Was the school ready for the war?

We were preparing for the war, assuming that such a thing could happen. We even had preparations for this case, certain procedures: what to inform participants, when and how. And this helped our people, when the war began, to focus on preserving the lives of themselves and their loved ones.

Moreover, kmbs prepared participants for the war, for the possibility of such a situation. Part of our educational programs in one way or another took these things into account, we conducted programs for the security and defense sector. We worked — and continue this direction — with senior leaders of the Armed Forces.

We are a school that knows how to work with "soft", worldview things that convert into a culture of decision-making, a culture of relationships between roles in the organization. I believe that our capabilities were able to add value to our current defenders.

I believe that everyone should do their job qualitatively: doctors, pilots, teachers. No one is more important than another. Our job, which we consciously chose, is to work with strategic, leadership, systemic approaches. And the people who come to us are already ready for these things, and they develop in our environment. We are just an intellectual mirror for them. These are adults, experienced people who reflect, learn, "catch up" on their own. Developing is their job, "developing them" is not our job.

Feel our "vibe"

It is now obvious that the country has fundamentally become part of the international community. We see this too: business schools approach us with offers, lecturers offer to teach for free. My maxim is that a business school cannot be local. Therefore, we are now working, among other things, on becoming a truly global school.

In the West, there is now a demand to feel the "vibe" of our leadership. But they are sometimes not ready for the things we talk about or the way we form our conclusions. Therefore, the question remains open for us — how to tell the international community about the leadership approach to management in our current conditions.

Moreover, I am sure that leadership is a prerequisite that must be converted into certain actions and ways of thinking. Just talking about leadership, citing cases, is not interesting. But when people speak, tell their stories, it touches.

Is there management training during the war?

In the first weeks of the war, no one was in the mood for learning. Later, people began to return: first middle managers, then executives. It is most difficult for owners now.

We started holding "evening firesides" for MBA group participants, and people show themselves there in ways they never did in classrooms before. An important part of leadership is vulnerability. Only a whole person can show that they doubt something, make mistakes, are in search, etc. So, thanks to vulnerability in these online meetings, we feel each other better than offline. This is something hard-earned, this is trust, respect, communication, joint search. We at kmbs value this very much, and I am sure the community does too.

What is victory?

We need to agree on what victory is. Of course, it's not just about military victory – there must also be cultural, diplomatic, economic. It's not just about reaching our borders – and we will definitely do that.

It should be a victory of perspective and self-perception. It's a certain state. When we talked about victory with MBA participants, someone said: "it's the ability to plan the future." And someone else: "victory is a process, not just a result." We can move towards it, like a vision, and constantly redefine it.

To win in the political dimension means to ensure an irreversible path to becoming part of the civilized European space with the level of political standards and rules of the game that Ukraine has already somewhat enjoyed (including democracy). And this is just the beginning of this path, we still have to become such a country.

Unfortunately, many of our efforts today are not systemic but fragmented. How many volunteers are looking for "bulletproof vests" today? Tens of thousands! Instead of uniting and working at the management level. Ukraine still has to learn and learn this: to divide roles, delegate, agree on the distribution of resources.

This needs to be worked on to meet the level of requirements that the West sets for us. NATO does not accept us not because we cannot do something, but because they are not confident in our political maturity.

In general, victory or defeat is determined even before the war. From this perspective, we have already won, strategically and fundamentally. During the war, we only confirmed that we were moving correctly before. Every day now works for us if we approach it responsibly. And if we do not move to self-admiration, do not relax, do not become dependent on external funds, then everything will be fine. And we must earn these funds, first of all, by creating value.

About systematization and the Marshall Plan

We hear a lot about the Marshall Plan now. And it is sometimes perceived as if Western colleagues will come now, give a lot of money, and everything will be fine. But money alone does not make things good, and sometimes it makes things worse.

Marshall himself was a systemic manager, which is much more important than his plan. When the war began, he was the Chief of Staff in the USA. The country's army was then ranked 14th in the world, and the number of people in it was approximately equal to the Romanian army. In 4 years, Marshall increased the army from 200 thousand to 8 million ground forces and 16 million overall. It was incredible systemic work, and we know nothing about it.

The Marshall Plan provided assistance to countries amounting to a few percent of their GDP, and regarding Ukraine, we are now talking about 30-50% of GDP. So, the main work was not about money, but about systems, rules of the game, ensuring institutional capacity, preparing leaders. And money was just a reinforcing lever, not a budget that needs to be "mastered". In my opinion, there is a great danger for us here because we have not yet learned to build correct systemic solutions.

Leadership of the individual is the ability inside, an internal point of support. And the leadership of the country is the same. So whatever the external plan may be, first of all, it is necessary to build this capacity inside. Without this core, money will only be a lost resource and lost opportunities.

If management is prose, then leadership is poetry. I believe that we have people capable of realizing this poetry, of building systems.

When we win, one of the important dimensions will be cultural. Everyone will look: what can Ukraine offer the world? The economic part is simpler. But the cultural product must be identified as Ukrainian, not as a surrogate of something else. And we must be ready for this. Cultural diplomacy is already working, Ukrainians are seen and heard. But we need to work not individually, but systematically.

