– He rejected without hesitation the offer of the Americans who wanted to evacuate him from Kiev, knowing that for the s he was the number one target. In terms of image, it was great – the Ukrainians saw that their president was not afraid, he was sure that he would win, and that he believed in his nation and army. This knowledge was like a bolt of motivation and energy. The mechanism worked: if he is not afraid, it means that these s can be defeated. So I’m not afraid either. Zelenskiy pumped incredible energy into people, says Dr. Wojciech Karczewski from the SWPS University, an expert on management and leadership.
- – Zelensky is portrayed in the media as a comedian who became president suddenly, a bit by accident, but this is a simplification. There are many indications that the presidency is part of the plan that he has been implementing for years, and participation in the series “Servant of the nation” was its element – believes Dr. Wojciech Karczewski
- – Zelenskiy is a leader who understands today’s world, the power of the media, the power of attitude, and not only the position and power that is associated with it. It is authentic. In this respect, he is the exact opposite of Putin, says the expert
- “It is said that there are leaders who are better suited to times of war and those who are better suited to times of peace. Zelenskiy found himself very well in this wartime reality. He is brave and agile. Already in the first days of the war he proved that he is not a painted hero – he explains
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Karolina Świdrak, Medonet: From the first day of the attack on Ukraine, the whole world has been watching Volodymyr Zelensky with admiration and admiration. What is it about the president of Ukraine?
Dr. Wojciech Karczewski: Life creates real heroes. Zelenskiy shows that he is a man of action and skillfully copes with extreme situations. As we can often see, in words alone, every politician is a hero or you don’t know who. One knows from a podium or on a TV program what is not him and what should be done. Zelenskiy, on the other hand, found himself in a real situation, where life told him: ‘I’m checking’ and he replied: ‘then check me out’. And he proved himself by saying colloquially “did not crack” and became a real hero, not a painted one. In general, we live in extremely interesting times that show clearly who is who, whose side he is on and whether we have learned a lesson from our history. As the saying goes, cowardice is said to be five minutes away from heroism. The protagonist is the one who is bolder a while longer than the average person. Well, these five minutes are much longer with him.
PhD in management and quality sciences. He obtained the title at the Faculty of Management at the University of Warsaw. Graduate of international relations and political science. Permanently associated with the SWPS University, where he is the head of the Polish and English-language studies Management and Leadership and the director of the International Cooperation Office. Scientifically, he is mainly concerned with leadership, motivation and predisposition. He is an academic lecturer, incl. subjects: leadership competencies, organizational behavior, project management, organization management.
He stayed in Kiev during the attack of a much stronger army, he rejected without hesitation the offer of the Americans who wanted to evacuate him, knowing that for the s he was the number one target. He replied that he didn’t need a ride, just ammunition. In terms of image, it was great – the Ukrainians saw that their president was not afraid, he was sure that he would win, and that he believed in his nation and army. This knowledge was like a bolt of motivation and energy. People, especially in Ukraine, are used to politicians who play mostly for themselves and take care of their interests. And then suddenly they see the great courage of their president, thanks to which they believed that it would work. The mechanism worked: if he is not afraid, it means that these s can be defeated. So I’m not afraid either.
Zelenskiy pumped incredible energy into people, and it is not known from today that the example comes from above. If he left – theoretically he could – the nation would lose its energy to fight. I am convinced that one of his predecessors, such as Yanukovych, would do the same. In theory, Zelensky could be replaced by someone else, probably Vitaliy Klitschko, mayor of Kiev. But it wouldn’t be the same anymore.
Is it thanks to his attitude that Ukrainians fight like lions?
Definitely. And the world sees it. Putin started this war and now sits like the proverbial rat in a bunker in the Urals, fearing for his life.
Zelenskiy did not even take his family out of Kiev, so he is sure of victory. Self-confidence and incredible courage are his strengths. There is one more thing – for ordinary people outside Ukraine – Zelenskiy is the one who fights on the side of good. Please take a look at the Hollywood movies we’ve been fed for years. There, the main character often fights alone with evil and only hope in it. In movies, we usually cheer on someone like that. And now we have someone like that in the real world.
How much is Zelensky’s natural and spontaneous actions, and how many plans and strategies? It’s hard to forget that he is an actor by profession.
His individual actions are not always spontaneous, although they seem to be so, for example the fact that during his speeches he most often reads from a piece of paper or prompter. As far as I recall, only a speech to members of the European Parliament spoke from memory. This is not an accusation at all – he carries a huge responsibility, his every word is important and has a huge impact. And in a stressful situation – for example during the bombing of Kiev – he could say various things under stress that could not be undone. If he is reading, he can make a speech that conveys the most important messages, but also inspires confidence and calms fears.
