Leadership at the time of challenges : Alumni Leadership Day 2020 conclusions

On such a symbolic day – Day of Dignity and Freedom – the annual great meeting of LvBS Alumni Leadership Day 2020 took place. Center for Leadership of UCU together with the Lviv business school of UCU prepared a lot of highlights for the Alumni so as to make this event special.

We had a lot of guests: Sofiia Opatska (dean-founder of LvBS, vice-rector of UCU), Yaryna Boychuk (CEO of LvBS), Andrew Rozhdestvensky (Executive Director of the Center for Leadership of UCU), His beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk (major archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), Volodymyr Fedorin (editor-in-chief of «Forbes Ukraine»). The atmosphere of smiles, drive, admiration and lively discussion was created by the heroes of our event – graduates of master’s programs Key Executive MBA, MSc in Technology Management, MA in Human Resources and Organizational Development and MSc in Innovations and Entrepreneurship.

The issue of ethics in leadership was, is and will always be relevant. It covers many important aspects. We, instead, have spoken of how to cope with opposition, where to find energy from, what is necessary to do in order to not burnout, and what the business leaders should remember about today. All these questions and some more were discussed by our invited guest, His Beatitude Svyatoslav, the major archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Such an important topic as humility in leadership was raised. «Without the humility, there isn’t any leadership. Because to be humble means to know the truth about yourself, about your strengths and weaknesses, only then can you effectively ask others for help. Only then the real leadership is possible», says His Beatitude.

So our gift for the Alumni was not accidental. We chose Ryan Holiday’s book «Ego is an Enemy». This book explains that «Ego is not some powerful dimension that keeps us on a short leash. It can be controlled and directed to work for one’s advantage» (source: mind.ua).

The talk with His Beatitude Svyatoslav inspired and empowered the audience, who were supposed to deal with an interactive work with the case. Before the meeting, all the participants had received some materials about «Forbes Ukraine: History likes to repeat itself». And already during the event, we had a unique opportunity to hear the story from the main character, Volodymyr Fedorin, editor-in-chief of «Forbes Ukraine».

Behind the «Forbes Ukraine» success, which is so obvious for us today, lies the path of ups and downs, successes and failures. Created in 1916 (we remember that it was a period of the First World War), this business publication built into its DNA «appetite for jeopardy», remained until now. For «Forbes Ukraine» every crisis has always been an opportunity: to involve talented people, to strengthen the team, and to meet the needs and expectations of its readers. Maybe the recipe for success is tapped into the business model? Or maybe in the character of a leader? Many thoughts, suggestions and ideas appeared while working on the case. In the end, Volodymyr positively commented on each group’s presentation and expressed his sincere gratitude for the participants’ outspokenness, concernment and exclusive ideas.
«I greatly appreciate all the ideas. It was very important for me to see that some issues that we have never and nowhere discussed, but simply brought into reality, were understandable. It means that some part of our plan is working» – Volodymyr concludes.

* In conclusion we would like to add that some part of the funds (UAH 20,000) collected for the event participation will be donated to the charity fund «Come Back Alive» to support the Ukrainian army.