Strategic Leadership November 2018
NOVEMBER 2018 Troika Team – Rick Reed, Mike Dixon, Joe Lineberry
Friday, Nov. 9/Saturday, Nov. 10
These two days were all about the necessary travel to Ukraine. Our routing was GSO-EWR-MUC-LWO with all flights ON-TIME and smooth; hallelujah! The big issue was discovered when we arrived Lviv in that Mike Dixon’s luggage did not arrive to Lviv. RATS! Joe and I were okay on luggage delivery. All of Mike’s Diabetic medicines were in the checked luggage so we were all concerned for him. Later in the day Pavlo was able to get Mike the correct pills he needed to last a couple of days.
Saturday after we arrived DeLice I met with Andriy and Pavlo at the Chamber classroom. We reviewed all the details for the room layout and then the entire schedule for the week. Every day is full and on-target. This Lviv ICF team is doing a marvelous job for us.
Dinner was at the place down the street with cow out front. This time we ate indoors because it was warm and the upside-down umbrella deck outside was closed and already cleaned out for the winter.
Sunday, Nov. 11
Mike was still without his luggage and not feeling well. Pavlo and I went to a store and got him some “protein” bars and a variety of peanuts. Mike stayed behind at the hotel and rested.
Joe and I went to the Grapevine Church with Pavlo and Helen at 11am. The church meets in a nightclub. Joe and I were called upon to provide a word of encouragement to the church. Joe opened his comments to the congregation by stating that there was a “smart” one and a “good-looking” one from the USA. He declared he was the “good-looking” one. Oh well, we did our best. The church service was great and we thanked them for their ministry in Lviv.
We went back to DeLice and picked up Mike and went to lunch at the Forum, then went to Hosanna Church for the 3pm service. It was great seeing and hugging Dima and Igor Grishaev. Of course Dima preached a monster sermon, the music was terrific and we had a wonderful visit.
Mike’s luggage arrived around 5pm and we were all overjoyed for him.
Dinner was at Pavlo’s apartment with Helen. Pavlo gave us a briefing on his new position at UBTS and it sounds like a wonderful opportunity for him and the seminary.
Monday, Nov. 12
Day 1 of Strategic Leadership is complete and from all inputs received it was successful. We had 24 participants, all very active and vibrant in the class discussions.
I divided all the teaching content into 3 relatively equal portions each day so Joe, Mike and I all led the lectures today and will do so each day this week. It worked beautifully and Andriy, Pavlo and Olya were very pleased.
In the afternoon session Mike led a more in-depth introductory time using a map of United States game that challenged our class members to locate the individual states. It was fun and we followed up by asking our students to give us a list of the most important things we needed to know about Ukraine. Of course they went on forever and we all laughed.
Dinner followed at Andriy’s house and we were well taken care of by Svetlana.
Tuesday, Nov. 13
Day 2 and Module 2 went well. In the afternoon we split into 3 teams.
Joe went with Andriy and others to Andriys auditing firm and spent the afternoon.
Mike went with Vasyl and others to his company, Nuga Best Ukraine.
Both Joe and Mike had outstanding experiences.
I went with Taras and others to his company, Guldmann-Ukraine, a metal manufacturing company. It was a 50 minute drive outside of Lviv. We enjoyed a great visit.
In the evening we went to Julia’s ESL school and participated in the 2 hour class.
Wednesday, Nov. 14
The Day 3 module was heavily focused on the SWOT analysis and the Activity Chain analysis. The class participated in a terrific way and we all enjoyed the discussions. We also learned that we have local celebrities in our group:
Iryna Chocoboom
The Electrical Marian and Taras:
I had them sign my magazine copies.
Joe led an opening time by disagreeing with my statement that:
“If you always do what you’ve always done,
You’ll always get what you’ve always got.”
We all laughed and enjoyed the spirited conversations.
Of course Marian ate up the duct tape team project and continued to replay the activity long after we concluded.
Mr. Chubai called Andriy and requested we visit Lviv Polytechnic University. We courteously obliged and ended up with a very positive visit. We met the Senior Deputy of the Department of Economics and spent time answering his questions. Of course Joe and Mike knew everything. We also spoke to the Senior Economics class and answered many questions which turned out to be a great experience.
The final part of our day was spent with Ukraine Baptist Theological Seminary. We toured the “new” site which is undergoing transformation. For those with experienced eyes you will notice the roof was raised, new brick installed and a new roof set on top. Amazing project, huge vision for UBTS.
We later met with Russell Woodbridge and the other faculty members and enjoyed a great roundtable discussion.
I also got a chance to meet the new Chair position that was recently funded. What a great pleasure for me.
Thursday, Nov. 15
Our teaching of the strategic opportunities in Module 4 was riveting and the class participants were eagerly soaking up every thought we provided:
Fortunately Joe’s afternoon special seminar session on “Disagreement in LOVE” was extraordinary:
Friday, Nov. 16
We have completed the Strategic Leadership seminar and awarded all certificates and diplomas. It was a terrific class, far above any others that I have experienced.
The reception banquet was also a time of heartfelt sharing by the instructors and students. We received many words of gratitude from the class members for influencing not only their way of thinking for business, but also for their personal lives.
We were also presented with more gifts that we can transport back to the USA, so Andriy, Pavlo and Olya are the benefactors.
TGBTG!
Slava Bogo!