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Softserve: IT leader’s view on the challenges of war
Taras Kytsmey, co-owner and board member of SoftServe, believes that one of the key components of a successful business is a strong leader who can overcome difficulties.
«Leadership is a state of mind that allows you to lead people and have the professional will to go through all the difficulties. I want everyone to be a leader, from the most minor junior developer. I want him to set his direction and create an atmosphere around him,» – he said.
A managerial position without leadership qualities does not work, Taras Kytsmey adds. It is also essential that each of us keep his front: economic, political, military. We must develop our society, our economy, and support the military.
The IT industry has its own characteristics that help the industry stay afloat during the war. The first such feature is globality. It allowed the industry to have markets. IT has become a completely virtual enterprise, especially in two years during Covid-19.
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Another important feature is such a one as creativity. However, it always goes hand in hand with safety: in order to create creative solutions, employees need to be confident in securing their basic safety issues.
«The issue of mobilizing workers from the eastern regions has become quite acute, same as the conducting sales abroad when it’s not possible to leave the country to make connections,» – said Taras Kytsmey.
Many companies, SoftServe co-owner points out, have also stopped cooperating because, according to their corporate policies, they do not transfer development to a country at war. Taras Kytsmey says that it is necessary to treat the emotional state of employees responsibly:
«We have never before been in a state where the country may lose its independence, lose its property, life may be on the brink,» – explains Taras Kytsmey.
Tips for leaders from SoftServe co-owner
We must always find a balance between the rational and irrational parts of our personalities. The mind dictates correctness, and emotions dictate what we want. The owner of Softserve calls the first piece of advice not to feel sorry for what you have lost because it will quickly «burn» the manager and won’t allow him to do the best he can do for the company.
The second point is a cold mind. Taras Kytsmey advises not to go to extremes, clearly define your focus, and not to waste time on everything else. It is also important to avoid trying to make all the decisions at once.
«Don’t try to make all the decisions and analyze all the details today. You can’t predict everything. Try to create the preconditions for the right decisions, and then it will be solved.»
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It is very important for a leader to show confidence in the correctness of the decision and learn the art of small steps, as well as see the prospects of the project. Taras Kytsmey emphasizes the need for constant communication with the team and keeping them informed about current affairs.
«In the first days of the war, we had meetings every day to discuss what the situation with relocation is, who continues to work with us and who does not. During the full-scale war, we made approximately 3,200 relocations of families within Ukraine. 1,200 relocations abroad.»
Also, Taras Kytsmey says, the company’s position is to keep the salaries of those who go to the front. These needs cost $500,000 a month.
Investor’s view of growth points
Vasyl Khmelnytskyi, the founder of UFuture Holding, spoke about the three whales on which the economy operates: production, innovation, and the quality of human capital.
«All production must take place in the country. We need our people to stay at home. We are now building industrial parks: boxes so that producers from hot spots can come to us and rent a place for their production.»
Vasyl Khmelnytsky also emphasizes the importance of incentives for workers and producers to stay here. They need to work, pay taxes and be players in the Ukrainian economy. We need a foundation: protecting our manufacturer and supporting our business.
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The founder of UFuture points out that we have few startups in Ukraine. Successful startups require good math and engineering, management, and a willingness to take responsibility for risks. To implement all this, the quality of human capital is necessary. We need to create centers to teach people in a new way.
«Economic growth is industry, innovation and people, and we have these all in our country,» – he said.
Leadership in crisis and extreme situations
Andrii Rozhdestvensky, Executive Director of the UCU Leadership Center, spoke about the relationship between the complexity of problems and the appropriate type of leadership to choose in a particular case.
In general, there are three types of problems: critical, tame and wicked situations. Wicked situations often arise in global markets. For such situations, the type of leadership is appropriate, where the main task is to ensure continuous training of its employees and the atmosphere. In critical times, it is better to centralize and make decisions centrally, although decentralization also works in practice.
«When we traveled to different companies during the war, we realized that both centralization and decentralization work well. It is important what the company was trained. For example, the decentralization of our army helps us to win in certain areas.»
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Andrii Rozhdestvensky recalls Taras Kytsmey’s words «don’t feel sorry for what you have lost» and points out that this is a model of leadership in character development, and there is such a virtue as humility. The ability to calm your egocentrism from the fact that something went wrong.
There is a Boyd Loop model for decision-making, which is used at the Pentagon.
«If you have the time, you have to collect data. After that – observation, orient, decision-making and action, but most people do not take the last step – after the action we need to collect data again and see how our actions have affected the situation. Sometimes, there is no time for the whole cycle, and then the military has three rules: a wrong decision is better than no decision at all, not making a decision is also a decision, a departure from responsibility. The third rule is to make any decision and make it right,» – Andrii Rozhdestvensky concludes.
By Kateryna Bortniak
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Lviv Now is an English-language website for Lviv, Ukraine’s «tech-friendly cultural hub.» It is produced by Tvoe Misto («Your City») media-hub, which also hosts regular problem-solving public forums to benefit the city and its people.
