Mag. Petra Reinbacher
Sometimes a different perspective does not change the problem.
But it changes what we are able to see in it.
Petra Reinbacher combines many years of international business experience with an understanding of people, communication and different perspectives.
She has worked in international business environments, the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, market development, business management and people development. Today, she uses her experience in leading organisations and teams particularly in situations where understanding only one part of the problem is not enough.
Her strength lies in seeing the bigger picture, recognising different interests and turning complex situations into understandable and actionable next steps.
Petra has experience in developing and managing businesses across different markets and in working with international companies, business partners and professionals.
She has led market and operational activities, contributed to the development of new markets, business planning and relationships with key partners. In country and operations management roles, she was responsible for the business as a whole – from market entry and organisational development to business results and further growth.
This experience allows her to look at a business situation not only through the lens of a product, service or individual task, but through the relationships between the market, the organisation, the people involved and the environment in which they operate.
Business processes depend on people, and collaboration between people depends on the quality of communication.
For this reason, communication has been an integral part of Petra’s professional career – in leading teams, developing employees, working with business partners, training and managing change.
Alongside executive roles, she has developed and delivered training programmes, worked as a communication trainer and led activities focused on people development.
She has gained particular experience in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, where business, professional and personal perspectives often have to function simultaneously.
A new perspective only becomes valuable when it helps us understand a situation and enables action.
Petra therefore does not separate an idea from its implementation. In different professional roles, she has contributed to the development of business strategies, new organisational and sales concepts, improvements in operational processes, the development of employees’ business capabilities and the introduction of new ways of working.
Her work focuses on the connection between three questions: What do we want to achieve? What is possible in the specific situation? And how can we make it happen?
Retirement did not mark the end of Petra’s professional and social engagement. It changed its focus.
After decades of living and working in Austria, she decided to move the centre of her life to Croatia. Relocating to Zagreb also opened a new field of activity in which international experience, business networking and social engagement naturally complement one another.
She joined the International Women’s Club Zagreb – IWCZ, an international community of women living and working in Croatia. Within IWCZ, she first took on the leadership of the Business Club and subsequently became President of IWCZ.
This engagement combines the business and social dimensions of her work: creating new connections, bringing together people with different professional and cultural backgrounds, exchanging knowledge and initiating activities that can create tangible value for the wider community.
For Petra, this is both a continuation of what she has been doing throughout her professional life and the beginning of a new chapter – one that is less connected to corporate structures and more focused on people, their potential and the relationships that can be created between them.
At Second Opinion, Petra contributes a combination of international business experience, communication skills, social engagement and a distinctly practical approach to complex situations.
She is particularly interested in what happens when different people see the same situation from different perspectives – individuals and families, professionals, employers, business partners, institutions or members of different generations.
Such differences are not necessarily an obstacle. When they are recognised and connected in the right way, they can lead to a better understanding of the situation and open up possibilities that may remain invisible from a single perspective.
For Petra, this is precisely why a second opinion is not simply an additional opinion.
It is an opportunity to look at an existing situation from another angle, ask different questions and discover possibilities that may not previously have been recognised.
Generations opening new perspectives for one another
Petra is taking over the coordination of the Perspective meets Practice programme, which brings together seniors and young talents.
The programme is based on a simple idea: two generations possess different experiences, opportunities and perspectives on life, work and the future.
Seniors can contribute experience, professional breadth and a perspective shaped by decades of life and work. Young talents bring a different view of the world, new technologies, new ways of working and different expectations of the future.
The aim is not for one generation to teach the other.
The aim is to create a space in which they open up new perspectives for one another.
The invisible vulnerability of the wealthy, the powerful and the famous
Together with Marijan Gjukić, Petra is also coordinating the development of the Noisy Silence conference, dedicated to the often invisible vulnerability of the wealthy, the powerful and the famous.
The conference explores what happens when social privilege, power, wealth or public visibility simultaneously create specific forms of vulnerability.
Privacy, reputation, expectations from others, pressure to succeed, trust, the ability to ask for help and access to discreet forms of support are just some of the perspectives the project aims to connect.
Here too, the starting point is the same: a complex situation cannot be understood from only one point of view.
Petra’s professional career includes senior positions in international companies as well as her own entrepreneurial and educational initiatives.
Her experience in country and operations management included managing and developing business in the Austrian and Swiss markets for the Japanese pharmaceutical company Santen.
As a member of the GlaxoSmithKline management team, she contributed to the company’s business and organisational development. At the pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and ALK Abelló, she worked in communication and people development, while at the Trodat Group she was involved in business development.
As founder and professional director of Medicon Academy, she developed educational programmes for professionals in the healthcare industry.
Throughout her professional career, she has also contributed to projects related to corporate strategy, the development of sales organisations, employee training, business capabilities, operational efficiency and the introduction of new ways of working.
Petra studied Classical Archaeology in combination with History and Art History at Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, where she earned the academic degree Magistra philosophiae.
She continued her professional education in communication, training and people development. She completed a programme in communication and training design with additional specialisation in the healthcare and social sectors and qualified as a communication trainer.
She also completed further education in coaching for senior leaders and is a certified DiSC trainer.
Today, she combines these different fields of education and professional experience in an approach that does not rely on predefined answers, but on carefully understanding each specific situation.