As the founder and CEO of Dynamis Group, a Global Talent Consultancy specializing in attractions and retention of Exceptionally Gifted Talent, Strategic Placements, Leadership Due Diligence, and Leadership Succession, Marian M.P. Temelkov, has successfully completed placements in over 50 countries around the world, driven by his philosophy of ‘seeing people not for who they are, but for who they can become.
Marian is an advocate and champion in servant leadership and care culture and co-founded the Leaders Who Care platform to increase awareness and transformation of C-Suite executives and help them fulfill their vision by attracting exceptionally gifted talent.
Besides creating a significant impact on existing leaders, Marian truly believes in developing and investing in the next generation of young talent, and invites leaders who care, from every corner of the world, to share best practices, embrace success and failure, and share ideas on a servant leadership approach.
To support his mission, he co-founded the Leader Academy and for over 20 years, he has invested in creating academies, spaces, and communities for future leaders.
Helping young people and leaders fulfill their vision with care
Marian’s growth as a leader goes back to his teenage years, when he arrived in Manchester, UK at age of 16, with no high school diploma, he went straight to university, which he found very difficult.
His struggle inspired him to help a lot of young people back in the community where he was born, which led to the establishment of Leader Academy, helping young people find purpose-driven careers, or establish mission-driven companies.
From helping young people to helping established leaders, Marian’s continuing desire to serve and take care of people was a guiding principle in his career that started in 2006.
“My passion is to help people, no matter where they came from, as I do not see people for who they are, but who they could become,” he says. “The best recognition for me is the trust and grace of my team and family, even when I make mistakes.”
A believer in Servant leadership, Marian defines himself as a Chief Vision Officer with the primary responsibility of taking care of his team, family, clients, and community.
“I would love to see more companies taking better care of their candidates, their environments, customers, and communities. The way we do this is leading by example, through continuous improvement,” he states.
Partnering with Care
As a Global Talent Consultancy Firm, Dynamis Group helps leaders develop their strategic network and attract extraordinary teams, in order to fulfill their purpose.
Founded in the UK, by a team with a long history of working together, the firm was created in a strong, relationship-based environment, offering access to a network of international executive talent, and providing unique insights and speed of delivery globally.
As a young start-up, established on the 24th of May 2019 following a team buy-out, Dynamis Group was forged in the trials of overcoming challenges, and Marian recalls that it was one of the most difficult things he’s had to do.
“When we did the buyout, overnight we had no offices and big bills to pay. This affected everything, and we had a deadline for the payment. The team was affected, our families were affected,” he recollects. “Yes, challenges make us grow and in the most difficult moments, I kept repeating to myself, and this is my best moment.”
Marian realized that his biggest roadblock was to be clear with his communications and expectations and found that putting things in writing helped a great deal, as this reduced or eliminated misunderstanding which could have cost a lot of time, emotions, and resources.
“Thank God for giving us the power and strength to go through it, which led to us paying back the loans in the first 12 months and building reserves, which gave us the freedom to grow the team and innovate,” he recalls.
A catalyst for positive impact in the world
Dynamis believes that business is a catalyst for positive impact in the world. As a result, their focus lies in exploring new ways of bringing the most value to their clients.
Starting from their core expertise in executive search and leadership succession, Dynamis has gone beyond the traditional headhunting and developed their portfolio of solutions to help their clients benefit from the talent and knowledge they possess.
By building a bridge between the top leaders of today and the brightest leaders of tomorrow, they hope to inspire them to do things they have never done before. Marian believes that their biggest pain point is in understanding the complexity of the human mind.
“We now know, through evolving concepts like Neurodiversity at work, that we have inadvertently been negatively impacting high-performing talent through our environments, systems, and processes,” he observes. “This has been a guiding light for how we now engage, connect, and empower exceptionally gifted talent.”
Partnering with Care and giving back time and profits to their customers and communities, has become a fundamental part of the company’s values and way of working.
Serving Leaders Who Care
As Dynamis was established, they decided that they wanted to serve Leaders Who Care. “Why? Because we wanted to see more people in roles where they’re thriving, not surviving, and a key factor for that is the leader they work for,” states Marian.
Dynamis helps leaders who care fulfill their vision by attracting exceptionally gifted talent. The company has 3 main areas of expertise:
- Leadership Due Diligence
- Neurodiversity at Work with Theo Smith
- Executive Search & Strategic Leadership Succession
“Our dream is to become the most caring company in the world, to raise a family while helping other companies and leaders build a more caring world,” says Marian.
Under his leadership, the Dynamis Group has grown significantly in people, revenue, and profits since its inception, through the guiding principles of Leading with Care. In 2021, Dynamis was recognised in the Present and Future Leadership section of the 300 years of Leadership and Innovation book.
Marian defines his journey as a leader as characterized by continuous improvement, maintaining and growing relationships. “I am grateful to my wife, Mel, and my business partner, Ellie, as they have covered my blind spots and stood by as anchors in the most turbulent times,” he says.
Success is about prospering in all areas of life
Marian believes that success may be an illusion, as you may think you’ve made it by having a successful business or earning a higher salary, but if you’ve compromised your values, ruined your health, or ignored your family and team, you’re failing.
He lists five categories (and the order matters) that one must take care of, and prosper in, if we are to succeed in life:
- Spiritual Prosperity – There is a reason why this is number one and why people follow God or Spiritual leaders. For me, Jesus is the Greatest Carer.
- Mental Prosperity – That means you are intellectually improving every day; your Will is strong; your memory is sharp; you learn to express yourself with good articulation skills; you master your reactions to your emotions; you are consistent with the way you treat people; you do not lose your joy even in the most difficult times of your life. The higher you go, the more humility you have.
- Physical Prosperity – There are two areas to master: Nourishing Food & Train Regularly.
- Financial Prosperity – If you want to master this, become exceptionally valuable, and give back the first 10% of everything you earn.
- Relationship Prosperity – Whatever money cannot buy, relationships can pay for it. There are 4 types of destiny helpers that we need in our life: Divine Connectors, People of Influence, Exceptionally Gifted People, and Burden Bearers – they are better than Gold and very rare.
If you’re employed and you’re in cross motivation, Marian’s advice to you is: Invite your heart and mind over your favorite drink and unite them. Answering the following 3 questions will help you:
- Passions – What sets your heart on fire?
- Strengths – What are the top 3 areas you in excel in?
- Values – What are the values you’re not willing to compromise on?
Marian admits that it is not easy to achieve work-life balance as it takes time to do, and in some cases, it can take years. His advice is to spend 15 minutes planning how to bring delight to your family, every day before you go home. For example, a smile, a flower for your wife, favorite food for your family, a trip – plan it and treat your family as the most important customer you have.
Marian points out that consistency beats intensity. He wakes up around 5 am, prays, and then has a bottle of warm water to warm up the body and hydrate the brain. Then he trains for 1.5 hours (he loves gymnastics), takes a cold shower, has a nourishing breakfast, and at 9 am, is ready to serve.
“Take care of yourself and everyone around you,” he says. “Many of my dreams have come through, but there’s so much more we can do, the only restriction being our lifetime. I don’t know for how long I will be here, but until I live, I want to serve men and glorify God.”