If your company is achieving amazing results and you are still struggling to motivate your team, don’t change the team. Change the only thing you can control – yourself. Because you don’t need to change everything to make a change, but the 1% that changes everything.
Who Are We?
We are FORWARD Consulting, a management consulting firm with a mission of unleashing the leadership potential within individuals and organizations, enabling them to navigate and thrive in a dynamic world.
We combine our 20+ years of experience working as top executives in the government, non-profit, corporations, and startups with the academic knowledge gained at Harvard University to create programs that 90% of our clients give the highest rating.
Behind this story is our founder, Ana Babović, who has been leading change initiatives and innovation campaigns for the past 20 years in governmental, non-governmental, and business sectors in Serbia, Europe, and the US. The results of her leadership work were not only reflected in achieved KPIs but were also captured in case studies written by the World Bank and Harvard. This is proof of what she believes in – excellence is achieved when coupled with the right team dynamics, steadfast commitment to continuous learning and a culture of adaptability.
"One size fits all" doesn't really fit anyone; all our services are customized to meet the unique needs of each client.
02
We Don’t Deliver Solutions
Rather than presenting solutions on a platter, we focus on enabling and supporting our clients to develop these solutions.
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We Like To See Our Clients Go
Our goal is that our clients won't need us in the future, so we focus on developing their skills to handle the challenges of the future on their own. However, our commitment to excellence means supporting them until the inner leader is primed and ready to take the following steps.
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Our Clients Created Us
All we do grew out of our clients' needs and challenges; our business was developed as a response to people coming to us asking for help in learning how to do things they saw us do in our work.
WHAT MAKEs US
Unique
01
Tailor-Made Approach
"One size fits all" doesn't really fit anyone; all our services are customized to meet the unique needs of each client.
02
We Don’t Deliver Solutions
Rather than presenting solutions on a platter, we focus on enabling and supporting our clients to develop these solutions.
03
We Like To See Our Clients Go
Our goal is that our clients won't need us in the future, so we focus on developing their skills to handle the challenges of the future on their own. However, our commitment to excellence means supporting them until the inner leader is primed and ready to take the following steps.
04
Our Clients Created Us
All we do grew out of our clients' needs and challenges; our business was developed as a response to people coming to us asking for help in learning how to do things they saw us do in our work.
Our programs
Our programs
FORWARD programs are based on or inspired by the leadership development frameworks developed by Professors Marshall Ganz and Ronald Heifetz from Harvard University, alongside other frameworks developed and taught at Harvard and MIT.
Take a closer look at the description and choose the program that aligns best with your company's development needs.
Leadership In Times Of Change
A program that cultivates the skills and qualities needed for a successful leader.
Tap into your innate leadership and watch yourself thrive
FORWARD programs are based on or inspired by the leadership development frameworks developed by Professors Marshall Ganz and Ronald Heifetz from Harvard University, alongside other frameworks developed and taught at Harvard and MIT.
Take a closer look at the description and choose the program that aligns best with your company's development needs.
Leadership In Times Of Change
A program that cultivates the skills and qualities needed for a successful leader.
Tap into your innate leadership and watch yourself thrive
Our customized trainings are designed to develop specific skill sets for groups of individuals based on their unique needs. Our proven four-step pedagogy - theory, model, practice, and debrief - ensures our clients acquire new skills quickly and confidently by providing hands-on practice opportunities and immediate coaching and feedback.
Coaching
Our one-on-one coaching sessions provide personalized support for individuals facing leadership challenges or seeking to develop their skills. We work collaboratively with our clients to create development plans, identify areas for improvement, and provide actionable insights and feedback to help them reach their full potential. In addition to one-on-one coaching, we also provide team coaching as a follow-up to or independently from our programs.
Strategic consulting
Our experienced consultants work closely with leadership teams to develop innovative solutions for their current challenges. By leveraging our deep expertise and proven methodologies, we help our clients engage all resources, drive growth, enhance operational efficiency, and achieve sustainable success.
Client Portfolio
testimonials
“Public narrative training helped me to rediscover the value of personal stories when interacting with clients and colleagues. Telling the story that can move others to action is not always easy. But Ana and her team know how to do it.
They obviously put a lot of expertise and passion into designing this dynamic and effective training. I believe this learning could be useful for any business and I would warmly recommend it.”
Carlo Vivaldi
Senior Advisor Austria and CEE, Alvarez & Marsal
“Ana and her team provide a very well structured, yet easy to implement, framework for effective public speaking and giving of presentations.
