Some authentic leadership frameworks need a whole book. Zeljko Cikojevic’s fits around a coffee table.
Before committing to any relationship, in business or in life, the XFusion co-founder asks himself one question: can I sit with this person, drink a coffee, have a normal conversation and be 100 percent myself? If the answer is no, he stops. “No relation, no business, nothing,” he told WhatsWhat Prime.
Why the coffee test works
The test is deliberately small. There is no stage, no pitch and no audience, just two people and an ordinary conversation. That is exactly where authenticity becomes visible. In formal meetings, everyone performs. Over a coffee, you learn whether a relationship depends on constant performance or whether both people can relax and be themselves.
For Zeljko, only the second kind of relationship lasts under pressure.
What authentic
leadership means
Asked what advice he would give to business owners building their own communities, Zeljko did not offer a tactic. “Be 100% yourself,” he said, pointing to people like Bruce Lee and Michael Jackson, who he says were “just themselves, purely”.
He describes authenticity as something you can feel. When you express yourself honestly, without lying to yourself, it shows. When you start to manipulate or fake things, you can sense that too, in yourself and in others.
Remove what you are not
Most leadership development is about adding: new skills, courses and habits. Zeljko argues the opposite. “It’s not something you need to add,” he says. “You need to remove what you are not.”
Adding takes time, education and coaching. Removing the masks and habits that hold you back is often faster. And once people stop pretending, he says, they become “so attractive, so magnetic” that the right people and opportunities follow.
Authenticity saves energy
There is also a practical argument. “Being not yourself is so much more energy-wasting,” Zeljko says. Leaders who perform spend energy maintaining an image. Leaders who are themselves can spend that energy on the work and on their people.
Be 100% yourself.ZELJKO CIKOJEVIC, CO-FOUNDER OF XFUSION
Accept others as they are
Authentic leadership also shapes how you treat others. Zeljko believes the fastest route to conflict is trying to change someone. “If you always feel the other person wants to change you, this is always combined with conflicts.” His alternative is simple: “Let the other be who he is.” It is the same principle that keeps his partnership with co-founder Stanis Zichler strong.
Authenticity plus mastery
Being yourself is the starting point, not the finish line. Zeljko pairs it with deep practice, quoting Bruce Lee on practising one kick 10,000 times. When people are authentic and skilled, he says, they can create real value and raise up the people around them.
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW
Stanis Zichler & Zeljko Cikojevic in Dubai
- Before a partnership
- Have an informal meeting with no agenda and notice whether you can relax
- When hiring
- Look for people who are the same in the interview and over lunch
- For yourself
- Notice where you perform instead of being honest, and remove one mask at a time
- In your team
- Accept differences instead of trying to reshape people
Why authentic leadership
matters for communities
Authentic leadership is especially important in communities, where people join voluntarily and can leave at any time. Members follow leaders they trust, and trust depends on consistency between what a leader says in public and how they behave in private. The coffee test is a simple way to check that consistency.
For XFusion, authentic leadership is not a slogan but a filter: it shapes who the founders partner with, which key people they rely on, and the kind of culture new members experience from their first event. Watch the full interview to hear more, and read the cover story in WhatsWhat Prime Magazine, Issue 17.
Frequently asked questions
What is the coffee test in leadership?
It is XFusion co-founder Zeljko Cikojevic’s rule: if you cannot sit with someone over a coffee and be completely yourself, you should not enter a relationship or business with them.
What is authentic leadership?
Leading as your real self, without pretending or manipulating, which in Zeljko Cikojevic’s view builds trust and attracts the right people.
What does “remove what you are not” mean?
It means growth often comes from dropping habits, masks and pretences that hold you back, rather than only adding new skills.
Who is Zeljko Cikojevic?
Zeljko Cikojevic is co-founder of XFusion, an international community he leads with Stanis Zichler from Dubai.
Sources and further reading
- WhatsWhat Prime interview with Stanis Zichler and Zeljko Cikojevic (YouTube)
- WhatsWhat Prime Magazine, Issue 17
- The XFusion Founders: Nine Years of Friendship Behind One Fast Year
- How XFusion Grew So Fast in Its First Year, According to Its Founders
- What Is XFusion? Inside the Community Built Around People and Learning