Rob Dance

CEO & Founder of ROCK.

I started my business with just £1,000
 
(I bought a cheap van, a laptop, and a desk)
 
Today, we operate internationally
Today, we hire over 100 of the brightest minds
Today, we're an 8-figure business, on our way to 9
Today, we're launching several new start ups
Today, I work with some of the most gifted people in the world
 
But what you don't know is:
 
20 years ago, I failed my exams and dropped out of school
17 years ago, I really struggled to write a full sentence
15 years ago, I was too scared to make phone calls

So now I'm sharing my journey with you.
Daily insights to help anyone.
Let's goooooooo 🚀

CEO & Founder

After 15 years of growing my business, I realised something FUNDAMENTAL was missing.

Our unique culture and innovative ways of managing our people has always been a TOP priority for me.

So much so, I have never found the perfect software platform to manage our people operations and help my team remove the day-to-day noise so they can focus on our mission.

Then, one day, it struck me: I NEED to create this myself to help other businesses!!

And so, Ware was born.

Launching in 2025, Ware promises to transform how you build your culture and genuinely empower your team.

Ware. Everything is.

A reminder for anyone who needs it:

(You deserve better)

Stop giving 100% to companies that treat you like you're replaceable.

If you're always:

- Staying late
- Pushing hard
- Hitting targets

And you’re still getting ignored - it's not your fault.

You're not unmotivated.
You're undervalued.

A company that appreciates you will show it. They’ll:

1) Recognise your contributions and effort.
2) Listen to your concerns and act on them.
3) Respect your boundaries and work-life balance.
4) Promote from within instead of overlooking internal talent.
5) Support your career growth with training and opportunities.
6) Make staying feel like the right choice, not your only choice.
7) Pay you what you’re worth, not what they can get away with.

Loyalty is a two-way street.

If they can't meet you halfway, don’t feel guilty for pulling back.

Protect your energy.
Know your worth.

The right workplace won’t make you question it.

Do you agree?

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Stop giving 100% to people who give you 10%. Rob Dance

Confidence in leadership isn’t about always having the answer

It’s about this…

Trusting yourself to figure things out - even when nothing feels certain.

Too many leaders think they need to seem perfect. 
But that’s not where respect comes from.

Respect comes from how you handle pressure. 
From how you respond when things go wrong.

The best leaders?

→ They ask for help. 
→ They admit when they’re unsure. 
→ They build teams that challenge their thinking.

So if you want to lead with confidence, try this:

1. Listen more than you speak.
2. Let your actions do the talking.
3. Be willing to be wrong - honesty builds trust.
4. Surround yourself with strong, honest voices.
5. Stand by your decisions, especially the tough ones.
6. Trust yourself to figure it out - not to have it all figured out.

You don’t need to feel “ready.”

You just need to trust that you’ll handle what comes next.

Do you agree?

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Confidence is knowing you’ll figure it out, not knowing all the answers. Rob Dance

Someone else’s success is not a threat.

It’s proof.

Proof that progress is possible.

When I see someone win… 
I don’t feel smaller.

I feel reminded.

If they can do it, so can I.

As Justin says, too many people sit back:

- Judging
- Comparing
- Secretly hoping someone slips up

That mindset builds nothing.

Because clapping for others shows strength.

It shows confidence. 
It shows security.

So if you’re in a waiting season, use it.

→ Study what works 
→ Improve your skills 
→ Stay consistent

There is no weakness in celebrating someone else’s win.

Only insecurity makes it feel that way.

Do you agree?

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Until it’s my turn, I will keep clapping for others. It’s just that simple. Rob Dance and Justin Wright.

Respect should never depend on a job title.

No one needs to know someone’s:

- Salary
- Position
- Qualifications

To treat them well.

They are human. 
That alone is enough.

I see people switch their tone based on who stands in front of them.

And that shift says more than any CV ever will.

Character shows when there is nothing to gain.

So if you want to grow as a leader, practise these daily:

1. Say thank you
2. Keep eye contact
3. Show basic respect
4. Greet everyone properly
5. Listen without interrupting

These actions cost nothing.

But they build trust faster than any title ever will.

Do you agree?

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Make it a habit to respect people without knowing their qualifications, title, or position. Rob Dance

This isn’t meant to feel good…

(But it’s how we grow)

As Justin Wright pointed out - it’s discomfort that takes you far.

