Meeting no. 1:

A cup of business in the morning

Guests:
Jaak Mikkel - CEO, Coca-Cola HBC Poland
Stoyan Ivanov - CEO, Coca-Cola Poland Services, Bulgaria

Meeting no. 2:

Save for your future!

Guest: Grzegorz Chłopek - CEO, Nationale-Nederlanden PTE S.A, Poland

Meeting no. 3:

IKEA towards becoming “People & Planet Positive” Strategic sustainability in business.

Guest: Katarzyna Dulko-Gaszyna - Sustainability Manager at IKEA Retail, Poland

Meeting no. 4:

Leader of Wise Aid - helping others while developing your business

Guest: Tomasz Fula - Operational Manager foreign regions of Precious Gift, Poland

Meeting no. 5:

Meeting with representatives of the Daniel Morgan Graduate School of National Security

Guests:
DyQuan Washington - Senior admissions advisor at the Daniel Morgan Graduate School of National Security, USA
Steven E. Meyer, Ph. D. - Dean, Daniel Morgan Graduate School of National Security, USA

Meeting no. 6:

The role of young people in the UN - how to make our voice audible

Guest: Agata Krząstek - United Nation Youth Delegate of Poland

Meeting no. 7:

FAKRO - Window to Europe

Guest: Wojciech Klimek - Member of the board of FAKRO, Production Director, Poland

Meeting no. 6:

The role of young people in the UN - how to make our voice audible

Guest: Agata Krząstek - United Nation Youth Delegate of Poland

Meeting no. 8:

Young, talented and... afraid of failing.
A view on startup culture in creative businesses

Guest: Maciej Sadowski - Co-founder and President of Startup Hub Poland Foundation
The organizer of the meeting is: SAR Stowarzyszenie Komunikacji Marketingowej

What is the impact of operational and IT technologies on our live and work? This issue was analysed by the guests of the panel discussion about 4.0 industry – the next revolution that is going on in our civilization. ‘A good example of that can be start-ups which aren’t just about making money, but about technology development to make it useful, simple and understandable for the receivers. While creating it, one should always think about people that will use it,’ underlined Predrag Tasevski, the founder of Governance Forum Macedonia.

Saulius Bilvs, CEO in AB Amber Grid, pointed out that huge companies are too big for new ideas. ‘Corporate structures reduce the appetite for taking risk. Don’t be afraid of being independent. Do realize your ideas and, most of all, don’t be afraid of failure,’ he advised young leaders.

The panellists underlined that technological changes will affect the labour market. There will be new industries, new areas of business development. This will have its impact on workplaces. Some of them will be taken away by robots. What can we do not to remain unemployed in the future?

‘History shows that technological advance creates more new workplaces than destroys. Boring and repetitive jobs that nobody wants to do, will disappear. What will appear, then? It is difficult to speculate about specific positions, but surely there will be a demand for such features as fantasy, creativity and responsibility,’ said Saulius Bilvs.

Predrag Tasevski noted: ‘Technology is more and more intelligent, but it needs to be managed by intelligent people. It is worth placing importance on education.’ Katarzyna Tomoń, Head of the Organization Development Department in FAKRO agreed with him. She underlined also that in the future jobs there will be a need for people that can control technologies, but also for those who can read data. ‘These are the basis for planning the future of an enterprise,’ she said. People who can communicate with the world, with clients and who can find themselves in a multitude of information, will be appreciated too. These are the competencies that companies need.

She also drew attention to the risks that are connected to the development of new technologies. Katarzyna Tomoń: ‘Security and privacy policy are the challenges that are waiting for us. New businesses that will evolve include also psychology and psychiatry, because after all, we need to take care also of our relationships not to shift them to the virtual world, to be able to preserve humanity.’

The Minister of Health, Łukasz Szumowski underlined, that health is not only about treatment, therapies, prophylaxis, but this is also a field of developing new technologies, innovative management and application new solutions. ‘Nowadays medicine can’t develop without algorithms. This is the base to the work of resonance, CT scanner or USG. Formerly, such thing as death commissions existed. They decided which patient would receive renal replacement therapy, in other words, who would survive. Today, thanks to technology development and processes optimisation, everyone has access to this type of treatment. In the past, every third or the fourth patient died because of a heart attack. Today each of them can remain alive. That is why the innovativeness in health service is so important,’ claimed Mr Szumowski.

He added also that healthcare is an important field in the process of economic development, as well as in politics. The decisions that are made have a considerable impact on the election results and on the future of people who work in politics. ‘Health service in Poland is worth about PLN 100 billion of public money. How should we spend it? What to do to optimise this expense? How can we make savings to reach the level of at least 1%, which gives us an additional million, through the optimisation of hospitals work? This is the area of implementing new technologies and processes that will make spending more efficient,’ said the Minister.

