The Dating App Founder | 8M members | Bootstrapped startup with a team of 50+ | Co-founder & COO of Inner Circle | Follow for insights on business, leadership and relationships

Co-founder of dating app Inner Circle — a global community where people with similar lifestyles meet. No games. No endless swiping. Just real people, genuinely worth dating.

Built from the ground up without external funding, Inner Circle now connects over 8 million people across the world, through shared lifestyles, intentional design and a belief that opposites don’t attract.

Currently every 4 seconds 2 people meet through Inner Circle.

keen to meet your match?
try the app with code MK2024 for a month of premium access.

Follow me for honest insights about work, life and love.

Looking for stars to join the team, check out the careers page: www.about.theinnercircle.co/careers. 

About me: 
I believe no strategy is better than its execution. 
My scope includes:
🏆 Hiring and developing winning teams 
✅ Alignment and execution driven by OKRs
🚀 Marketing that drives growth with ROI
🥾 Data to accelerate experiments that move the needle
🍸 Advisor and angel

In 2025, I stepped back into marketing as COO CMO. Content is the most powerful lever for any brand, so I started posting here to understand what makes it tick, share my learnings and lead my team better.

Michael Krayenhoff

Reminder for managers:

Your new hire’s failure is your failure.

One of the biggest mistakes companies make...
is not setting new hires up for success.

You can’t expect people to “hit the ground running”...
if you never put them in the race.

If they fail in their first 3 months,
it’s not their fault.
It’s yours.

Because great onboarding isn’t just a process.


It’s training.
It’s preparation.
It’s sharing knowledge.
It’s building relationships.
It’s learning what good looks like.

Managers don’t just hire talent...
they shape it.

Set people up to win,
and they’ll make your whole team stronger.

♻ Repost to remind others that leadership starts with day one.
✅ Follow Michael Krayenhoff for more on business, leadership and careers

People won’t remember what you said,

But they will remember how you treated them.

The best leaders don’t just manage tasks,

They connect with people.

And empathy is their most powerful tool.

✅ It’s how you earn trust.
✅ Diffuse conflict.
✅ Build loyalty.

And lead with heart, not ego.

Here are 15 Ways to Lead With Empathy:
(That Your Team Won’t Forget)

1/ Flex when life gets messy
↳ Be adaptable and offer options when life takes over.

2/ Listen to what isn’t being said
↳ Watch body language, mood shifts, and what’s left out.

3/ Make it safe to say “I don’t know”
↳ Reward curiosity and remove fear from learning.

4/ Stay steady when emotions run high
↳ Help to stabilize uncertainty and guide people back to the goal..

5/ Give people grace when they make mistakes
↳ Use errors as coaching moments, not moments for judgment.

6/ Ask “How can I support you?” and mean it
↳ Let them define what support looks like. Then step up.

7/ Lead with transparency in hard moments
↳ Share context honestly. Don’t leave people in the dark.

8/ Give feedback that grows, not shames
↳ Be direct, but kind. Critique behaviors, not people.

9/ Ask them how they’re really feeling
↳ Go beyond work and show you’re invested enough to listen.

10/ Listen without fixing or finishing
↳ Don’t rush to solve, but give people room to learn and grow.

11/ Support the person, not just the performer
↳ Check in when they struggle not just when they shine.

12/ Model positive boundaries and respect theirs
↳ Don’t glorify burnout, but lead with respect and boundaries..

13/ Make space for quieter voices
↳ Invite input early rather than letting the loudest dominate. 

14/ Act before they have to ask
↳ Anticipate needs and pay attention to signals.

15/ Praise progress, not just perfection
↳ Recognize the progress people make - not just the end result.

16/ Defend people when they’re not in the room
↳ Speak up when it counts. Loyalty is leadership.

17/ Speak to their potential, not just performance
↳ Reflect back the future you see in them regularly.

Let me know below 👇 

♻ Repost this to help your network.
✅ Follow Michael Krayenhoff for more on business, leadership and careers.

Power moves get tasks done.
Care moves people forward.
That’s the real scoreboard of leadership.

But it’s also the part most leaders overlook.

They chase performance.
Defend their image.
Micromanage the process.

But legacy doesn’t live in your CV.
It lives in the people who have worked beside you.

Want to build the kind of leadership people remember?
Start with these 10: 

1/ Protect people’s energy
↳ Respect workload. Notice burnout. Make space to breathe.

2/ Listen with intent
↳ Not to fix. Not to reply. Just to truly understand.

