Interview with a person I consider Freedom Centered Leader, my mentor Mike.

1. Interview
Summary

2. What’s leadership?
• It’s a set of behaviours and attitudes. For me it is very
similar to parenting. I believe leaders truly love their
people and want the best for them so they need to
enable best in them. It is about being a role model and
nourishing the best in others.
• And as much as there is no time off parenting, there is
no time off from leadership. There is a lot of forgiving
and caring too. I think best leaders are those who think
about their people like if they were their children. I
sometimes think this way, but I am old too and most of
my workers could be my children .

3. KNOWLEDGE

4. What’s your approach towards
studying? I
• “I’m loving it!” – the truth is that I don’t have an
MBA degree, but its mainly because I don’t
consider formal education as an ultimate source
of knowledge. I keep my mind open and study all
the time. I value practical education a lot, learning
things on the go, as they appear, I do lots of
evaluation. I also keep myself curious constantly
and whenever I have a chance I ask questions. I
don’t take things for granted, I question and
question again. I also think how can I make things
better next time.

5. What’s your approach towards
studying? II
• Also since part of my job is connected with
travelling, I always intend (sometimes better
sometimes worse) to learn a local language, to
experience culture, to get to know people and
their traditions. I don’t want to be just an old
white expat who tells others what to do, I want to
learn from them to encourage them to learn from
me. And I truly enjoy being a new one, a beginner.
There is a term for it – a beginner mind – that’s
how I approach learning.

6. GOVERNANCE

7. What are your healthy leadership
habits?
• Planning – I always have a plan, every Sunday evening I
plan my week, every month I plan main events, I even
plan my free time and time for gym. I believe planning
ahead makes me effective and acting according to the
plan – efficient.
• Treating everyone same – I do my best to treat everyone
with the same respect regardless if they are my staff,
clients, bosses, partners or who ever. I get truly
annoyed when some of my colleagues requests others
to “remind them about the meeting” or call in advance.
I can make an effort to write down their appointment to
my calendar, so does everyone else.

8. What are your healthy leadership
habits? II
• Analyzing before making decision – especially in
rush or during the crisis, I always take a breath
to check if my decisions are caused by panic or
actual need of action.
• Celebration – I encourage team work and
whenever possible I celebrate with my team all
our successes. It is also a way of team bonding
in my opinion, cause its natural and very
inclusive.

9. SERVICE TO OTHERS

10. What’s the role of leadership in the
society?
• Our times are not better than any other when it comes
to the way how people behave. At the same time our
messages can become more viral now. Instantly we get
to know about the ideas from other part of the globe.
• I believe the leaders of today should use the technology
to help community and spreading awareness and
getting everyone on board is the key. At the same time
there is a trap which we need to address – people
became more and more comfortable so even though
they are “aware” they don’t act and leaders should
drive action. Facebook protest wont impact the
governments as much as actual protest.