He pointed out, at the same time, the role of leaders in this field. Who should become one? A doctor, financier, manager, politician? The number of questions rises: which groups out of all those who benefit from public money are the most important? What algorithms to apply to spend money more fairly, which not always means equally? Invest in prophylaxis or rather in therapy? We are talking also about philosophy and ethics. The answers to these questions are not easy, but the responsibility for solving these problems is even bigger. ‘This is the challenge for a leader, but also for some expert teams that surround him’, said the Minister, as he turned to the young people: ‘Remember that it is not a shame to admit that you don’t know something. The shame is when you don’t know the solution, but instead of searching for help from people that you trust, you pretend that everything is OK.’

What is the leader’s role in the era of the industrial revolution? The panellists rightly observed that a good leader does not squeeze people like a lemon to reach the goal. ‘A modern leader should be a person that develops people, gives them space, motivates to achieving their aims. Trust is crucial. We have to trust that people want to work as good as they can,’ observed Agnieszka Piela, HR Manager in Demant Technology Centre.

The co-founder of SkyBrook Venture Partners, Kaja Kuczynska sees the fundamental difference between Poland and the United States in the attitude of leaders. ‘In the US, leaders represent the bottom-up approach. We let our workers act more independently, we reduce the control. In Europe, I observe the top-down approach. Here, you work with the leaders who have a very high opinion of themselves and who put pressure on the workers to make them realise their own ideas. They don’t necessarily think about what is going on in the organisation. That is a risky model,’ claimed Ms Kuczynska.

Sustainability Manager at IKEA Retail, Poland, Katarzyna Dulko-Gaszyna, observed that corporations very often are seen by young people who enter the labour market, to be bloodthirsty and taking away from people what is the best in them. ‘There are fewer such companies now. International corporations are currently more friendly and good to work in,’ she said. ‘The first chairman that I worked for, at the very beginning asked me what is my mission. I got to know that I should be glad about my life and that I am supposed to bring my values to the company. To become a leader you need to have the desire to do great things, you have to possess your mission. I have the impression that it is most of all passion and credibility that convince young people to choose specific companies,’ said Ms Dulko-Gaszyna.

Deputy Minister of Youth and Sport of Ukraine, Oleksander Yarema agreed with her. He said: ‘Young people don’t want to be just a passive part of the system any more. They want to change the world, have an influence on something. In the 4.0 revolution they don’t only want to get money, but they fulfil their ideas, they are active and that all have its effect in their professional life.’

In fact, that is not only about the professional life, but also about the charity work, which was proven by Tomasz Fula from ‘Wiosna’ association that organizes for example ‘Szlachetna Paczka’ campaign. ‘This wouldn’t work without the help of voluntary workers. We gather motivated people who are ready to help. Our research shows that after the first year of volunteering, people who are involved get more, that is, the opportunity for development, social competencies, they learn how to be a leader,’ said Mr Fula. He also encouraged to be involved in social activity.

‘The time when you enter political and economic life is not an easy one, as we are in the middle of a huge crisis that has been going on in Europe for years now’, told the young leaders Deputy Prime Minister, Beata Szydło. She underlined that one of the main challenges that are waiting for our continent is a demographical crisis. ‘Discussing problems of depopulating and ageing of Europe is not popular amongst politics, because this issue demands patience and systemic solutions, not only in one country but on the European level,’ said Ms Szydło.

She reminded that we are heading further challenges: the migration crisis, economic troubles, unemployment and even the next economic crises. ‘You are the people who will have to face these problems and search for the difficult answers. Remember that Europe is a value, not only a business. Everyone has their own country, language and homeland, but we were born on the same continent and thanks to that we have common routes and traditions. This is our responsibility – both, politicians and young people – to care for our future,’ claimed Ms Szydło.

She underlined also that what can be helpful to young people is a wise education system. ‘It should fit your expectations, but also it should be adjusted to the labour market, for you to be able to compete and to fulfil your professional dreams. We are now working on the reform to change the education system. This is a long perspective that needs constant observation in order to implement necessary corrections and improvements,’ said she.

She announced that the European Union as the community also will be changing. Even now there are a couple of ideas for the development: a two-speed Europe, strengthening of national states, liberalisation. Ms Szydło: ‘After all, the European Union will handle all the crises and solve all the problems that are waiting. It is difficult to imagine Europe without the Union. We all have too much in common and there are too many benefits from that, so we can’t resign from the cooperation. Let us wish Europe to be a good place for young people. A secure place where fantastic ideas are created to serve humanity.’

‘Modern patriotism is about building a stronger country with the help of law-abidingness, freedom, equality, tolerance and solidarity, so with the help of European values. We shouldn’t confuse it with nationalism or isolationism, because these tendencies do not bring anything beneficial neither to the country nor the citizens. That is why separating from others does not make sense. We have to support free trade and further European integration,’ explained Zanda Kalnina Lukasevica, Parliament Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Latvia. She added also that regional cooperation is extremely important. ‘History shows that where there was some kind of threat or danger, those won who acted together. Only this can give a bigger guarantee of security.’

