From a young age, the seeds of service, leadership, and transformation were already taking root for Vlatka Hlupic, an international award-winning thought leader, CEO advisor, professor, and bestselling author of The Management Shift and Humane Capital.“At seven years old, I found myself already engrossed in reading and writing before formal schooling even started,” she explains. Her teacher suggested she be fast-tracked at school, but her parents wanted her to have a “normal childhood”, so her father bought her a blackboard instead. The young Vlatka proceeded to teach her friends and the experience of tutoring them opened her eyes to how rewarding education, leadership and empowerment could be.Fast forward to 2025 where this distinguished academic, CEO advisor and entrepreneur has just been made a Dame. Her innovative, research-based methodologies and tools have helped many organisations make changes that create more fulfilling and purposeful work environments.

Leading from the front

The lessons for friends around the blackboard in the front room of her childhood home was the beginning of Professor Dame Vlatka Ariaana Hlupic’s lifelong mission to transform leadership and create a more humanised world of business.“It empowered me, taking on a leadership role at a young age,” she explains. “At the age of seven, I started a life of service, and that has been a clear purpose and goal for me, to serve humanity, to serve and empower people, especially women.”Professor Hlupic grew up in Croatia and attended the XV Gymnasium (known as MIOC) in Zagreb, a prestigious maths school. After graduating, she studied Economic Cybernetics at the University of Zagreb, followed by an MSc in Information Systems, before moving to the UK to study a PhD in Information Systems at the London School of Economics (LSE). Initially, she had dreamed of becoming a fashion designer, because of her passion for art and creativity, but her parents encouraged her to pursue a more mainstream career which would draw on her academic abilities and credentials.She was a gifted child who was “interested in everything” and studied Economic Cybernetics and Computer Science at University at a time when both disciplines were an unusual choice for a young woman. She was not just interested in STEM subjects, however, and immersed herself in studying organisational behaviour, psychology and neuroscience among other subjects.

Continue reading on our sister website, Think Global People

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Professor Dame Vlatka Ariaana Hlupic was our Keynote Speaker at our Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner on 4 June 2025 in London

Read interview with Marianne Curphey: Leading with purpose: A life of leadership and innovation

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