2016 was declared by President Petro Poroshenko to be the Year of the English Language in Ukraine. To highlight the president’s resolution, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv invited this writer to design and lead a series of workshops in “Communications Styles and Leadership.”
A workshop is an active learning process. I don’t tell the participants about leadership and communications styles, I take them on a journey of self-discovery.
Everyone has a communications style or pattern. The tendency is to have a bias toward one’s own style without being aware one has one. This is the basis of many misunderstandings and conflicts both professionally and personally. Understanding your style, as well as the style of your colleagues and friends, can help increase your skills, productivity, reduce conflict and foster a more harmonious environment. It’s empowering. In Ukraine, technical skills and knowledge are highly valued. It is becoming increasingly understood that information alone is not enough to translate into effectiveness.
Humor and fun are important aspects for making the information in a workshop easy to use and memorable. Through the workshops, I give a glimpse of American style, interactive master classes and coaching techniques. I don’t lecture. I take different learning styles and preferences into consideration in the design process and keep a fast pace. The workshops include an individual component, teamwork and demonstrations, as well as presentations by the participants.
On July 14-22, our Embassy tour traversed central and western Ukraine, including Kyiv, Lviv, the majestic Carpathian Mountains, the forest region of Volyn and the picturesque rural Khmelnytsky Oblast. The Embassy team was headed by Rae Jean Stokes from the Public Affairs Section with Olesia Iegorova and Yulia Kosharna, and was under the auspices of Cultural Attaché Shari Bistransky.
The workshops were part of the U.S. Embassy’s outreach to youth and young professionals. The Embassy partners included: the Ministry of Youth and Sports, U.S. Embassy Youth Council, Association of Employers of Lviv, Zhinochi Perspektyvy/Women Entrepreneurs NGO – Women for Women, Lviv City Council, Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization, Donetsk Internally Displaced Persons Group, Foundation for Old Volyn, Peace Corps “Camp Heal,” the Academic Integrity Program and American Councils for International Education.
So much interest was generated about personal and professional development skills that the Kyiv School of Economics and others are interested in having me prepare and teach workshops to their students. They see them as valuable skills for dealing with the complexity and challenges in Ukraine. Fund-raising for travel-related expenses for this academic year is under way. Please support and contribute to KSE’s goals. E-mail: [email protected].
In the Carpathian Mountains at a counselors workshop for the Ministry of Youth and Sports and Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization.
Dianna Derhak, M.B.A., is the founder of DNA International Consultancy and DiannaDerhak.com. She is an attorney, international transformation consultant and breakthrough coach for individuals, teams and organizations, as well as an artist. Ms. Derhak lived and worked in Ukraine for 14 years. She is active in the Ukrainian community, including humanitarian projects for Ukraine and is based in Buffalo, N.Y.