The panellists devoted a great deal of time to discuss the changes in the political scene of specific European countries. Are nationalist forces really on the top? Yan St-Pierre, CEO and Counter-Terror Consultant in the Modern Security Consulting Group MOSECON GmbH from Germany, did not agree with this statement. ‘Over the past three years, lots of changes appeared in Europe, partially because of the migrant crisis. Brexit happened. In Germany, the extremely nationalistic, Eurosceptic and anti-immigrant AfD party is highly rated. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that German people support nationalism. It can be perceived like that from the outside, but I observe it from the inside. AfD high rate is rather an expression of certain dissatisfaction with current politics, the lack of trust in the establishment. A similar thing happened recently in the United States, where Donald Trump, who assure people that he will make America great again, became president.’

In turn, Tudor Buzatu, Romanian Secretary of State in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, said that the populists use nowadays a nationalistic message in order to defeat political capital. ‘They try to intercept voters by making catchy slogans. It works, so they are able to convince many people to become their supporters. But in reality, these politicians don’t see themselves as nationalists at all. This is just a simple opportunistic choice.’

In the end, Mr St-Pierre asked the participants of the Economic Forum of Young Leaders not to search just for one identity. Tudor Buzatu reminded that unity in diversity is one of the most important rules of the European Union.

Piotr Müller, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, reminded that on October 1, the so-called The Constitution of Science comes into effect. ‘The autonomy of higher education will be broadened. This Act will not impose on universities how they should organise the work. There will also be a new system of assessing scientific research. The university staff is supposed to focus on science, first of all, not on earning points’ – he enumerated the most important changes.

Julia Patorska, the leader of the Economic Analysis Department in Deloitte Poland, told young people what should be changed in the education system for them to be able to find themselves on the labour market. ‘Competencies that are given to young people in the universities not always meet employers’ expectations. They search for workers who possess soft skills. The ability of logical thinking, cooperation, communicativeness, reasoning abilities. These are the principal features that recruiters pay attention to. It turns out that what we learnt a couple of years ago, today can be useless. That is the reason why self-development is crucial. One more advice from me: those who gain their professional experience earlier, have more successful life later on.’

What is the perspective of those who enter the labour market right now? ‘The main problems of Polish universities are non-individualised classes for students which are conducted in large groups. It is worth taking into consideration also which faculties and subjects should no longer be proposed to students. It happens that someone graduates from a prestigious major, but later on has problems with finding a job. That is the case of, for example, law graduates,’ said Agnieszka Wąglorz from Polska Debatuje Foundation.

Gabriele Simoncini from Italy, President of GENF International Consulting, pointed out that this is globalisation which mostly changes the way of transferring knowledge. ‘The higher education system treated universities as knowledge factories. Nowadays we observe the completely different situation in the world and the new technologies enforce dynamic changes also in the field of education. The new generation needs to be prepared for professions that do not exist yet. This is a tough task to do, and honestly, I don’t know how to do it.’

Prof. Péter Balázs, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director of Central European University Centre for European Neighborhood Studies from Hungary, warned the young people that in the pursuit of reinventing higher education, we cannot forget about the most important issue: ‘The world needs people who possess knowledge, because you can’t google everything. This is not true that the human brain is overloaded. There is still some space to input new data.’

Loads of practical pieces of advice, examples, and hints heard the participants of the last debate of day 3 of the Economic Forum of Young Leaders. Magdalena Golba, Public Affairs Consultant in Vision Group said: ‘I recommend volunteering to everyone. This is a long-term investment, but I can assure you it will pay off in the future. I started voluntary work in the school council. Now I’m a student of Warsaw School of Economics. I’m the chairperson of the Academic Circle of Foreign Affairs and I coordinate the Diplomacy Action. What is more, I’m a Senator and a member of the Council of the World Economy College. By joining small initiatives I started to cooperate with the greatest number of ambassadors and international organisations. In May, when I was standing arm in arm with ambassadors from all around the world, I realised, what I achieved thanks to the small steps method in not that long time and that I did it all by myself. Networking is also extremely important here and I strongly encourage you to create the net of valuable relationships and acquaintances, because you can benefit from that later on.’

The participants had the opportunity to get to know how they can successfully realise their own initiatives. ‘Each social project can possess funds raised from outside, but it is worth trying to do it yourself. That’s how you gain experience and new skills which can be priceless in your professional life. People who know how to talk with businessmen, effectively implement their ideas, that is, to be enterprising, will be assessed positively by potential donors and employers.’

‘It is crucial to be well-prepared for meetings with people who decide to give you funds. It’s good to check what they’ve done before, where they worked, even what they like to do in their free time. Such knowledge, shown at the very beginning, can turn out to be so important that your project will get the financial support,’ gave his advice Waldemar Zbytek, Vice President of Warsaw Banking Institute.

Przemysław Wilczyński, the fundraiser in Gnyszka Fundraising Advisors said that young people shouldn’t be discouraged if they won’t manage to raise funds for their project with the first, second or third attempt. ‘While analysing your idea, start with answering the question of who is the final beneficent and what changes do you want to introduce in the world with the help of your project. It is really important to define meticulously these questions. This is fundamental. At the very beginning tell the story to the potential donor about how your project will change the world for the better. Begin with people that you already know. It will be much easier for you to make contact.’