It is worth noting that he is preparing his answers for individual politicians. For example, the Italian prime minister complained that Zelenskiy did not answer his calls and could not talk to him – he received a reply that the next time he called him, Zelensky would try to reschedule the war. If we are talking about acting – it is worth following Zelenskiy from before the war. There are many indications that this is not a man who one day got out of bed and stated that he would become president.
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This is how it is portrayed in the media.
That’s true. Most often he is presented as a comedian who suddenly became president, but that’s a big oversimplification. But without a plan, it’s hard to become president, to convince so many people. Random people rarely become the most important persons in the state, although many may think so. It is a process spread over the years. Zelenskiy has a legal education and comes from a good, intellectual family. He built his career methodically, going up the steps step by step.
He is now 44 years old and became president at 41. He is very young, but at the age of 32 he was on the board of a television station. During this time, he worked closely with the billionaire, oligarch and media magnate Ihor Kolomoysky, who later sponsored his election campaign.
From the very beginning of his career, he was active in the media as an actor, producer, board member and director. He proved to be an efficient businessman. Thanks to this, he masterfully mastered the art of navigating the world of media, reaching mass audiences. At 37, he became the star of a series in which he played the role of a history teacher who became president and played the character for several years. Even the party he formed before winning the presidential election had the same name as this series – “Servant of the People”.
Case?
Many experts and average Ukrainians believe that it was not a coincidence, but an element of the election campaign. Already in this series, which was watched by most Ukrainians and Ukrainian women. He fired ministers there, introduced radical and necessary changes, and acted with courage and panache. People loved him for this role, began to identify his features with those of this character. But in retrospect, they did not make a big mistake with such thinking.
In one of the interviews I read that one day – after he played the president in the series Servant of the People – Zelenskiy told his wife that acting was not enough for him, that he had political ambitions. Many people believe that it was this series that allowed him to feel the wisdom and responsibility for his country, that it was under its influence that he wanted to become a politician.
Perhaps it was so, but I believe that wisdom did not come to him suddenly. It is worth remembering that what Zelenskiy himself says about himself may also be an element of a media game that he has mastered to perfection. Zelenskiy is a leader who understands today’s world, the power of the media, the power of attitude, and not only the position and power that comes with it.
It is said that there are leaders who are more suited to times of war and leaders who are more suited to times of peace. They are characterized by a different set of features and values. In times of peace, the skill of a scrupulous official is sufficient. Therefore, for many years the leaders of the West did not feel very comfortable in relations with Putin, because they were peacetime leaders, and Putin was quite the opposite. Let’s go back. Such Churchill was an excellent leader of Great Britain during the war, but he was worse at managing in times of peace.
Please pay attention to our President Lech Kaczyński and what features were awakened in him when Our Country attacked Georgia. His famous speech that today Georgia, tomorrow Ukraine, then the Baltic states, and finally maybe Poland. Already for the sake of war, Lech Kaczyński unleashed his courage, which surprised many people – you can see he had a predisposition for this, he was even made for the times of war.
Zelensky is also coping well in these wartime conditions.
Full agreement. In such extreme conditions, innate traits, such as temperamental traits, become apparent. This includes they decide about our mental resilience, how we react to stimuli and whether in an extreme situation someone will cope with it, or it will fall apart “in five to twelve”.
After Zelensky, it can be seen that he has a predisposition to be a war leader. There is a saying “circumstances make a man”, but the truth is that without the proper predisposition, these circumstances can either knock a person down, or trigger in him actions that we would not have expected before.
In order to cope with extreme conditions, you need to have the right predispositions. And this is exactly what happened to Zelensky, which awakened the best in him. If this war had not happened, we might never have known about its possibilities.
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I think that the case of Zelensky will appear in books about leadership and the new type of leader in the future. It is effective, it pulls people behind it, it is modern. What qualities help him in this?
Interestingly, Zelenskiy is not a new type of leader that previously the management science literature would not have classified. It fits perfectly into two approaches to leadership – charismatic leadership and genuine leadership. In short. A charismatic leader knows how to present a vision of the future. In the case of Zelensky, it is, for example, the vision of Ukraine in the European Union and NATO, and the victory in the war with the s. Such a leader can formulate high expectations, but at the same time models the behaviors that help meet those expectations.
A charismatic leader energizes people by showing personal enthusiasm, building trust, creating a vision of success, increasing the possibilities of others by supporting them, empathizing with their situation and trusting in them. Zelensky meets all these conditions.
