Georgiana Tudor, Managing Director of Kärcher Romania: “If you wait until you’re completely ready, you may never be”

Georgiana Tudor, Managing Director of Kärcher Romania, discusses leadership, career growth, decision-making, professional development, and building autonomous, high-performing teams.

C&B: If we were to look at the narrative thread of your career, what were the key moments that defined you?

Georgiana Tudor: I have never thought of my career as a rigid plan drawn on a board. Rather, it has been a series of thresholds that I crossed with my heart, before my mind had time to calculate absolutely every risk. The first defining moment was taking over the Customer Service and dealer sales departments at Kärcher Romania. It was the first time I saw from the inside how the relationship between a brand and its market is built, brick by brick.

The second major threshold came when I took responsibility for the export countries in Southeastern Europe. Ten markets, ten different realities, completely different business cultures from anything I had experienced until then. It was a fantastic accelerator for my personal and professional growth.

Then came Croatia – my first mandate as Managing Director. I was entering a new market, with a team I had to win over, not simply lead formally. That experience propelled me into the role of Regional Director for Southeastern Europe. And finally, I returned home, to Romania, in the most complex, challenging, and meaningful role I have held so far.

C&B: What has been the most difficult moment in your journey so far, and how did you overcome it?

Georgiana Tudor: Without a doubt, the period when I coordinated the export markets was the most demanding. Imagine working simultaneously with markets that have different histories, different levels of economic maturity, and teams with whom I sometimes had to communicate in three languages on the same day, while managing expectations that I first had to decode before I could address them. There was no instruction manual for that. I overcame that period by understanding that I had to enter each market with curiosity, not imposed authority. It was a period that sometimes exhausted me, but it did not defeat me; instead, it recalibrated me as both a leader and a person.

C&B: Is there a dream or ambition that has always guided you, regardless of the obstacles?

Georgiana Tudor: I have always enjoyed, out of analytical curiosity, identifying mechanisms that are not working properly or could work better and trying to fix them. I don’t know whether that qualifies as a “dream” in the traditional sense, but I have one constant direction: I want to build structures that remain strong even after I am no longer there. An autonomous team, a solid market that grows organically, an organizational culture that does not become unstable when one person leaves. That is my practical dream: to leave something much stronger than what I found.

C&B: What was the beginning of your professional journey like, and how do you feel you have transformed since then?

Georgiana Tudor: I started young, full of energy, but, to be honest, without fully understanding the complexity of a company the size of Kärcher. I knew clearly that I wanted to make a contribution and understand the mechanisms behind the scenes, but I was far too impatient. The real transformation did not come with the titles added to my business card, but in the way I listen. At first, I felt the pressure to always have all the answers ready. Today, I know that the ability to ask the right questions is far more valuable. I learned firsthand that a leader is not the person who possesses absolute truth, but the one who knows how to build around it: capable people, clear processes, and, above all, courage.

C&B: If we met your colleagues and collaborators, what do you think they would say about you?

Georgiana Tudor: I think the first word would be “determined.” When I have a clear direction, it is very difficult to turn me away from it unless you have extremely solid arguments that are firmly grounded in reality. I hope they would also say that I am fair – it is a golden rule for me never to ask my team to do something that I myself would not be willing to do. And, last but not least, I believe they would mention that I give them the space they need to grow. Human capital matters enormously to me, but I do not see it merely as a “resource” on an Excel spreadsheet; I see it as the main engine behind any success.

C&B: What is the most important decision you have made that changed your trajectory?

Georgiana Tudor: The moment I accepted the position of Managing Director in Croatia. I did not feel 100% ready. But I believe that in every career there comes a critical point when you have to choose between the comfort of what you already know and the discomfort of growth. I chose growth, with all the uncertainty it brought. I did not know exactly what I was taking on, but I knew it was a necessary step if I wanted to be honest with my own ambitions. I learned then that opportunities never present themselves under perfect, laboratory conditions. If you wait until you are completely ready, you may never be.

C&B: How did you develop your leadership style or the way you make decisions? Was it a natural or learned process?

Georgiana Tudor: It was a combination of both, and today it is difficult to separate the two. Intuitively, I felt from the beginning that people need to be listened to and understood before they can be led effectively. Likewise, I instinctively knew that rushed decisions are far more costly than those made with a clear head.

However, there are vital things I learned the hard way, through my own mistakes. For example, the fact that you cannot force the pace of change if the team has not embraced the direction, or that courage without empathy quickly turns into toxic rigidity. My experience with the export markets was my accelerated leadership school, where there was no time for theorizing. I made a decision, observed its impact, and recalibrated. This iterative approach – I act, listen to the feedback from reality, and adjust – has defined me and continues to define me today.

C&B: What does a typical day look like for you now, and which moments of the day bring you the greatest satisfaction?

Georgiana Tudor: In the life of a Managing Director, the concept of a “typical day” is more of an illusion – and that is exactly what keeps me connected, even though the pace is intense. My mornings always begin the same way: one eye on the business indicators and one eye on the people. I look at what movements have taken place in the market, prioritize urgent matters, and align the teams. But if you ask me about satisfaction, it does not come when I find the ultimate solution to a problem. The best moments of the day are those when I find out that someone on my team has managed and solved a complex situation without my involvement. That is the ultimate indicator that I have built a healthy and autonomous organization.

C&B: What values or principles guide you in what you do, and how do you apply them every day?

Georgiana Tudor: I have a core set of five values that, consciously or unconsciously, act as filters for every major decision I make: integrity, trust, fairness, courage, and family. They are not just words to put on a wall. For me, integrity means complete alignment between what I say and what I do, especially when it is uncomfortable. I see trust as something that takes years to build and can be destroyed in a second – I have seen this in every new market. Fairness is the cement that holds teams together; people stay where they know the rules of the game are the same for everyone. Courage is what takes you from theory to execution. And family – by this I mean that sense of belonging that I try to cultivate within the organization. When people feel respected and seen, performance becomes a natural consequence rather than an obligation.

C&B: If you could send a message to people who look to you as an example, what would it be?

Georgiana Tudor: Do not fall into the trap of confusing comfort with stability. True stability comes from within – from your skills, from who you are, and from the values you refuse to compromise on, not from the position printed on your business card. Comfort, on the other hand, can be extremely expensive: most of the time, you pay for it with the professional and personal growth you did not have the courage to pursue. And I would tell them one more vital thing: pay far more attention to the people around you than to the strategies written on paper. Strategies can be rewritten over a weekend. Valuable people are much harder to find and develop. If you invest in relationships, mutual trust, and a healthy culture, business results will undoubtedly follow.

Georgiana Tudor’s career journey is a story of leadership shaped by experience, the courage to embrace new challenges, and a strong commitment to investing in people. From leading Customer Service and dealer sales at Kärcher Romania to gaining international experience across Southeastern Europe and taking on the role of Managing Director in Croatia, each stage has contributed to a leadership style built on integrity, trust, fairness, and autonomy.