Yet too many leaders avoid disagreement.

They see silence and call it respect.
They chase harmony instead of honest thinking.

But great leaders do it differently:

→ They listen with calm.
→ They speak with purpose.
→ They invite challenge, not just compliance.

The simple truth?
They want people who call out what’s wrong.

So if no one’s questioning you, it’s not a sign you’ve nailed it.

It’s a sign they’ve stopped believing you’ll listen.

Do you agree?

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Insecure leaders want only yes-people around them. Strong leaders want people who challenge their thinking. Justin Wright and Rob Dance

Here’s the truth:

Playing safe won’t make you happy.

If there’s even a slight chance something could improve your life…

Explore it.

- Don’t overthink it
- Don’t talk yourself out of it before you’ve even tried

Life is short.

Time doesn’t slow down.

And real happiness?

It’s rare.

It doesn’t come from staying where you feel stuck. 
It comes from movement.

Fear will always show up.

But that doesn’t mean stop.

It means you’re stepping outside your comfort zone.

That’s where progress lives.

→ Take the call
→ Book the meeting
→ Submit the application

Risk feels scary.
Regret feels worse.

Do you agree?

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If there’s even a slight chance at getting something that will make you happy, risk it. Life’s too short and happiness is too rare. Rob Dance.

Careers do not end because of:

- One rejection
- One bad review
- One missed promotion

They stall when effort stops.

Because growth belongs to people who stay in motion.

So if you are serious about career growth, focus on three things:

→ Upgrading skills 
→ Building strong relationships 
→ Asking for honest feedback

Then apply what is learnt immediately.

Progress does not reward pride.

It rewards people who refuse to stay still.

Do you agree?

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Nothing is over for someone who tries. Rob Dance.

Want to level up fast in your career?

Here’s how:

Sit beside someone who's already ahead.

Not to compete.
To catch their momentum.

When you’re around ambitious people, your mindset shifts.

→ You think bigger.
→ You raise your standards.
→ You stop making excuses.

And as Dora Vanourek puts it, it stretches you in ways you didn’t expect.

So ask yourself:

Is your circle fuelling your growth?
Or keeping you stuck?

Choose your company with intention.

It matters more than you think.

Do you agree?

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A reality check for anyone who needs it:

(You deserve better)

Loyalty isn’t a one-way street.

Too many workplaces expect it without giving anything in return.

But a company that values you will show it. They’ll:

1) Recognise your contributions and effort.
2) Listen to your concerns and act on them.
3) Respect your boundaries and work-life balance.
4) Promote from within instead of overlooking internal talent.
5) Support your career growth with training and opportunities.
6) Make staying feel like the right choice, not your only choice.
7) Pay you what you’re worth, not what they can get away with.

If they:

- Don’t value you
- Don’t invest in your growth
- Don’t try to retain you when you consider leaving

Take the hint.

Staying in a place that doesn’t value you will drain you.

Take your skills, time, and energy where they’re appreciated.

Do you agree?

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We’ve all had that one leader.

The one who:

→ Saw our potential before we did.
→ Stood by us when we doubted ourselves.
→ Pushed us forward - not with noise, but with quiet belief.

And as Reno Perry says, that kind of faith?

It stays with you.
It shapes who you become.

So here’s the real question:

Are you doing that for someone else?

Because someone on your team is waiting.

Waiting for just one person to say: “I believe in you.”

Be that person.
Be that leader.

Do you agree?

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Remember the leader who believed in you before you believed in yourself? Be that person for someone else. - Reno Perry and Rob Dance.

One of the hardest lessons to learn:

You cannot make someone change.

Sometimes you spend months trying to raise issues that are affecting the team.

- You give feedback.
- You offer suggestions.
- You explain the impact on people around you.

And still…
Nothing changes.

Why?

Because listening starts with awareness.

And if a leader cannot see the problem in their behaviour?
They believe they have no reason to change it.

Employees can raise concerns.

They can be honest.

They can explain what is happening on the ground.

But improvement only happens when a leader chooses to:

→ Listen
→ Reflect
→ Take responsibility

So remember:

You cannot force someone to hear what they are not willing to hear. 

Do you agree?

