Gerard Seijts’ Ukrainian Odyssey
Last week turned out to be extremely intense for the team of the Center for Leadership of UCU: a two-day intensive training on Transformational Leadership and a panel discussion in Kyiv, emotionally heavy yet deeply inspiring meetings in Kharkiv, and the key event of the year – the “Well-Being Leadership Conference – 2025” – held in Lviv…
Today, however, we invite you to look at these events from a slightly different perspective. Through the lens of someone for whom Leadership is clearly not an empty word. For whom love for Ukraine and its people is a conscious choice – despite thousands of kilometers of distance. Through the eyes of Gerard Seijts – Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership, Ivey Business School (Canada). Co-author of the 11 Virtues of Leadership Character – the framework at the core of the Center’s methodology. A scholar and teacher whose work has inspired political and business leaders from North America to Asia. His journey to Ukraine was itself a living act of reflection – on how war transforms our understanding of Leadership, how it puts Virtues to the test, and what it means to act with Character in a state of ongoing crisis.
The Transformational Power of Leadership: In Search of Solutions
One of the key events of Gerard Seijts’ visit – his second since the beginning of the full-scale war – was the two-day training “Leadership: Intensive Management Transformation Workshop”, held on May 20-21, 2025.
Just like last year, the joint program of the Center for Leadership of UCU and the UCU Business School took place in the capital of Ukraine – a city that lives under the threat of air raids almost daily, and at the same time remains the center where many fateful decisions are made.
The intensive brought together 28 participants – representatives of government, business, education, medicine, the military, and the civil society sector. The combined teaching of Andrew Rozhdestvensky – Executive Director of the Center for Leadership of UCU – and Gerard Seijts once again created a synergy of academic thinking, leadership practice, and deep understanding of the Ukrainian context – a synergy that Ukrainian leaders need now more than ever.
Over the course of two days, the participants worked through five thematic modules:
- The Model of the 11 Virtues of Leadership Character and its application to team management and organizational culture.
- Career derailment, mentoring, and coaching as tools to support leaders and teams.
- Courage and decisiveness as virtues that build trust within organizations and impact outcomes.
- Leading in a VUCA world, staying true to one’s values, and demonstrating strategic commitment in times of instability.
- Leading organizational change: how leaders influence transformation and which elements are mission-critical today.
What made the program especially meaningful was its focus on practical cases – involving moral dilemmas, crisis decision-making, and preserving integrity. For two days, the classroom turned into a space of honest conversation, where Ukrainian leaders – from the military, education, healthcare, and management – were not seeking ready-made “solutions”, but searching for answers to shared questions.
“We’re not talking about perfect leaders. We’re talking about those who are willing to take responsibility, to doubt, to make mistakes, and to choose again – with Humility and Judgment. That’s where the power of Virtues lies”,
Gerard Seijts shared with the participants.
The Kyiv intensive was not just a training program – it became a community of action and reflection. A space where each participant had the chance to look at themselves through the lens of Virtues, choice, and complex leadership challenges.
On the Mission of Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty
Another important opportunity for dialogue with Ukrainian leaders took place on the evening of May 21 – the open panel discussion “Leadership in Times of Trial: How Can Business Remain Principled, Resilient, and Responsible?” Organized jointly by the UCU Business School and the Center for Leadership of UCU, the event created space for a broad exchange of ideas among representatives of business, the civil sector, the military, and public administration.
The conversation was moderated by Sophia Opatska – Vice-Rector for Strategic Development at the Ukrainian Catholic University, founding dean and Chair of the Supervisory Board of the UCU Business School. Gerard Seijts was joined on the panel by individuals who have long stood as examples of Leadership in their respective spheres:
- Ihor Liski – investor, entrepreneur, and co-founder of the analytical center “Ukrainian Institute for the Future”;
- Fr. Rostyslav Vysochan – military chaplain;
- Kateryna Glazkova – Executive Director of the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs (SUP) and graduate of the Key Executive MBA program.
It was a sincere and profound conversation about resilience, responsibility, and the power of personal example in times of uncertainty. A space where participants openly and without pretense discussed how to preserve oneself and one’s team when reality throws new challenges every single day.
Virtues in the Reality of War
A particularly meaningful part of our colleague’s visit was the trip to Kharkiv – a stronghold of resistance against Russian aggression since February 2022. A city that demonstrates daily what Resilience looks like, what it means to adapt to extreme danger, and how civic Leadership manifests amid the largest war of our time. For Gerard Seijts, this journey was a matter of principle.
“Our team fully understood this desire. Because unless you experience what people face here – under constant shelling – you cannot fully grasp the true meaning of the word “resilience”…”,
shared Andrew Rozhdestvensky in response to this request.
In just one day – May 22 – Gerard Seijts met with Serhii Prokopenko, Ukrainian journalist, editor, founder of “Gwara Media” and graduate of the UCU Business School. He visited Northern Saltivka – one of the first neighborhoods hit by Russian forces at the beginning of the invasion – and traveled to the village of Tsyrkuny, where he met with volunteers from the “Hell’s Kitchen” initiative, which provides hot meals to both military personnel and civilians in frontline zones.
The culmination of the trip was an interview with Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov – a conversation about managing a city under shelling, personnel decisions, the ethics of governance in a time of crisis, and the responsibility that has lasted for more than a thousand days.
“Leadership here is not just about managing resources. It’s about managing meaning. Every day you have to choose: what is a worthy response to fear, to loss, to injustice. And I am convinced that here, in this place, Virtues truly become a compass for people”,
the Canadian guest reflected.
A Conference That Became a Step Toward Collective Healing
The final point of our colleague’s visit was his participation in the 3rd International Scientific and Practical “Well-Being Leadership Conference”, which took place on May 23 in Lviv. This year’s theme – “Moral Injury: The Role of the Leader in Healing Invisible Wounds” – brought together over 100 participants from Ukraine, Canada, South Africa, the USA, and France.
Gerard Seijts was one of the keynote speakers at the event. He appeared alongside Annalise Tower – a former member of the Canadian Armed Forces and Leadership coach – in a joint session titled: “The Role of Justice in the Context of Healing Moral Injuries”.
Their presentation focused on how leaders can create space for truth, compassion, the acknowledgment of suffering, and forgiveness – especially in the context of war trauma, veteran reintegration, medical burnout, and the exhaustion of frontline teams.
Why Does This Matter – For Both Ukraine and the World?
Today, Ukraine is not only defending itself. It is offering the world important lessons – about humanity, about Leadership, and about values that do not shatter even under heavy blows.
In this context, the Center for Leadership of UCU, in partnership with Ivey Business School, the UCU Business School, and other allies, is shaping a new school of thought: not one focused on the heroism of individuals, but on the significance of truthful Leadership in communities. Not on celebrity leaders, but on responsible citizens who choose to act with dignity every single day.
And last week’s visit by Gerard Seijts was one more step toward bringing the Ukrainian experience of Leadership into the global conversation. At a time when true Character cannot be understood from afar – but only up close, in choice, in loss… and in hope.
