The latest IMF Review for Ukraine highlights key policy expectations for the country’s senior leadership team: increasing productivity, mobilizing domestic financing, strengthening anti-corruption institutions, and managing expenditures within a tight envelope.
Given the current Ukrainian context, including human capital outflow, a negative debt trajectory, and the ongoing war, these commitments to the IMF and other creditors are extremely challenging to execute. They require not only effective management of scarce resources but also a drastic enhancement of the quality of management itself.
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The central question is: How can this be achieved in the short run, especially considering Ukraine’s historical heritage of vertical leadership styles, akin to those of a medieval “hetman” or a Soviet “apparatchik?”
“Power-with” versus “Power-over” Others
Unfortunately, many leaders in Ukraine still operate from a dominance mode, attempting to motivate others through fear and force. They prefer to surround themselves with “yes-people” who tell them what they want to hear rather than what really is. In such an environment, giving feedback or even disagreeing can be risky, as those who decide to do so inherently threaten the illusion of high performance.
Ultimately, such an approach leads those at the helm to a distorted reality, errors in judgment, bad decisions, and poor performance.
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In recent decades, the old notion of a leader as the smartest person in the room has been replaced by those with high emotional intelligence and the ability to build trust within a complex, fast-changing context. Self-awareness has emerged as a crucial determinant of leadership effectiveness, with feedback at its core. The latter plays a pivotal role in identifying a leader's blind spots, acknowledging their weaknesses, and helping them stay grounded.
Biden-Trump Debates
If we set aside the political and content factors in the recent Biden-Trump debates, which the world watched with bated breath, and focus on the effectiveness of feedback institutions in the United States, we can see that they are robust and involve even the President. Honest feedback from within his inner circle, the Democratic Party, and the mass media left President Biden little choice but to publicly admit that he 'screwed up'. This open recognition of a mistake generated respect not only for the individual but also for the institution of the presidency itself.
What does this case show the Ukrainian leadership? It emphasizes the importance of keeping a leader's feet on the ground, even when their surroundings try to place them on a pedestal. C-level roles, especially in politics or public administration, are not about having thin skin. Countries with senior leadership sensitive to criticism often experience a slide into authoritarianism, corruption, and low productivity. The same trend applies to business leaders within their companies.
Humble Leadership Mindset
The major challenge in developing self-awareness is a leader's ability to see themselves as they truly are. To help them remove their blind spots, confront reality, and adopt a humble and learning mindset, honest, unbiased, and regular feedback is a must.
Giving and receiving feedback demands skills that many people lack. Others tend to focus solely on what went wrong, neglecting to acknowledge what is being done right. Over time, this can impact morale and negatively affect performance.
Experienced leaders understand that honest feedback is often rare to receive. Therefore, they actively seek it as a valuable gift. Feedback not only deepens their self-awareness but also contributes to discovering the intrinsic purpose and meaning of their life.
The US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, and many other countries have successfully institutionalized feedback in their public sectors, and it is time for Ukraine to follow suit
This basic step will facilitate a challenging yet rewarding journey toward more advanced leadership practices at all levels, from top to bottom. Introducing annual 360- or 720-degree appraisals for leaders will enhance their effectiveness and contribute to fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, and trust.
Institutionalizing feedback has the great potential to generate fundamental leadership transformation in Ukraine and to make a significant impact on productivity, decision-making, and the development of inclusive institutions.
The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.
Daniel Klyuchnikov is a qualified management consultant with over 20 years of senior leadership background. He is an alumnus of the London School of Economics and Political Science (M.P.A.), Yale School of Management (G.E.L.P.), and HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management (M.B.A.), where he is currently pursuing his doctoral research.
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