Zarko Palankov is a business professional and leadership coach based in Washington DC.
He is passionate about helping others to realize their full potential and develop their leadership skills.
Zarko Palankov was born and raised in Bulgaria. Throughout his life, he has studied and worked in several countries, including Bulgaria, France, Hungary, and the United States. He is multilingual and is fluent in Bulgarian, English, French, and Spanish.
For his undergraduate education, Zarko Palankov attended the Ohio Wesleyan University, earning Bachelor of Arts degrees in French and English with a concentration in creative writing. While studying at OWU, Zarko participated in numerous activities, including playing varsity tennis, attending a chess club, and writing for the university newspaper.
Zarko Palankov also holds a Master of Arts degree from George Washington University, where he studied International Affairs.
In 2015, Zarko Palankov founded LeadIN, an organization aimed at shifting leadership paradigms and help individuals grow their leadership potential. Zarko has been passionate about leadership development since childhood. He started his company after realizing that he had mistakenly assumed for years that some people are naturally “talented” while others are not. After identifying the inherent problems in this type of thinking, Zarko set out to change the narrative of leadership and show that leadership potential is in everyone, rather than reserved for only a select few.
Zarko says of his work, “I facilitate potential, enabling people, organizations, and communities to discover and unleash their latent abilities in order to re-imagine how they learn, grow, lead, and work together.” He envisions a future where more employees are engaged in their work and feel empowered to lead. This future includes a focus on people-centered leadership and workplaces.
Zarko Palankov is a strong proponent of cultivating a growth mindset. He believes that success starts with your attitude and that most people are held back by fear or their own limiting beliefs about themselves. He also believes that these stumbling blocks can be overcome and that anyone can achieve a growth mindset with the right tools.
For the past five years, Zarko Palankov has also served as a Senior Organizational Development Consultant for the World Bank. As a freelance consultant, Zarko provides services in educational consulting, business consulting, leadership development, training, team building, corporate training, nonprofit consulting, and strategic planning.
Zarko Palankov was also a founding member of the Global Language Network (GLN), a nonprofit offering language classes to adults in Washington DC. After co-founding the organization, Zarko served as the nonprofit’s president for many years, leading the way for enormous growth and impact.
In addition to his work as a consultant and founder, Zarko Palankov has many passions. He plays piano and guitar, composes, and listens to a wide variety of music. He is also an avid film buff who cares deeply about movies, especially international films. Some of Zarko’s other interests are reading, writing, and playing and watching soccer. He also cares deeply about sustainability and the environment.