ambassadors without diplomatic passport of following rules, Czechs tend to seek exceptions. As a nation, we are very judgmental. We judge everybody and everything, not only politicians and politics but also friends, neighbors and children. We do not like to stand out from the crowd. As a consequence, we are afraid to fail. But it is wrong. We have a chance to learn from own mistakes! We need more confidence. Just look at toddlers as they serve as an example how to be brave in getting to know the world. When you compare the economic performance of the Czech Republic to Visegrad Four countries from the macroeconomic point of view - is the glass half empty of half full? The Czech economy has recently recovered due to the unexpectedly improved performance of small-and-medium enterprises. Higher foreign demand hand in hand with weaker currency supported Czech export and household demand revived as well. That indicated a limited impact of weaker currency on household budgets. Unemployment has started to decline. The Czech economy is likely to overcome the recession. Unfortunately, the pace of the economic growth (according the preliminary figures, the economy increased by 2.7% annually in the second quarter 2014) trails behind the neighboring countries Poland and Hungary, Slovakia being the only exception. Though the Czechs are still the richest nation in Visegrad Four (based on gross domestic output per capita in purchasing power parity), the Czech Republic has exhausted foreign direct investment as a fuel of growth. Foreign investments still keeps flowing into the country but in considerably smaller amount. Moreover, the opportunity to utilize the EU funds available to support investment and consumption in our country was missed also and the Czech Republic has the reputation as the worst performer in using of EU funds. Do you think that Czech general population understands and behaves accordingly to the macroeconomic trends? What is your main recommendation? Generally speaking, the Czech population at large is conservative. Czechs wait till there is a higher chance to get a new job or higher salary on their paycheck. Than they feel more save and
happier. As it was mentioned above, Czechs tend to be risk-averse. On the other side, they do not look much around the corner. If somebody offers exceptionally good price of a good or extremely high interest rate on deposits, one should first ask: Is it a confident person/institution? Or what is behind the extra-favorable offer? We should learn to accept the risks of our decisions and do not expect that somebody (e.g. the government) rescue us like the handsome prince in the Snow White fairy tale. The reform of university education is a topic of heated debates under both government coalitions either left wing or right wing. You have teaching experience from both the public and private university. What is your opinion? I face gradually declining knowledge of students in math in my role as a university lecturer, for example. While students have improved their language knowledge, they are less competent in mathematics and logics. So, the education should be more balanced to provide good skills in both languages and scientific subjects. Foreign languages are the gateway for education but cannot be the only goal. Financing of education is a big challenge since it has not only economic but also social consequences. Distribution of funding based on number of students is road to hell. Neither the number of published articles and nor books reflects the quality of education at university. The university lecturers need to have time to prepare for their lectures and to work individually with students more. Measuring the quality of education is not an easy task but it is feasible (via hard and soft data). We need to apply multi criteria evaluation to funding university education. Women in the economy – do you have some hard data for those who are still reluctant to support any diversity measures? The notion that “Women Matter” and the diversity in our teams and in management improve atmosphere and performance of the company is supported by a couple of studies, including that of McKinsey from 2010. This study concludes that companies with higher share of women in management report better financial results. Moreover, such companies tend to
Photo: Archive
Linda Štucbartová graduated from the Institute of International Territorial Studies. After a one year scholarship at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, she obtained a Diplome d’études supérieures from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. Between the years 2002 and 2006, she worked in senior positions at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since 2006 she has functioned in the private sphere, and lectures at the Anglo-American University, where she was named the Chair of the Department of Diplomacy. In addition to training in negotiation and communication of clients from the private, public and non-profit sector, she regularly collaborates with NGOs in the projects of the International Global Young Leaders Conference and the Women and Leadership Programme. Linda Štucbartová is a member of the Rotary Club Prague International. She currently works for ATAIRU. Articles are extracts from her book Velvyslanci i bez diplomatického pasu (Eng. “Ambassadors without a Diplomatic Passport”).
TO BE CONTINUED WITH OTHER AMBASSADORS WITHOUT DIPLOMATIC PASSPORT
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follow some long-term strategy rather than be constantly muddling their way through. Unfortunately, the Czech Republic lacks behind many European countries in women employment. While in Nordic countries like Finland, Lithuania and Latvia, the difference between employment of males and females is negligible (below 5 percentage points in 2012, according to Eurostat), in the Czech Republic the difference is more than 15 percentage points the fourth highest gap in Europe. Only Malta, Italy and Greece display the higher difference. Situation might get much worse since the aging Europe including Czech Republic will cause a gradual reduction of working-age population and higher participation of women might slowdown this drop. Under current payas-you-go pension system in the Czech Republic less workers equals to smaller bundle of money that might be redistributed to the pensioners. So, the state pensions would have to be lowered or social insurance contribution rates (or/and another taxes) would have to be raised. You have experienced ATAIRU Leadership program for women leaders. What is your approach to leadership? I like approach “respect and to be respected”. Our talents and nature has to be respected and we have to respect talents of our family members (including children), colleagues and others. Much like the garden is nice when it is colorful; life is beautiful when it is diverse. “People always saying yes” are less conflicting and less likely provoke a progress. The team is working as a complex organism. Each of cellules of the organism is important and carries a unique role. The right functioning of each cellule ensures that the organism performs well. by Linda Štucbartová ■
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