Leader

Ivey LEADER Project

Experiences Blog

By: Scott Innes, HBA Executive Director

25 April, 2011 – 6 June, 2011

Sharing a slice of my Ivey education

Here I am, halfway across the Atlantic, on my way to teach Moldovan undergraduates about business.  That’s quite the culmination to an incredibly eventful HBA1 year and I have some pretty daunting questions still lurking in the back of my mind.  Why are we doing this?  Do we really think we can make a measureable difference in the way the world operates?  And, if so, in what way do we want to make a difference?  What motivates us to want to help?  I’ve thought through these questions many times before, yet they remain in the back of my mind.  Perhaps the questions remain because I know that my responses will likely evolve as I grow, but I think they also remain because they drive at what my abilities and responsibilities are as I am soon to graduate from one of the best business schools in one of the richest, most privileged countries in the world.  

In thinking of these questions I think of the opportunities that I’ve been blessed with in life but I also think of those opportunities that others have not received.  I believe that everyone at the moment they are born should have the same set of opportunities available to them as they embark on their journey through life such that merit alone would determine their success.  Imagine the growth and prosperity this world would witness if everyone had these opportunities for self-fulfillment at birth.  For example, imagine if everyone in the world had access to the same level of business education that we are so privileged to have at Ivey.  Those who currently don’t have this opportunity would be much better positioned to improve their lot if they did have this access, but also they would be much better positioned to add value to their society and the world.  In my view, the Ivey LEADER Project seeks to address exactly this issue for the sake of providing business students and entrepreneurs in the developing world with the opportunity to learn to ask the right questions to address the pertinent information when solving business problems they face. 

From what I understand, there are students and entrepreneurs in Chisinau, Moldova that will become better positioned to be successful in business from having the opportunity to experience a slice of Ivey’s education that they would otherwise never have.  Imagine the obstacles that a person born in Moldova would have to overcome in order to have an opportunity like I have had through my education at Ivey.  Of course I had to work very hard to be rewarded with the opportunity to study at Ivey, but for a young Moldovan this education would basically be out of reach.  Yet, if these people could have access to such an incredible opportunity, then they could also become that much more influential in a world that has plenty of problems to fix.  By providing these students with the tools of the LEADER curriculum, they can use these tools to better evaluate the problems they see in the world, they can use them to know how to better address these problems, and finally they can use these tools to better execute on the solutions they devise. 

What then of my responsibilities as a hopeful Ivey graduate and business leader?  It has always been important for me to know the impact of my decisions and buy in to their benefits before acting upon them.  What inspires me most about the opportunity to teach in Chisinau is the chance to have a small, but hopefully meaningful, impact on how the world operates.  I hope that I will be able to position our Moldovan students to work successfully toward providing more opportunity for themselves and their country.  If I can continue to pursue this same goal of enabling the youth of our world with the opportunity for self-fulfillment, then I believe I will have put my skills and resources to good use.  This goal is what has largely inspired me to pursue my degree at Ivey, and I see it as a large part of my responsibility as an Ivey graduate and hopeful business leader. 

A stone waiting to be changed into a diamond

I’m in the Chisinau airport now waiting for my flight home.  The last Moldovan I will interact with this trip was the immigration officer that I had to pass before reaching my gate.  After I had finished answering his questions he stamped my passport then smiled and asked me if I would come back again.  The way he asked if I would return was meant earnestly and very literally; it was a symbolic way to end this journey. 

The problem with Moldova is that everybody leaves.  It seems that from birth it is every child’s dream to live in America.  Before Chisinau’s youth reaches high school it is likely that their father will be working in Italy or Russia to support their child’s education.  Dads rarely return and most often get divorced.  The smartest university students will be lucky to pass the visa process and if they can afford it they’ll have the opportunity to clean dishes in a fast food restaurant in Brooklyn.  Those who graduate hope to make 60 lei a day, 30 of which is used to pay for the cheapest housing possible and the rest is used for a meal or two.  Those who have the courage to become entrepreneurs likely get robbed out of business by corrupt officials by the time they can turn a profit.  It is no wonder that everyone wants out. 

There are, however, enough reasons to be hopeful for the poorest country in Europe.  Although there is currently no president, a student of ours explained that the political situation has improved drastically from two years past when the communists were in power.  There are now many more grants available for small businesses and entrepreneurs have been able to begin working for themselves again.  A new generation is emerging that believes there is potential for their country as a place for investment and free enterprise.  Economic growth is encouraging and Moldova is on course to rid itself of corruption as this generation begins to take the reins of power. 

Given the odds that our students face, it is hard to wish for them to stay and strive to improve the country’s prospects.  One can be easily convinced that their lives would be better fulfilled in the western world where their merit may be realised.  However, I recognised the error in such a conclusion once I spoke with some of the students about their dreams.  One student, Stefan, told us that Moldova is a stone waiting to be changed into a diamond.  For him the needs here are too great to ignore, but then so are the opportunities.  He currently works freelance in web design, but has aspirations to combine that expertise with his photography and film skills to help bring his passion for trials biking to Moldova.  But all these are just steps to gain the experience to ultimately become a movie director and revolutionise the film industry here.  I could never have expected such great dreams and it is clear that the greatest fulfilment in life for these students will be the journey to accomplish them.  It is this journey to overcome environmental hurdles by oneself that defines the entrepreneurial experience and so I’ve realised that what we’ve accomplished here extends well beyond simply the academic lessons of the LEADER curriculum and the case-based method of teaching.  The most valuable thing that we have given these aspiring entrepreneurs is the courage and conviction that with every hurdle there is not only a way to mitigate the risks faced but more importantly there is a way to position strategically on the basis of that hurdle to compete better than before. 

In Stefan’s case, one of the biggest hurdles that face him is the extreme lack of disposable income that the youth of his country has.  Trials biking is an expensive sport where the cheapest entry bike costs about 5,500 leis, or 500 dollars, and it will require new parts fairly often; this is at least a year’s savings for most people.  On top of that, the public views the sport as a circus show instead of something more admirable like soccer.  However, Stefan told us that LEADER has helped him to realise what questions he needs to ask himself to discover how to address the hurdles he faces.  And, more crucially, he began to realise all the resources and skills that he does have and how to fit them together to create a strategy for developing his new business.  During a coaching session I had with him, he showed me much more confidence in realising different ways of tackling the challenge of bringing this new sport to Moldova, where before he had considered the issues as insurmountable roadblocks and had given up.  He is now considering his connections with professional trials bikers in Ukraine and Romania and how he can learn from the sport’s development in those countries to bring a similar professional circuit to Moldova.  This would provide more legitimacy to the sport and a more lucrative upside for those who excel at it.  He is also considering how to develop the lifestyle behind the sport that includes the clothing, clubs, and skills development clinics.  His business partner has already begun to establish an extreme sports clothing company and Stefan has previously engaged his fellow trials bikers through small challenges that have the beginnings of an official club and potential to host a skills development clinic.  Finally he is thinking of how to increase awareness and market these initiatives through his expertise in videography, photography, web development, and social media. 

While I can’t know if Stefan will succeed at this venture, I do know that the experience will position him better in life to tackle the challenges that he faces in Moldova.  I also have faith that he, and other students in his generation, will be the actors who begin to break those barriers to opportunity by continuing to challenge the norm with new business ventures.  There can be no other life for someone so talented, determined, and with such hope for his country.