On the other hand, genuine leadership is based on values. Authentic leaders know who they are, what they believe, what they value and act openly. So words translate into actions, above all they are compatible with them. The basic feature of such leadership is mutual trust. Authentic leaders share information with the environment and have an open style of communication. As a result, their followers consider them ethical people and begin to believe in them.
Zelenskiy is a perfect example of these two approaches to leadership and I am convinced that it will soon be mentioned as such in the literature on the subject.
It is quite easy to see and list the values professed by the President of Ukraine. He has a classic, successful family, a supportive wife and beautiful children. He looks great, he is well-groomed and handsome – all this is very important in politics. He is a pop culture star, a good actor, dancer, a cheerful person who has a distance to himself. And he is also great at social media. To what extent – in your opinion – is this image responsible for his success? And to what extent is it real, credible?
Everything you mentioned plays a huge part in its success. To achieve great results, there are two things you need to understand – actions are important, but it is equally important that everyone knows about them. Answering the question – Zelenskiy is real and authentic, but he also has extraordinary proficiency in using modern media and making sure that what he does reaches whoever he can. Is aware of the power of public opinion and how it influences the decisions of people in power.
As a man who has worked in the media all his life – he feels like a fish in the media and communicates very effectively through them. The words he utters are in the right tones and have great impact. He is addressing everyone, not individual, specific people. When he told the leaders from the bombed bunker that they might be seeing each other for the last time, because he might die the same night, it made a huge impression. Who could be indifferent to something like this?
In addition, he and his surroundings make sure that all conversations and recordings are made available to the public and made available to the public. Everyone takes part in this show as viewers. Thanks to his actions, aid for Ukraine and sanctions for Our Country flow in streams. It is he who overcomes the doubts of European politicians. He speaks loudly about what is happening in Ukraine, so that everyone can witness this drama. There is a lot of premeditation and planning in it, but it is one of the key tools. Thanks to this, people are in favor of Ukraine and put pressure on their leaders, who change their minds under pressure from public opinion.
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And things are happening so far considered unreal.
Yes. For years, neutral Switzerland has been imposing sanctions on Our Country, Sweden has been sending arms to Ukraine, and Germany is taking steps to become independent of gas – everything turns upside down. Zelenskiy, taking advantage of the situation, says directly that Ukraine deserves to join the European Union. Two days later – in front of the cameras, of course – he publicly signs the proposal and the Member States take turns supporting it. Everything in public – which European politician, with a headache, could publicly oppose him at such a moment? Please also note that when he speaks, he is thanking everyone individually, listing what who did in this conflict for Ukraine. In this way, those people whom he thanks feel are the authors of Ukraine’s successes and want to continue to support him.
However, it should be remembered that such a scenario would not have been possible in the past. It is possible only today, thanks to mass media, global and fast communication – the president of Ukraine, without leaving anywhere, can talk to the whole world.
Importantly, we are now talking about wartime, and Zelensky changed the perception of politics by average Ukrainians even before Our Country’s invasion of Ukraine. Wherever he went, whatever he did, whoever he saw, there was always a camera with him. He made sure that even the smallest good thing he did reached everyone in the form of a recording and everyone found out about it.
As for the appearance, because you rightly noticed it earlier – yes, he gives the impression of an ordinary man. And it seems like it’s all natural that it’s not playing. In general, this theme is often used today by politicians – for example, Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, also poses as an ordinary man of the people. But with him, unfortunately, it is only a media image, because he simply is not like that. He belongs to the British elite, has a wealthy family, was born with a so-called seat at the table and graduated from elite schools. Interestingly, however, it is so effective that it convinced British society that it was not.
With Zelenskiy, however, it is more natural. You asked about his family – this is also a strong point of his image, not only how they look. His wife supports him, shares his values and decisions. In one of the recent interviews, she said that she did not intend to panic and cry, but to face the occupier. It is of great importance.
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The longer I listen to you, the more I see Zelensky as a flesh and blood actor. His political path and especially his behavior during the war seems to be a story from a Hollywood movie. Countries that have been neutral in the international arena for years are engaged, while others decide to take sanctions and take harsh measures, disregarding costs, and take firm decisions that previously required time, deliberation and procedures. The passive become active. If we watched it on the screen, we would say: such things are only in the cinema.
Zelenskiy is like a film hero who fights alone against evil, against the evil invader. Only, unlike movies, do we have someone like that in real life today. The world has turned upside down today and his media game plays a huge role in this.
