Leadership English

For non-native English speakers building executive presence, this conversation asks a question most leaders feel but rarely say out loud: what does it actually cost to spend years hiding your accent just to fit into the room?
Silke Meixner was born in Frankfurt, baptized in Kabul, and raised across Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and the Congo before her family settled in Germany. By the time she built her career at IBM and Deloitte, she'd learned to sound as proper as possible, toning down her accent and her international background at every turn.
We talk about the moment that changed her relationship with her own executive presence: a teammate's comment, "you were actually really fun," that revealed the extra-formal persona she'd built for consulting. From there, we get into the three-legged stool she uses to stay grounded in high-stakes meetings, cultural fluency as a leadership skill, why small talk works differently across cultures, how intonation alone can shift English from sounding confident to sounding aggressive, and the framework she calls cautious authenticity, knowing what to share at work and when.
This conversation is for you if you're a non-native English speaker who has ever wondered whether the polished, formal version of yourself is actually helping your credibility, or quietly working against it.
📌 In this episode:
0:00 Introduction
0:59 Meet Silke Meixner
1:44 Growing up across Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Congo, and Germany
2:46 Why her multicultural upbringing became a career asset
4:08 Owning her accent instead of hiding it
6:23 Building an "extra formal" persona in consulting
7:56 "You were actually really fun"
9:01 Why relaxing is received better than staying formal
10:16 How ease unlocks clearer thinking
11:25 Staying grounded as the only non-native speaker, only woman, only virtual attendee
12:03 The three-legged stool framework
14:49 Active listening and reading hidden agendas
16:45 Why small talk is relationship infrastructure
17:35 The ask-and-share formula for small talk
20:31 The "what?" intonation exercise
21:38 Male-dominated rooms and choosing what to conform to24:02 Sharing her passion for benevolent AI
27:35 Cautious authenticity, what's safe to share and when
29:20 Her rule: never ask about kids or a spouse unless mentioned
31:38 What she wishes more people asked her
33:19 "And, not or," integrating AI and ancient wisdom
35:02 Closing thoughts
📌 About Silke Meixner:
Silke Meixner is a Principal at ZS Consulting, where she leads customer-centric marketing and digital transformation work for global organizations. Born in Frankfurt and raised across Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and the Congo before settling in Germany for her high school years, she went on to study and work in the UK before building her career at IBM and Deloitte.
She now lives in Los Angeles, holds dual German and US citizenship, and travels internationally for her work in technology and innovation consulting. Alongside her corporate career, Silke is involved in initiatives promoting benevolent AI and describes herself as "a hippie in corporate clothing," integrating ancient wisdom traditions with her work in digital transformation.
📌 Follow Silke: LinkedIn (Silke Meixner) — https://www.linkedin.com/in/silkemeixner/
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#LeadershipCommunication #ExecutivePresence #BusinessEnglish

You have been in that meeting.
A critical decision is being made. You have a real perspective on it. You reach for the words in English and the conversation moves on. The moment closes. And you stay quiet, not because you had nothing to say, but because the cost of saying it imperfectly felt too high.
In this episode, Tannia names something that most high-performing international executives have been carrying privately for years: the translation gap.
The translation gap is not a language problem. It is the distance between who you know yourself to be and who the room gets to experience. And it does not respond to more language study.
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In this episode:
✅ Why the most capable people in the room go the quietest, and why that is not a coincidence.
✅ The three-layer cost that most executives underestimate: before the meeting, during it, and in the private debrief no one else sees.
✅ Why fluency and leadership presence are two completely different skills.
✅ What actually shifts when executives close this gap at the level it actually operates, which is identity, not language.
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If you have ever walked out of a high-stakes meeting knowing you had more to offer than the room got to see, this episode is for you.
You have done the hard work to get into the room. Let's make sure the room knows you are there.
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#LeadershipCommunication #ExecutivePresence #BusinessEnglish #GlobalLeaders #LeadershipEnglish

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Victoria Rozanska didn't have connections, referrals, or a native English advantage when she set her sights on Google. What she had was patience, persistence, and a mindset she calls detachment from the outcome.
In this episode, Victoria walks Tannia through her path from Poland to the UK, into Google Dublin, and finally to Google's Bay Area headquarters, where she landed on a Friday and started her new role the following Monday.
Along the way, she discovered something most people never expect. Even her native language became foreign to her in a professional context. Selling to Polish clients from Dublin, she realized her English business vocabulary was stronger than her Polish one.
We talk about the real mechanics of building a life from scratch in a new country, not through networking events, but through curiosity, and the cultural adjustments that catch so many non-native professionals off guard: America's shout-out culture, the rhythm of small talk, and the specific phrases that signal contribution instead of interruption in a meeting.
This conversation is for you if you've ever wondered whether your English is good enough to lead, because Victoria's story makes the case that the real barriers were never linguistic.

In this episode:
0:00 Introduction
0:48 Starting out in Poland, finding the tech path
2:27 Applying to Google and waiting for years
4:17 Detachment from the outcome
5:56 Rejected, then accepted months later
6:13 The moment she realized she didn't know "business Polish"
11:22 Small talk as relational infrastructure, not filler
12:51 Landed in San Francisco on Friday, started Monday
14:38 Why American small talk feels different
15:44 Building community from zero through shared interests
16:43 The silent ecstatic beach dance that led to real friendships
22:54 America's shout-out culture
25:17 Why shout-outs are part of good leadership
28:52 The workplace phrases that change how you're heard
29:31 "To your point," piggybacking, and active listening
35:24 Coaching, identity, and life beyond the job title
39:09 Closing thoughts

About Victoria Rozanska
Victoria (Wiktoria) Rozanska is a Global Partnerships professional at Google, podcast host, certified Ikigai coach, and international career advocate whose journey spans five countries, three continents, and multiple career transitions, all while building her career in a language that isn't her native one. Originally from Szczecin, Poland, Victoria moved abroad alone at 18 to study Business Management in the UK. She gained experience through internships at HP, Accenture, and Google, later securing a full-time role at Google by applying directly through the company's website with no personal connections or referrals.
Since joining Google, her career has taken her from the UK to Dublin, Silicon Valley, and New York City, working across sales, strategy, onboarding, and business growth before moving into Global Partnerships, where she now works with companies across the apps, gaming, podcast, and digital media ecosystem.
Alongside her corporate career, Victoria is the founder of Aligned with Ikigai, a coaching platform focused on purpose, career transitions, and identity in a rapidly changing world. She's also the creator and host of The Human Presence, a podcast featuring conversations with founders, investors, artists, technologists, and multidimensional thinkers exploring what it means to stay human in the age of AI.
📌 Follow Victoria: @wiktoriaer (Instagram) and on LinkedIn (Victoria Rozanska)
📌 Follow Victoria’s new podcast here: https://www.instagram.com/the_humanpresence 
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#LeadershipCommunication #ExecutivePresence #BusinessEnglish

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In this episode, we'll dive into practical strategies for building unshakeable confidence as an executive whose first language isn’t English, and then share five powerful transition phrases that will help you guide any meeting or presentation with ease.
Whether you’re leading board discussions, investor calls, or team stand-ups, these tips will keep you focused on your message and off the hamster wheel of self-doubt.
Get the full notes for this episode here: tanniasuarez.com/blog/meeting-transition-phrases

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