They are able to nicely blend theory, practice and teamwork in a way that makes the overall training very engaging and fruitful. Through passion, dedication and professionalism, they deliver a tailor-made program that can contribute to significantly improve public speaking through story-telling. I warmly recommend training with Ana and her team”
Andrea Diamanti
Head Head of Wholesale Banking, ING Italia
“Listening, intuitive, responsive, but also challenging and energizing, from our first session these would be the adjectives I would use to describe Ana’s coaching and personal style. Ana has an excellent ability to form interpersonal connections with clients, making them feel like her friend and constantly have them in mind. We met for a completely different purpose and continued in leadership coaching sessions along a very demanding part of my career. She helped me see my situation from a different perspective by breaking down the steps I needed to take into bite-sized actions. I leave every conversation feeling empowered and energized, knowing that I have the tools to make good decisions, to find the way around obstacles and to recover when things do not go as I expected. All of this, in addition to her kindness and friendship, makes recommending Ana to others such a joy. I would definitely work with her again!”
Luboslava Uram
Chief Technology Officer and Managing Director of Solvd Group
‘Very quickly in our journey, I realized that Ana, with her method and charisma, had a lot to give to me and to help me further grow and excel in my job and also in my personal life. She helped me to look even more in-depth into myself and on the things I do, the way I do them, and the reasons why I do them. Together we rebuilt the way I see and approach things. It has been very hard work, but very rewarding. I am glad I was given the chance to work with Ana, and I am even happier that I took that chance. If you are given the opportunity to work with Ana, I would recommend you to be open-minded and embrace it. I am sure at the end of this journey, you will discover to be a better professional and more probably a better person.’
Marco Innaconne
Member of the Executive Board of HypoVereinsbank - UniCredit Bank GmbH, Head of Client Solutions Germany
“Banking industry is fundamentally dependent on its employees´ communication qualifications. The workshop with Ana brought the whole team to a next level in expressing the essence and in connecting with the audience. Apart from that it was fun and inspiring to learn, that even complex topics can be told in short and catching stories by following a few principles and never forgetting about emotions!”
Wolfgang Schilk
CRO Bank Austria
‘I used to believe I’m a good presenter. To the point. With the what’s and the how’s. Go for those bright minds. Then Ana came and showed me how to talk to the heart. How to engage the soul. That I could give more first before I ask for more.’
Csilla Ihazs
Regional CEOCentral Europe, BNP Paribas Personal Finance
Ana led a 2-day public narrative training for me and my team at UNICEF. She masterfully led us through the intricacies of effective narrative crafting and delivery. In the course of two days she not only imparted extremely valuable knowledge and skills but was able to provide individually tailored coaching and advice such that each team member emerged feeling much better equipped. Throughout the training she brought intelligence, a great pedagogical approach, patience, and a wonderful spirit that helped build camaraderie within our team.
David Ponet
Chief UNICEF Global Volunteer Office
Ana is a fantastic trainer and coach – it’s been a delight to work with her. In a matter of days she got our whole team up to speed on public narrative. Throughout the sessions we explored deep into our stories, connection and got group feedback through constructive spaces which allowed both personal and professional growth the root of what drives us, to then seamlessly link it with the story of now. We received personal attentio.
Shai Naides
Chief of Youth Engagement, UNICEF Innocenti - Global Office of Research and Foresight, Unicef Global Office
Ana has been my executive coach throughout the period of my greatest growth and professional performance. Working with her is both a highlight of each week as well as a highlight of my career. Together, we developed We Own It's Fellowship program, which she leads, and it's been a marvel the past three years to see how the leadership capacity of our volunteer organizers increases each year. Ana is one of the best leadership trainers and coaches around, bar none.
Jake Schlachter
Executive Director - We Own it, USA
Meet our team
Ana Babović
Our Founder & CEO
Her story begins when she was 23 years old. She graduated from the School of Political Science and joined the team of the Deputy Prime Minister as a junior, quickly advancing to senior leadership roles.
Nataša Čorbić, is a political scientist, activist, trainer, and coach for leadership and management with more than 25 years of experience in various sectors
Dunja Pejić is an expert in leadership coaching, sustainable tourism, and policy innovation, with over 20 years of commitment to driving positive change and empowering communities.
Marina Pavlić, is a philosopher, activist, assistant at Harvard Kennedy School, and founder of a non-profit organization that believes in the power of individuals to influence their environment through action.