3/ Notice quiet effort
↳ The loudest voice isn’t always the one carrying the weight.

4/ Remove the ego
↳ The team wins when credit is shared and blame is absorbed.

5/ Be the same person every day
↳ Stability builds trust. Emotional swings erode it.

6/ Give trust early
↳ Ownership starts when people feel believed in.

7/ Ask better questions
↳ Good leadership isn’t about answers, it’s about curiosity.

8/ Celebrate progress, not perfection
↳ Consistency matters more than flawless performance.

9/ Step in before things break
↳ Don’t wait for a mess to show leadership. Prevent it.

10/ Grow people quietly
↳ No micromanaging. No spotlight. Just steady belief and stretch.

Because in the end,

No one talks about your job title.
They talk about how they felt under your leadership.

Seen.
Safe.
Trusted.
Stretched.

That’s the legacy people carry.

Which one of these do you wish more leaders practiced?
Drop your thoughts below 👇

♻ Repost to raise the bar for leadership.
✅ Follow Michael Krayenhoff for more on business, leadership and careers.

www.zoralazarov.com

Disruptive behavior and culture change-strategies to increase performance, promotability, teamwork, engagement and wellbeing.

Entrepreneur / Executive Coach 

Apple

Senior Regional People Business Partner for Software Engineering teams in Europe (900+ employees in 18 countries)

Senior People Partner @ Apple Software Engineering (R&D) for Europe

Supporting 9 stores, in 3 countries and over 1000 employees across DACH as part of the Market Leadership Teams by leading various People Topics (I&D, Talent & Leadership Development, Compensation, Change Management, Employee Engagement, Culture Development, Performance Management, etc..)

Senior People Partner @ Apple for Switzerland, Austria and West Germany (DACH)

As part of the Country/Market Leadership Teams, leading Talent & Leadership Development for Apple Retail in Switzerland & Austria.

Talent Development Manager @ Apple for Switzerland & Austria

As part of the Swiss Market Leadership Team, responsible for Human Resources and Employee Relations in Apple Retail Switzerland (approx. 450 employees).

Country Human Resources & Employee Relations Manager for Switzerland

Ericsson

As part of the Swiss Business Leadership Team, responsible for HR Country Operations in Ericsson Switzerland (approx. 300 employees).

• HR Leadership & Priorities - leading a local team of 3 employees, setting joint HR priorities, plan and objectives for 2014  
• HR Transformation - supporting ongoing global / regional transformation initiatives by local input delivery
• Compensation & Benefits Management - e.g. yearly bonus / salary increase process, quarterly promotion / technical increase process, Short Term Bonus and Sales Incentive Plan Administration, Benchmarking, Pension, Early Retirement, Social Security
• Recruitment - e.g. external candidate sourcing, vendor management, offer creation, contract negotiation
• HR Outsourcing - e.g. outsourcing feasibility review, tender definition, vendor selection, contract negotiation, go-live coordination / implementation
• Local Compliance - securing legal, immigration and tax compliance according to Swiss regulations.
• Authority Relations - proactive collaboration together with various cantonal authorities
• Employee Relations - handling employee representative consultations and conflict situations 
• International Mobility support for Short- and Long Term Assignees in- & outbound
• HR Controlling / Statutory Audits
• HR Projects - e.g. Regional Salary Structure -project implementation in Switzerland
• HR Communications & Change Management - e.g. regular HR newsletters, employee updates and line-manager upskilling events on various topics

Head HR

cHReative Consulting

Freelance consultant providing HR solutions and support with focus on:
1. Interim HR Business Partner services
2. HR Project & Process support
3. Strategic HR Goal Setting

Located in Bern, the heart of Switzerland, with a quick reach to Zürich, Geneva and Basel.

Examples of recent client assignments:
• Interim HR Business Partner services: Yearly Talent Development -review and providing day-to-day HR support to a senior teams of executives in a R&D sub-department, Legal & Tax -department and Corporate Communications -department.
• HR Project & Process support: Implementation of a Global Job Catalog, Interim support for a global 'Business Process Outsourcing' Project
• Strategic HR Goal Setting: Providing HR specialist support to an organizational redesign & change in a Business Unit, Defining a Strategic Leadership / People Agenda

