When decisions meet reality
“I’ve seen that even the right structural decision can fail without real alignment behind it.”
Petra Májová
Chief People & Culture Officer
Lyreco Group
Menity Leaders Talk · April 2026
Decisions need context and shared commitment
What looks right doesn’t always hold
Petra Májová is Chief People & Culture Officer at Lyreco Group. Her experience spans regional HR leadership and a group executive role, bringing a perspective on how decisions translate across different markets.
In this Leaders Talk with Peter Nemčok, she discusses why sound decisions can fail without local context and leadership alignment, what helps change take root, and why trust, communication and ownership matter under pressure. She also reflects on what people carry forward after a leader leaves.
In this conversation
Five questions on leadership decisions, change and trust
Local context changes how decisions work
The same decision lands differently
Petra explains how local context, leadership maturity and market dynamics affect whether a decision works in practice.
Where do decisions go wrong — even when they look right at the start?
01
Decisions rarely go wrong on logic. When we ignore local context — or when there isn’t enough alignment across leadership — things can go wrong fairly quickly.
Where do you see this break most across markets?
02
Decisions tend to work when local context, leadership maturity and market dynamics are taken into account. Without that, the same approach quickly stops working.
Petra Májová, Chief People & Culture Officer at Lyreco Group, in conversation with Peter Nemčok about local context, leadership alignment and why the same decision can produce different outcomes across markets — Menity Leaders Talk, April 2026.
Pressure tests whether change has taken root
Plans only matter when execution holds
She connects lasting change with leadership alignment, trust and ownership that are embedded in everyday work.
Was there a decision that changed how you approach decisions today?
03
I’ve seen that even the right structural decision can fail without real alignment behind it. It taught me to focus on change management in practice — taking the time to bring people along. So decisions don’t just happen, but last.
Many plans look solid — until the business is under pressure. What usually doesn’t hold? What actually does?
04
What falls apart first are processes or frameworks that look good on paper but are not fully embedded in the organisation. On the other hand, trust in leadership, authentic communication and real ownership hold best. Pressure always exposes the reality.
Petra Májová and Peter Nemčok during Menity Leaders Talk, discussing how change becomes part of everyday work, what remains reliable under pressure and why trust and fairness shape a leader’s lasting contribution.
Trust and fairness outlast a leader’s tenure
What works without you defines your leadership
For Petra, leadership leaves a lasting mark through trust, fairness and an organisation that continues to develop after the leader moves on.
When a leader moves on — what continues to work?
05
What people remember is how they were treated — the level of trust, fairness, values the leader stood for and how they were represented in their everyday lives. After a leader moves on, a healthy organisation continues to function and evolve, allowing others to build on what has been achieved.
Structure alone doesn’t hold organisations together. People who can act without you do.
In Menity’s CEO and board work across CEE, we examine how leaders build alignment before implementing change and whether responsibility is shared across the organisation. These qualities matter when assessing whether an appointment can deliver lasting results.
About the guest
Petra Májová is Chief People & Culture Officer at Lyreco Group and joined its Group Executive Team in October 2025. She previously served as People & Culture Director for Central Europe and began her career at Unilever. She brings more than 20 years of HR leadership experience and is a certified coach, with a focus on people development and organisational culture.
About Leaders Talk
Leaders Talk is Menity’s editorial interview series featuring CEOs, board members and senior leaders across CEE. Each conversation examines the decisions, trade-offs and operating realities of senior leadership.
Guests are selected by Menity for the relevance of their experience. No fee is paid or received for participation. Answers are the guest’s own, edited only for length and language, and reviewed by the guest before publication.
Menity Leaders Talk
April 2026
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