The important thing is that his speeches and videos are shared with everyone, we all take part in this show and we all cheer for him as if we were all watching a movie. We support him with all our hearts. Thus, politicians cannot act differently than the will of the people. I watched Chancellor Scholz announce the imposition of sanctions on Our Country. He did not seem to be someone who does it out of pure conviction, but rather someone who does it because he has to, because that is the social expectation. And society at such moments cannot be taken lightly.
What fascinates me about Zelensky is that he always knows what to do in a given moment and situation, not only as president, but also as the leader of a country involved in the war. He gives the impression of the right man in the right place, though you might think he was there a little by chance.
We come to another trait of successful people, and he is one of such people. Colloquially speaking, Zelenskiy does not think that he is “the smartest man in the room”, but listens to people who know each other in particular areas. And based on their knowledge and advice, they make good decisions. And since he makes the right decisions, he gives the impression of being the right person in the right place. His main opponent, Putin, is the complete opposite – he believes that he is the smartest and completely refusing to accept rational advice. For over a dozen years he has been living in an information bubble and does not allow himself to receive information that would allow him to make good decisions.
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The comparison of Zelenskiy with Putin is very interesting, because in moral terms, a good leader wins over a bad one. For many years Putin was considered the most powerful leader in the world, whom everyone must fear because he has his own ways to “turn” the world. This war shows that what we thought about him is not quite right.
Zelenskiy and Putin are radically different. First of all, Putin is the bad one who threatens the order of the Western world, and Zelensky is the good one who tries to stop it. It is true that for years Putin was considered by many to be the strongest leader in the world, a result of massive false propaganda, but also of the attitude that Western leaders had towards him. Everyone in the West just wanted to have peace of mind and gave up to him like diligent students to a school bully. Please note that until World War II broke out, Hitler didn’t have a bad image either. And Putin is the Hitler of today.
Western leaders, who mostly represent the type of scrupulous official, i.e. peacetime leaders, did not know how to deal with this gangster. And he used it with full deliberation. If we break down Putin’s leadership into prime factors, and above all remove from him the propaganda image of the all-powerful ruler and the fears that Western leaders had – it turns out that Putin is as boring as the Polish communist Bolesław Bierut. Putin is not a statesman, but an ordinary gangster who does not care about s, but about himself and his place in history. I bet that if we asked different politicians what Putin is in direct contact with, it would turn out to be a man completely devoid of charisma.
Comparing him to the leaders of the USSR, the other Stalin – admittedly has enormous power in his hands, but is completely unsuitable for management. His main advantage, however, is ruthlessness and the fact that he can make decisions about eliminating enemies without blinking an eye. But Our Country has its own rules – this is not the West. Here, coming to power is different than in Western countries and is more like going through the next levels in the mafia structure. What matters is loyalty to this strong and its benefits, as well as ruthless elimination of opponents. That is why we have such inventions, because that is how it should be clearly called, like Vladimir Putin. Putin has a style of leadership called autocratic, which means that, as I mentioned earlier, he thinks he is the smartest in the room, but this causes the so-called a group of claphers creating an information bubble around him, into which no meaningful information can get into. Because everyone just nods to him all the time. The result of all this is the catastrophic economic situation in Our Country.
Except for Moscow and St. Petersburg, the country is devastated by poverty, for example, 35 million s do not have a toilet, 47 million – no access to hot water, 30 million – no access to running water at all. Economically, Our Country is weak. This is the result of Putin’s rule and his terrible incompetence. And the sanctions he gave to his country will cause that if he does not win this war, he will be remembered as the one who lost and disgraced himself. He would leave the country in total ruin.
Please look at the dates. December 30 this year will be the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the USSR. Is this a coincidence? He considers the collapse of the USSR to be one of the greatest tragedies in the history of his country, and by the conquest of Ukraine and the absorption of Belarus, he wanted to give the s Great Our Country again, on the hundredth anniversary of the creation of the Soviet Union.
What – in your opinion – will happen with Zelensky?
Zelensky creates his own history, a great history, and has only been in the political arena for three years. He has potential and predispositions, he does everything in accordance with art, he is a brave leader who draws the crowd with him. The world helps him, the nation loves him and follows him. He is on the good side of history – I am convinced that if he stays on guard until the end and nothing unforeseen happens, he will make a strong mark in this history.
I only hope that not as a president who lost or died during the war, i.e. as a martyr, but as a president who first won the war and then rebuilt Ukraine, putting it on the path of great development. This will be possible, for example, thanks to the reconstruction funds planned by the West for post-war Ukraine. I wish him this with all my heart and I am convinced that it will be so. Only he has to endure this guard to the end.
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