Founder & Owner

due to motherhood

Professional break

Syngenta Seeds

• Partnering with the Global Seeds leaders and their teams to define and implement the Seeds People agenda
• Providing strategic change management counseling to different Seeds Leadership Teams (e.g. Diverse Field Crops, Vegetables, Supply Chain, R&D, Strategy) and delivering service as the Key Account Managers in all HR matters to a group of global executives.
• Leading coherent succession and talent management across Seeds globally and driving the implementation of subsequent recruitment plans (e.g. Global Strategic Recruitment, Supply Chain, DFC, Vegetables).
• Coaching senior managers on their leadership capabilities.
• Leading the HR function through global acquisition activities (e.g. Monsanto Sunflower business)
• Leading the HR function in the Integrated Crop Strategies - Cereals Prototype Leadership Team.
• Enabling and managing global functional HR network (e.g. Global Seeds Grapevine -forum)

Global HR Business Partner

Deloitte

• Business Development: Supporting various client proposals such as Talent Management & Outsourcing proposal for a large Swiss life insurer, Capability Development programs for a multinational life science and a technology company, Category Management training for a global life science company, Car Policy proposal, Bonus incentive proposal for a Swiss Investment Bank.
• Client / Project work: Outsourcing Fulfilment, Supply Chain Change Communications, HR Service Delivery Model, HR Process Redesign
• Practice Development: Design & impementation of internal Employee Satisfaction Survey & Analysis for the Deloitte Swiss Audit Department, HR Coach to Graduates, Young HR professionals project

Human Capital Senior Consultant

Syngenta Crop Protection AG

• Designing EE Talent Attraction & Retention Strategy 
• Developing EEHR Intranet for the use of employees, managers and Country HR Managers across EE.
• Building up HR function in the Strategic Growth Area (Sales 06: 420m$, Countries: 28, Employees: 550)
• Building and leading the People Strategy implementation in East & Central Europe.
• Designing and implementing core HR processes (e.g. Performance Management, Succession & Talent
Management, Individual & Organizational Development) and creating related communication material.
• Initiating, designing and leading Total Rewards -project.
• Providing HR support in Marketing for the Commercial Force Effectiveness -project.
• Coaching and upskilling senior management in HR and People related topics.
• Providing functional leadership for a team of 5 Country HR Managers.

HR Manager East Europe

• Designing and implementing an assessment and selection process for Strategic Recruitment Program.
• Leading Strategic Recruitment Program in EAME (incl. sourcing, advertising, assessing, hiring, etc.).

Assistant HR Manager EAME

IKEA

• Designing Recruitment Process and executing related recruitment.
• Developing internal / external employer image.

HR Manager

Nordea Bank

• Coordinating selection & recruitment to national Graduate Trainee Program and Senior Trainee Program.
• Developing contents and structures of trainee programs with HRD.
• Coordinating university relations and organizing various recruitment events.
• Providing HR / HRD consultancy to senior managers in recruitment, training and aptitude assessment.
• Assessing aptitudes of internal and external applicants for various positions / levels.

HR Consultant

• Assessing aptitudes of internal and external applicants for various positions / levels.
• Participating in the planning and implementation of Senior Trainee Program -pilot.

Psychologist Trainee

I help leaders develop mental strength and power habits | Coached over 400 senior leaders & executives 📣 | Licensed Psychologist 🧠 | ex-Apple 🍏

I am a creative disrupter of mindsets, behavioral patterns and company cultures for the past 20 years.
My most recent corporate experience was to coach and develop R&D Leaders in Europe at Apple. 

Today I drive change with..
✅ Executives and senior leaders to level up their leadership impact
✅ Companies disrupt and level up their company cultures
✅ CHRO's and CEO's to rethink People Strategies
✅ Public Speaking Events to spark change.

My results:
→ Coached over 400 senior leaders and executives for higher leadership impact, performance, promotability, wellbeing and teamwork.
→ Created powerful people strategies for world-leading companies, such as Apple related to Inclusion, Reward & Performance, Leadership Culture, Competency Development, etc.
→ Tailor-made disruptive culture change strategies to create measurable momentum e.g. in Building a Coaching Culture, Building Inclusive Leadership, etc.
→ Led and developed teams of 3-15 employees and as a leader I'm known for visionary & inspirational style and for driving outperformance through coaching & developing my team and my directs.
→ Recognized as a value-adding partner and inspirational keynote speaker for business executives and their leadership teams across different industries.

I'm known for creative, candid, no-nonsense and measurable approch to executive development.
I help executives to become the person they want to see in the mirror every day.
Sh** happens by chance, behavior & culture change by design.

taplio

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Michael Krayenhoff

Zora Lazarov

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Zora Lazarov

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