Reflection on experience

Before the war, both poles – the USA and Russia – evaluated our country equally, as incapable. They did not have an adequate idea of us, and we did not have it either. If we now rethink ourselves, understand what we have, in dynamics we will be able to manifest many things. But this needs to be worked on, we need to reflect on our experience.

Of course, all 40 million Ukrainians will not engage in this. But it needs to be done by people who have the appropriate roles and capabilities in various sectors: cultural, educational, economic, political, etc. And this is a new type of duty for our elite and establishment – and we separate these concepts. The elite reflects naturally, but for the establishment, this is not obvious, and not all its representatives are ready for this. Therefore, society must demand that these roles still reflect, learn, take the best and act in development, putting the country's interest first.

I am afraid that we are too concerned now with winning the war. Of course, this is a super-task that needs to be accomplished. But there should also be a small share of responsible people who will already think about what Ukraine should be like tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

This definitely should not be a restoration of what was. Therefore, "restoration of the country" does not sound the best. Transformation can also be both a plus and a minus. We need a qualitative leap, constructed by people who will take responsibility and say what Ukraine should be like. And this strategic decision will be converted into educational, economic, cultural, political directions. Much is being laid down today, but there are also things that will need to be thought about as from a clean slate.

About volunteering

Volunteering is a very positive phenomenon in a crisis situation, it is a support for a system that does not work. But if volunteers will be needed in 5-10 years as a systemic phenomenon, then the price of the state's leaders is worthless. Therefore, our task is to make volunteering unnecessary. Systemic volunteering is the failure of the people responsible for this system. This is the worst that can be.

What are we, Ukrainians?

Being Ukrainian and living among Ukrainians, I love people. And this is not my trait, this is the kind of people we have, that they are worth loving. They are a bit romantic, they are incredibly talented. Sometimes lazy, but if they latch onto something, then there's little room for everyone. They are extraordinarily strong, courageous, and self-sufficient. That is why democracy is closer to us – because we are subjective. And we are creative, dreamy. Sometimes inconvenient, but we can add so much, as framed people are not capable of. Maybe that's why they are waiting for us in Europe, because we have a high level of cultural foundation and human qualities.

They say that in cities that have experienced bombing, the streets are very clean now. Perhaps we are beginning to truly, not abstractly, love our land.

Bernard Shaw once said that rational people adapt, and irrational ones create, repackage. And sometimes we have a lot of irrationality, and I hope it will work for development. We will not fit in, instead, everyone will offer something of their own. I believe that we will succeed.

We are a less rational country than Germany. But in our irrationality, there is uncertainty and vitality that will allow subjects to search and create faster and faster, we just need to give them the opportunity. This potential is characteristic of our political nation.

Now we are discovering ourselves every day. We have learned to present ourselves to the outside world, communicate internally, help each other to withstand this blow. Our self-sufficiency, creative restlessness, and readiness to make decisions have worked and continue to work every day. We are not just holding the blow, we are preparing to restore the status quo.

About personal responsibility

We at kmbs consider ourselves part of the infrastructure for the development of the country. Hence the sense of responsibility for what we do, and the understanding: we need to stand firm, watch, make mistakes. Leadership is not the absence of falls, not sinlessness. It is the ability to rise one more time than others who did not make it.

And now this is especially important. We cannot afford to leave Ukraine if something goes wrong here. The mention of the guys from Mariupol will not allow this. We must each do our job, create value. All you can do now is play your role better.

Swedish chess

Our lecturer Yevhen Pentsak likes to give our participants this exercise: there are two boards, and a team of two partners plays against two opponents. But partners from one team play different colors on different boards. So when my partner, playing white, wins a black piece from his opponent, he has the right to place this piece on my board (since I am playing black). And I do the same.

We are now in a war where we are not just playing against each other on one board. We have the opportunity to place a piece on someone else's board (from both sides) and make the situation unpredictable, but strategically more complex and interesting. Lend-lease, our European and American partners are on the neighboring board. And if we use this logic, the war can play out unexpectedly quickly. Here are sanctions, embargoes, and other pieces that we can place on our board. And I hope we won't drag this out. But what is certain is that during the war, as before the war, every day works for us.

About post-war dreams

I dream of taking a camera and going with a peaceful soul to feel a person in their context. With love for the person. To reflect, and maybe see myself in someone. And then continue to figure out what a person is and what humanity is in its development.

*In Swedish chess, the game is played on two boards. Players sit next to each other and are partners, playing against two other players. One partner plays white, the other black. All pieces captured by a player are passed to their partner, so that they can place the given piece on their board (which is why partners must play different colors). A piece can be placed on any free square on the board, as long as it does not check or mate the king. Pawns cannot be placed on the 1st or 8th rank. Placing a piece is not mandatory, and a participant can make any other move with a piece already on the board. Partners are allowed to communicate with each other (for example, one partner can ask the other for a pawn, knight, or queen, or give their recommendations), as long as it is not a direct hint.

Oleksandr Savruk: "Victory or defeat is determined even before the war. From this perspective, we have already won"