Success at Every Stage: Lessons in Growth and Leadership with Aneliya Vitkova

In this interview, we sit down with Aneliya Vitkova, our new Sofia Site Leader, to explore the skills, mindset, and decisions that shape long-term growth – and what it takes to lead with impact at every career stage.

When you look across your own career journey, how has your definition of “being successful at work” changed over time?

When I crossed the threshold of my very first job 20 years ago, I was curious to uncover the secret of success. I identified colleagues I considered successful and started observing them. That’s how I discovered the qualities they all shared.

What they had in common was consistency – the drive to see every task through to a successful end. They approached both small and large projects with the same level of responsibility and never allowed themselves to cut corners.

With experience, I also realized that curiosity is a powerful driver of personal growth. Curiosity to solve the challenges your workday brings, to be proactive, and to take responsibility for everything that reaches your desk or inbox turns you into someone others trust.

What do you notice most often differentiates people who grow consistently from those who get stuck?

Many times in my career I’ve been part of conversations where everyone is present, yet no one takes responsibility for what actually needs to be done. It’s important to know that people notice the one who steps up, takes ownership, and finds solutions. This is the quality that leads young professionals at the start of their careers toward achieving what they dream of.

It’s important to not be afraid of work – to insist on doing things the right way and to ensure that everything you take on reflects your best qualities. And to remember that you’re not alone – you’re part of a chain. When you look at the bigger picture, you’ll see that your work has an impact. Broadening your perspective helps expand your scope of action and supports your growth within the organization.

At the mid-career level, what skills become critical that may not have mattered as much earlier?

At this stage, the biggest risk is going with the flow and forgetting what you once aspired to when you started your career. It’s easy to get carried away by routine, lose your individuality, and slip into apathy.

Critical thinking becomes essential here – expressed through constructive criticism and real action. You shouldn’t be afraid to question a process that’s been in place for 20 years, first improving it in your own mind and then sharing your ideas with a wider group in the right way.

We often think it’s the company’s responsibility to improve every day and provide the right environment and opportunities. The truth is, if you don’t take personal responsibility for your own development – if you’re not ready to invest effort and time – no company can do that for you.

What skills are absolutely essential for success at senior or leadership levels?

At this level, the most important thing is being ready to stand on the front line with your people when needed. Being there to receive congratulations is great, but you must also be the backbone of the teams below you – ensuring an environment where they can work calmly and feel respected and heard.

As you advance, you carry the responsibility of building and developing a well-functioning team that supports one another. You must lead by example and know how to prioritize – keeping sight of the big picture without losing the details along the way. The higher you go, the easier it becomes to miss those details, and once they’re lost, making the right decisions becomes much harder.

At this level, the biggest danger is forgetting that no one is perfect. You must constantly look for gaps and issues without fear, because your goal is to prevent crises before they happen. I’m still learning here myself, as I’ve spent more time as an operational manager than as an executive. My goal is to take the best from both worlds – I believe these two levels complement each other perfectly. The hybrid I strive for allows me to drive change on a global scale while staying close to the business and operations, so my people feel I’m with them both in success and in challenging moments.

How should professionals approach continuous learning in a fast-changing work environment?

Everyone is responsible for being curious and seeking information every day. When you work in a company like ours, learning happens daily – even unintentionally – because we face a wide range of unconventional cases that require new approaches and ways of thinking.

That said, learning solely through practice, as valuable as it is, isn’t a structured process and makes it harder to pass knowledge along to others. That’s why combining hands-on learning with the initiatives offered by our Learning & Development team is the best approach – it helps structure knowledge and apply and share it more effectively.

It’s also important to learn from the people around you, regardless of their position. If you listen carefully and with genuine interest, you can often find answers to your own challenges in your colleagues’ experience. And just as important – don’t be afraid to apply what you’ve learned.

For example, I’ve met people who invest a lot of time in learning a language but hesitate to use it when they have the chance. I’ve also met others who, with a vocabulary of just 20 words, never stop trying to communicate whenever possible. And I’ve seen a pattern: those who actively use their 20 words keep improving, while the others often remain stuck with passive knowledge – and over time, even lose it. The same applies to professional knowledge. So don’t be afraid to seize every opportunity that comes your way. Career growth belongs to the brave.