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Biggest lesson this year?

Stop over-giving to people who wouldn’t do the same for you.

It sounds blunt. 
It’s still true.

Too many of us pour:

- Time
- Effort
- Loyalty

Into relationships that give nothing back.

That isn’t kindness. 
It’s imbalance.

So I watch actions now.

Not words.

If someone values you, they show it.

→ They check in 
→ They make time 
→ They show up

The right people step up.

The rest drift away.

Do you agree?

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Biggest lesson I learnt last year was probably not to give so much of yourself to people who wouldn’t do the same for you. Rob Dance

If it isn’t said, it gets carried…

And that weight builds fast.

Silence feels easier.

- No tension
- No awkward talk
- No risk of upsetting anyone

But you pay for it later.

Unspoken words turn into stress.

Stress turns into frustration.

And frustration leaks into your:

→ Tone 
→ Energy 
→ Behaviour

Staying quiet does not fix the problem.

It stores it.

Do you agree?

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Remember: if you’re not saying it, you’re carrying it, and that gets heavy fast. Rob Dance.

Career growth is often misunderstood.

People expect it to be loud and obvious.

→ A promotion 
→ A new job title 
→ A big announcement that everyone notices

But most real growth is quiet.

Sometimes it simply looks like clarity.

Clarity about what matters at work. 
Clarity about what does not.

Real growth often begins with three things.

1) Clarity 
↳ Knowing what work truly matters 
↳ Deciding where your effort should go 
↳ Understanding the direction your career should take

2) Boundaries
↳ Setting limits 
↳ Protecting your time 
↳ Saying no to work that pulls you away from real progress

3) Better decisions
↳ Leaving environments that keep you stuck 
↳ Choosing opportunities that build real skills 
↳ Working with people who challenge you to improve

Career growth rarely arrives with applause.

Most of the time, it starts with quiet choices no one else sees.

Do you agree?

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Growth doesn’t always look loud. Sometimes it looks like clarity, boundaries, and better decisions. Rob Dance.

I used to believe support was enough to change people.

If I encouraged them…

- Backed them
- Gave them time

They would step up.

I was wrong.

Because good intentions do not build culture.

Consistent behaviour does.

If someone talks about teamwork but gossips 
↳ Believe the gossip.

If someone promises change but repeats the same mistakes 
↳ Believe the pattern.

Culture weakens when leaders ignore red flags to avoid conflict.

It strengthens when behaviour is addressed early and clearly.

Do you agree?

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Pivot with intention — from inner rewiring to outer results | Business & Leadership Coach | Product Advisor | Speaker | Helping leaders & companies win their biggest pivots

Hi, I’m Clara.

From navigating communist Romania to building a life and career across countries, building a family while leading multimillion-dollar product teams, and then reinventing myself as an entrepreneur, my journey has been full of bold pivots.

Now, I help leaders, founders, and companies navigate their own high-stakes transitions—without the fluff, the overwhelm, or the endless struggle.

FROM STUCK TO STRATEGY, FAST.

I don’t do endless sessions. I get leaders and companies unstuck, clear, and moving forward—fast.

As an ex-tech product leader turned business & leadership coach, I bring real-world product thinking, business strategy, and mindset transformation to help senior executives and teams navigate high-stakes transitions—whether that’s scaling leadership, shifting to a product-led model, or making bold business moves.

YOU'VE CLIMBED THE MOUNTAIN...NOW YOU'RE QUESTIONING IF IT'S THE RIGHT ONE.

That moment in between—the crossroads, the career shift, the leadership challenge—awakens an inner warrior. Now you need to channel that energy in the right direction by identifying the internal barriers that are keeping you stuck.

Because what got you here won't get you where you want to go.

My counterintuitive approach gets you unstuck without adding more to your plate.

You don’t need more information.

You need better questions, sharper decisions, and the right mindset shifts to move forward.

This is not about working harder.

This is about leading, living, and working with clarity, confidence, and alignment.

WHO I WORK WITH

☑️ High-Achievers in Transition – Whether stepping up or stepping out, you need clarity on what’s next.

☑️ Founders & Entrepreneurs – Navigating the rollercoaster of building something new, scaling leadership, and making bold moves.

☑️ Leaders at Crossroads – Making decisions from deep knowing, not just data or pressure.

