Leaders Are Readers: Our First Leaders’ Breakfast Book Club at CGM Software Romania

We believe that building the future of eHealth starts with building strong connections, open minds, and great leadership. And sometimes, the most powerful leadership moments happen not in formal meetings or during big announcements — but 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐜𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤.

That’s exactly what we set out to do with the launch of our 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬’ 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛: an informal yet powerful gathering where leaders from across our organization in Romania come together, discuss ideas, challenge each other’s perspectives, and grow — both individually and as a team.

For our very first edition, we dove into 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒐𝒏𝒅! 𝒃𝒚 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒚 𝑹𝒆𝒛𝒂𝒄, a book about networking — but not networking the way you might expect. This book isn’t about shallow small talk or collecting business cards like trophies. It's about building real, lasting, meaningful connections.

The book was handpicked by 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐨𝐲 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫, General Manager of CGM Software Romania, who shared his personal story about why this book holds a special place in his leadership journey:

"𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑜𝑛𝑑! 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠 𝐼 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 — 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐼𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑤𝑖𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠. 𝑁𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒... 𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠. 𝐷𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝑖𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝, 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 — 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 — 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑡ℎ."

And what better way to kick off a leadership book club than with a book that is all about connecting authentically with others?

Our Leaders' Breakfast wasn’t just a reading circle — it was an energetic, insightful, and often very funny deep dive into everything that makes networking both an art and a skill:

• Types of frogs (yes, frogs!) and how building a "frog chain" can support your network.
• Networking done right: why being authentic matters more than working the room.
• The fear of starting conversations and how the first step is often the hardest (we've all been there).
• Introverts vs. extroverts in networking — and how both bring unique strengths to the table.
• Cultural differences: how networking looks and feels different around the world (spoiler: they matter a lot!).
• Techniques that actually work for meaningful networking.
• The real difference between chit-chat and networking — and why intention matters.
• Making connections vs. keeping connections alive over time.
• Positive networking and the power of tribal stories — because we all want to find our tribe.
• And one of our favorite lessons: If you don’t find the perfect club for networking… create it yourself!

Our leaders didn’t just read and discuss — they reflected, challenged, and inspired each other. And maybe the best part: 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥-𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 “𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬” 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬.

It was the kind of authentic sharing that bonds people together — the very heart of good leadership and good networking. This 𝐦𝐢𝐱 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐲, 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦 is exactly what we hoped to cultivate through the Leaders’ Breakfast Book Club.

Why Leaders Should Be Readers

We know that leadership is not just about managing teams or hitting targets.
It’s about lifelong learning. It's about connecting authentically. It's about seeing opportunities where others see obstacles — and helping others do the same.

Reading leadership books together — and talking about them — allows us to grow not just our knowledge, but also our empathy, our communication skills, and our leadership styles.

It reminds us that we are not just leading projects.
We are leading people.
We are creating cultures.
We are shaping the future of eHealth.

And like any great journey, it starts with small steps: a conversation, a new idea, a book, a cup of coffee.

This was just the first edition — and it's safe to say it won’t be the last.
We’re already gathering book recommendations and looking forward to new editions, more inspiring discussions, and more opportunities to connect, reflect, and lead better together.

As Work the Pond! teaches us:

"𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝𝑠 𝑠𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔."

Stay tuned. More leadership mornings, powerful conversations, and new books are brewing.

At CGM, we are proud to be a place where leadership is built on learning, sharing, growing — and sometimes, simply enjoying a great story over breakfast.

At CGM Software Romania, 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 — 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐭.

If you believe in the power of learning, leading with purpose, and making a real impact in eHealth, 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. Grow with us. Lead with us. Shape the future with us. Because the future of healthcare needs bold minds and open hearts.