.
I had a high-school teacher who was saying that ‘a lot’ and ‘a little’ are all about perspective. Two hairs in your soup? That’s a lot. Three hairs on your head? That’s not enough 😊
In other words, my time away from LEAD helped me realize that I was already pretty satisfied with my initial time here. In searching for a fresh start, I overlooked the fact that I already had found my fit.
Moreover, when I was leaving LEAD I was mainly driven by my desire to rejoin the sector I knew so well. But I was not acknowledging how deeply integrated I was already with the LEAD team and its culture and how ETRM and IT consulting have already become the new normal for me.
Now, half a year since my return, it feels better than ever before. Why? Firstly, I have no more doubts about what is the right place for me. And secondly, the company keeps growing, projects are constantly starting and I am very eager to see what the future holds for LEAD.
Q: Which aspects of LEAD’s culture or values became more important to you over time?
R: I would like to approach this question from two different angles – how we interact internally as colleagues, and how we engage externally with clients and partners
Internally, the value of “great people over great resumes” stands out. A lot of skills can be taught but if you are a person who is not easy to work with, that becomes a burden for you, for everyone around you and finally, for your team and company.
LEAD focuses on hiring people who are not only professionally skilled but are also genuinely nice people. I experienced this firsthand. During my time away, I stayed in touch with many former colleagues. At the time, I was not planning to return (silly me 😊 ) but we stayed connected and we looked for each other simply because we had enjoyed working together.
People often underestimate the importance of nice and good people in a corporate environment, but I tend to disagree here. I believe that even the greatest idea on paper would struggle to materialize if the team spirit is poor and detrimental.
On the second point (how we engage externally with clients and partners), I would highlight the importance of flexibility. This applies to both our company’s capabilities and our people’s skillsets. Over the years LEAD has built expertise across diverse projects and sectors like finance, ETRM, IT consulting. This has created versatile know-how within the team, enabling us to handle complex, multi-layered projects
At the same time, the clients of LEAD and their businesses are also evolving (especially in the energy sector). This means that being flexible and adaptable is not just a company value for LEAD, it is a must-have feature for anyone in the industry.
Q: You won Integrity Day with a story about values. What do company values mean in your everyday work at LEAD?
R: This is probably the easiest question 😊
LEAD is a very, very client-driven company. I would even say that this is like the cornerstone of the company.
In practice, this means that LEAD will always prioritize the long-term interests of the client over everything else. To put it another way, when we are facing an obstacle during a project, we are going to ask what is indeed in the client’s best interest.
The tricky part is that something that is in the client’s interest might not be in LEAD’s best interest. But I have heard this many times from the management at LEAD and I believe it is true – LEAD is here to stay and is aiming for the long-term run.
This means that we will always aim to deliver, to the best of our capabilities, what is best for the client as they appreciate honesty and fair play. We are not going to deliver something sloppy or another quick fix when we know a better solution exists even if it takes more time and resources.
It is of course much easier to focus on the immediate gain but we do not think this is sustainable and that is why we are not doing it.
Q: Can you share one moment that made you feel the company’s values are truly lived, not just written?
R: I could give many day-to-day examples but I would rather prefer another answer here.
For me, the most powerful illustration that the company values are a real thing at LEAD is the creation of the Emotional Growth Officer role which is held by the very skilled and experienced professional psychologist Krasi Nikolova.
Krasi leads various initiatives aimed at encouraging the personal and professional development of every person at the company and improving the overall team collaboration. I believe this is a clear sign that the management at LEAD supports the idea that in a dynamic and fast-growing company the emotional intelligence should be valued as much as technical skill and this is what Krasi Nikolova helps us to do.
Q: How do those values show up inside the team, especially when things get challenging?
R: I believe that the impact of and the adherence to company values are mostly visible in high-pressure moments. It is indeed in such moments when it becomes clear how realistic these company values are and how well rooted they are within the team. In times of success and business-as-usual projects, they are less obvious as everything seems smooth.
At LEAD, an effort is made to abide by these values in every part of the company’s lifecycle – from hiring (“great people over great resumes”) to client-work (“client driven”). If these values remain on paper and are not actively put into effect by the management, there is no reason to believe that people will follow them once they face an obstacle.
Luckily, at LEAD company values are actively enforced at all levels.
My colleagues at LEAD know that “quality” is more important than “speed” and if a deadline is at risk, they will proactively inform their manager or client. People are trusted to do their job autonomously without constant managerial oversight. When mistakes occur under stress, the focus is put on owning and solving the problem rather than hiding it or blaming someone else.
Q: If you had to explain LEAD to someone considering joining, in one sentence, what would you say?
I cannot in one, I need at least 5!
Do properly what is expected from you, no sloppy work, no quick wins or imitations, be genuine to clients and colleagues , and you will be rewarded. And here, the reward does not come in the form of a benefits package only. You will also be rewarded with the environment you need to thrive.
Something I really love at LEAD is that as long as you do your job adequately, you will be provided with the conditions you need for your success.
Different people have different needs to feel they are at the right place for them – some are more extrovert, others are more introvert; some go often to the office, other are entirely working from home; some enjoy attending corporate events and attend most of them, others prefer to avoid social gatherings (I have colleagues I have never met in person even though they have been in the company before me and they are perfectly fine).
In all cases, people will be treated with equal respect and without any differentiation and will be given the platform they need to prosper at LEAD.
Before we go
At this point, we’ll stop talking and keep our promise to Rumen to include a football photo of him. After all, he’s a big fan.
If this conversation made you curious about working at LEAD, whether to collaborate with people like Rumen or simply to join the next football game, take a look at our open positions.
You never know where the conversation might start.