☑️ Companies Shifting to a Product-Led Model – Aligning leadership, strategy, and execution for long-term impact.

If you trust me to help you—I’ll honor that and bring what I believe will serve you best.

Are you ready?

Let’s get to work.

Clara Vincenc-Cismaru

Sometimes saying yes to something that doesn't excite you
leads to the most exciting outcomes.

I was recently a guest lecturer at the Institute for Foreign Studies in Prague for a Leadership course for bachelor students.

Because of my background in cybersecurity and highly regulated environments, they asked me to cover compliance, security, and ethics in AI.

On top of that, the class historically scored low on engagement. My challenge was to make it fun.

Okay. Not the leadership topic I expected. Challenge accepted. How hard can compliance be to make fun? 😀

The night before the first lecture, my computer went completely black. 
Perfect timing.

First reaction: stress.
Then I realized that I knew my material. A flipchart would be enough.
The lecture was already packed with stories and exercises. It could go fully experiential if needed.
The next morning the computer worked fine.

And my own HDMI cable turned out to be the only one compatible with my machine.
Never underestimate the strategic importance of carrying your own HDMI cable.

Teaching the same course to five different groups was its own challenge.
Five groups. Five completely different energy levels.

I had to read the room constantly. Shift the rhythm. Add interaction. Get people moving.

Years of experience across corporate leadership, Toastmasters, and workshop design made it possible. But it was still real time adaptation every single time.

Preparing these lectures meant going deep.
Actual legislation.
Frameworks.
International initiatives.
Real world cases.
All connected with my own experience in highly regulated industries.

What became clear is how significant the shift we are living through actually is.

AI is not just another technology.
It is a civilizational transition.
Which is a slightly bigger responsibility than upgrading your phone every two years.

And like every major transition, it comes with uncertainty.

AI magnifies whatever we bring into it.
Which makes compliance, security, and ethics non negotiable. Not optional conversations to have later.
Without them, we risk building systems that move faster than our ability to steer them.

Right now humans are still in the loop.
That means we carry the responsibility to make it more likely this technology leads toward abundance and human flourishing, not the opposite.

What started as a topic I was lukewarm about made me realize that I am genuinely passionate about this space.

Leadership in the age of AI is not only about vision, strategy, or execution.
It is also about responsibility.

AI magnifies whatever we bring into it.
Leadership matters more than ever.
Ethics, security, and responsibility in AI are becoming core leadership capabilities.
Not technical topics.
Leadership topics.

Curious how other leaders are thinking about this shift.

#leadership
#responsibleai
#aiethics
#futureofleadership
#aitransformation

I help senior leaders and founders cut through uncertainty and lead decisively in fast-changing environments, without second-guessing themselves | Executive Coach & Strategic Advisor | Speaker

The question isn’t “can we build it?” anymore. It’s “should we?”

Last week I lectured bachelor students on AI compliance, security, and ethics at Institute of Foreign Studies Abroad.
These are my own reflections.

Preparing this lecture forced me to think deeper.

We’ve built one of the most powerful technologies in human history. And it’s becoming more powerful every day.

That power requires responsibility. 
Real responsibility needs more than good intentions. 
It needs structure: compliance, security, ethics embedded from the beginning. Not added when something breaks.

We’re already seeing what happens when power and ethics clash. We’ll see this more often.

You may not control regulation or political power. But if you’re a founder, CEO, board member, or investor, you control incentives. 
You control priorities. 
You control what gets funded and normalized.

AI has made building easier than ever. The frontier now is judgment.

Just because we can automate, extract attention, replace humans, or scale influence doesn’t mean we should.

We build for humans. If there are no humans left, who are you selling to?

Human-centricity is the foundation. Remove it and everything collapses.

So: if you hold power, where is ethics embedded in what you build?

And if your product one day moves against your values: what then?

The day I stopped calling it a time management problem.
I thought I needed a better system.
A better routine.
A better calendar.
More discipline.

I tried all of it.
And still, my work often waited
while everything else at home got done first.
It took becoming a solopreneur to see what was actually happening.

As an employee, the structure protected my focus.
There was a schedule.
A team.
Customers already existed.
My job was to do my work well.

