Skip to content
Home » Archives for Piotr Zagorowski

Piotr Zagorowski

I am a tech-savvy leader with a passion for technology and human connections. I’ve been helping teams reach their full potential at large international companies. My background includes network engineering, leadership, executive board experience in NGOs, and a commitment to self-improvement and sharing my knowledge. Currently, I work as a director of Platform Technologies in an innovative Web3 startup. I help talented people develop individually and build a strong team based on respect, loyalty, and a willingness to help each other in their work.

Evernote to Obsidian migration

From Evernote to Obsidian: A Note-Taking Migration Story

I was sitting at my desk, preparing for my second job change in two years, when I found myself saying something out loud to no one:

“Thank you.”

I was talking to a version of me from twelve months earlier. The one who documented every interview question, every coaching session, every lesson learned. Notes I’d completely forgotten I’d written — but there they were, exactly when I needed them.

That moment taught me something: note-taking isn’t about productivity. It’s about compounding. Every note is a small investment in your future self.

But I didn’t always think this way. For years, my notes were scattered across apps, half-organised, half-forgotten. It took an Evernote to Obsidian migration — and a philosophy called “digital bankruptcy” — to turn a messy habit into a system.

Let me start at the beginning: the instinct.

Read More »From Evernote to Obsidian: A Note-Taking Migration Story
shifting from perception to perspective

Be Curious, Not Judgemental – shifting from perception to perspective

This year a few of us decided to organise a Polish carol sing-along afternoon. It’s a tradition I’ve always loved. Songs, stories, and that soft Christmas feeling you can’t quite explain but you know when it’s there.

To make it richer, we planned three short Christmas readings. I asked my kids and one of their friends if they would read them. They’ve spoken in front of groups before, but this would be the first time they read something in Polish in a larger gathering.

Living in the UK, we speak Polish at home, but school life pulls them into English. So reading in Polish is a different kind of workout. Lots of tricky sounds. Lots of tongue gymnastics. We didn’t want to stress them, so rehearsals were light and a bit chaotic. We laughed more than we read.

And then my son reached one sentence and completely lost it.

Proper, tears-in-his-eyes laughter. Situation that helped me shifting from perception to perspective. Let’s dive in.

Read More »Be Curious, Not Judgemental – shifting from perception to perspective
A Farmer’s Guide to Patient Leadership and Being Present in Growth

A Farmer’s Guide to Patient Leadership and Being Present in Growth

I spend most of my day sitting; at work, behind a laptop, or at my podcasting desk.
Even my so-called “creative time” usually means more sitting, writing, or editing.

To balance it out, I try to move. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu helps. So does helping my wife at our allotment, though helping might be a generous word sometimes.

That small patch of soil has taught me more about patience and process than most leadership books ever did. We used to spend hours there, planting, weeding, and chasing the kids around. Then life got busy, kids, work, everything, and the allotment went quiet for a few years.

Recently, we went back to get it ready for winter, planning to bring it back to life in spring. And while digging and pulling out stubborn weeds, I realised how much farming has in common with leadership.

Hence today’s reflection: what leaders can learn from farmers and what patient leadership is all about.

Read More »A Farmer’s Guide to Patient Leadership and Being Present in Growth
Home mini PC running local LLM lab with Docker and AMD iGPU.

Build a Home Lab for Local LLMs with Docker + AMD iGPU

Running local LLMs at home is easier than it looks. With the right mini PC, Ubuntu setup, BIOS tweaks, and Docker containers, you can build a powerful lab that runs models like Mistral 7B and Ollama on AMD hardware. Here’s how I set up mine.

It started the way many of my tinkering projects do: with a cup of coffee and a quiet Saturday morning. For weeks I’d been thinking about building a small server — something quiet enough to sit under the desk, strong enough to handle 7B–8B (or even 12-14B!) models, and flexible enough to let me learn Docker properly without melting my laptop. This time, instead of just daydreaming, I actually pressed “Order”. A little box was on its way to become my home LLM LAB.

Read More »Build a Home Lab for Local LLMs with Docker + AMD iGPU
A Tent, a Train, and a Leadership Framework | competence and confidence in action

A Tent, a Train, and a Leadership Framework

Leadership is never one-size-fits-all. What works in one moment may fail in the next, even with the same person. On a recent family holiday, I learned this lesson firsthand — not in a classroom, but in a tent and on a train. It turned out to be the perfect case study for Situational Leadership® (SLII®), a framework that teaches leaders how to flex their style to match competence and confidence.

Read More »A Tent, a Train, and a Leadership Framework
A Letter to Myself (and Maybe to You Too) - Season Finale

A Letter to Myself (and Maybe to You Too)

Hey friends, and welcome back to The Coffee Journeys Show. It’s hard to believe it, but this is our final episode of Season 3.

I’m honestly just sitting here with a cup of coffee, reflecting. This season has been… full. Of growth, stories, small wins, and a few messy lessons. And I thought–for this last episode–I’d do something special.

Read More »A Letter to Myself (and Maybe to You Too)
How I became the IT guy thanks to green men and a hockey stick

From Linux Admin to People Engineer: My Professional Journey

From accidentally infuriating my brother by installing Linux on his computer to leading distributed teams across continents, my journey in technology has been anything but conventional. What began as curiosity about simple network pings evolved into a lifelong passion for connection—both digital and human. Through data centers in the UK, acquisitions by tech giants, and the global shift to remote work, I’ve transformed from a command-line Linux administrator to what I now call a “people engineer.” Join me as I share the pivotal moments, hard-earned lessons, and unexpected detours that shaped my path from technical enthusiast to leadership, including that one time when one of my colleagues dramatically dove across a Nando’s table to save me from volcano-level spicy chicken.

Read More »From Linux Admin to People Engineer: My Professional Journey
My First 90 Days - What I Learned the Hard Way

My First 90 Days – What I Learned the Hard Way

If you’ve ever transitioned into a leadership role, you know how tough those first few months can be. You step in full of ideas and excitement, but reality hits fast. Today, I want to share my personal story—what I expected, what actually happened, the struggles I faced, and the lessons I learned the hard way.

Before we get started, if you haven’t yet, I highly recommend checking out my previous episode, “The First 90 Days – Leadership Framework for Success.” In that episode, I covered the structured framework for navigating the first three months in leadership. Today’s episode will be much more personal—what I personally learned through trial and error.

Whether you’re about to take on your first leadership role or just want to reflect on your own journey, this episode is packed with real experiences, honest reflections, and some advice I wish I had when I started.

Grab your coffee, get comfortable, and let’s dive in!

Read More »My First 90 Days – What I Learned the Hard Way
The First 90 Days as leader

The First 90 Days – Leadership Framework for Success

Stepping into leadership is both exciting and challenging. You want to prove yourself, gain trust, and make an impact—but you also don’t want to move too fast and make mistakes. That’s why today’s episode is all about a structured approach to leadership transitions—what experts say works and how you can apply it to your own journey.

This episode is part one of a two-part series. Today, we’ll cover the First 90 Days as a leader framework, a structured roadmap for stepping into leadership. In the next episode, I’ll share my personal experience—the mistakes, the lessons, and what I wish I had known.

So, grab a coffee and let’s dive in!

Read More »The First 90 Days – Leadership Framework for Success