Now I do alone what a whole team used to do.
Before I can even show how good I am, I have to create the conditions that make the work possible.
Visibility.
Trust.
Pipeline.
When I stop, things stop.

And that’s when something became impossible to ignore.

The people in my life are capable.
Completely capable.
But over the years, certain things quietly became mine.
Because explaining took longer than doing.
Because avoiding tension felt easier.
Because when something is done poorly long enough… you stop asking.
And people learn something too.
That there is always a fallback.

Nobody is the villain here.
But the spiral is real.
They carry less, so we carry more.
We carry more, so they carry less.
And somewhere in that spiral, our ambitions wait for space that never quite opens.

The experts say: protect your focus.
They’re right.
But focus requires conditions.
And the invisible work of running a home rarely appears in productivity frameworks.
Yet in many homes, it is a second full-time job.
Quietly carried by one person.

So the question I sit with now is simple:
How much of what I’m carrying is actually mine to carry?

Or put differently:
What is one thing you carry today that might not actually be yours?

Not to create blame.
Not to create resentment.
But to look honestly at patterns we never examined out loud.

You can love your family deeply and still protect your focus.
You can stop being the fallback without abandoning anyone.
Some days I do this well.
Some days I don’t.
I no longer carry things in silence and call it love.

—
This month celebrating International Woman’s Day, I’m opening 10 free coaching conversations for ambitious women who feel the weight of this.

Not to fix you. You’re not broken.
To help you see clearly and start the conversations that change things.

If this resonates, send me a message.
And if someone in your life carries too much in silence, send this to her.

Small kids, small worries. Big kids, big worries.

I first heard this from my father-in-law when my daughter was a baby.
Now that she’s older, I start to understand what he meant.
And I can already see what is coming with the teenage years.

Right now our “big worry” is much simpler: toys everywhere in the house.
And last week I tried something interesting.

I was looking for a system to help us keep order in the house. I want a beautiful house, and I’m fed up with constantly cleaning and things getting out of control immediately, especially after days when I’m busy and have to be out in the evening.

So I decided that instead of cleaning while my daughter is not around, we allocate time where we clean together.
But when she looked at all the toys around, it felt overwhelming for her.

So I started with coaching questions. I asked her:

“Do you remember the beautiful hotels where we stayed on holiday?”
“Yes mommy, especially the one next to the beach.”
“And do you remember how beautiful the room was every day when we came back and it was clean?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want the same with our house?”
“Yes.”
“Well, we don’t have other people cleaning for us. So we need to clean.”

She was sitting on my lap, both of us looking at the room.
So I asked her to imagine something:
“Imagine you are me. You just cleaned the house. Then you go out for work and when you come back home you find this. Your work was for nothing. What would you say?”
She said:
“I would say please clean the toys.”

Then she added:
“Let’s make it a game. Put a timer and let’s see who cleans the most.”

It worked.
Of course, once is not a system.
They require practice, practice, practice.
But it was encouraging.

Coaching questions are very powerful.
Remembering.
Imagining.
Seeing through someone else’s eyes.
Finding your own solution.

This is exactly what I learned during my Erickson coaching training.
Andra Crisan was my trainer. Thanks to her I am a much better coach than before.
David Merten is an incredible storyteller.
Both are certified ICF and Erickson coaches.

They created a parenting course based on Erickson coaching principles.
Tomorrow they are hosting 2 events, in person in Prague or online.

If you have children of any age, I highly recommend joining.
Knowing them and knowing Erickson, I can confidently say: this is something different than what you usually see when it comes to parenting.

Here is the on site event. I'm adding the online event in the comments.

And now I’m curious. What tricks actually worked in your house?

CEO at Light in the Dark, Storytelling Trainer & ICF PCC Coach

Excited to share that I and my colleague Andra Crisan will be hosting an info session about our upcoming course Connected Parenting. In cooperation with Erickson International and Mindset Designs we will kick off this training end of March for parents and educators. 

This is the ONSITE session, scheduled for Tuesday, 3rd of March from 5-7 pm.

David Merten and Andra Crisan were attendees

View event: Connected Parenting Info session - ONSITE

Connected Parenting Info session - ONSITE

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The Battle

Rob Dance

Clara Vincenc-Cismaru

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The Battle

Rob Dance

Clara Vincenc-Cismaru

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