Czech & Slovak Leaders 04/2019

Czech & Slovak Leaders III/2019

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019

We Are All Europeans Vazil Hudák, Vice President of European Investment Bank

available worldwide online P hoto : V ojtěch V lk

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P ublisher ’ s

note

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DEAR READERS,

events  page 8

The autumn, with its fantastic colors and its days of gentle rain and fog, creates a very special atmosphere. However, it also makes me restless, eager and wanting to do more. I want to be outside but also indoors surrounded by candlelight.

I want to read and I want to plan new concepts. There are a lot of mixed feelings circling around while nature slowly slides into its long winter sleep.

But we don’t sleep! We are working hard to create and maintain our unique magazine, mixing high-quality stories with exciting interviews, coverage of top-level events in the field of Business, Politics, Culture and the Diplomatic sphere. This wouldn’t be possible without my wonderful and extremely effective team – Lenka, Linda, Šárka, Martina, Petra, Radka. I am blessed to work with such a group. Don´t forget that we also send out our weekly newsletter with content from the magazine and external articles to over 60.000 toplevel recipients/subscribers.

In this issue we are happy to have many interesting interviews; some of the highlights are Vazil Hudák, Vice President of European Investment Bank, on our front page and with a 3-page interview; MUDr Milan Koller, a successful Doctor and Bus Driver; Mr. Miloslav Stašek, State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Angelique Rewers, Coach; Jan Fischer, Czech Statistics Office; Mr. Rostislav Jirkal, and Ms. Zuzana Palovic, founder of Global Slovakia.

Our coverage of important events includes: Senate Silver Medals Awards and all Ambassadors gathering; Comenius Round Table with Vladimír Kremlík, Minister of Transport; Mrs. Schillerová, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance; ASEAN Days; Mexican National Day; Austrian National Day; Korean National Day; Stanton Chase Conference; AI Conference; Et cetera, IEC Conference in Ostrava; Franz Kafka Award; Prague Writers´ Festival; Greek Movie Days; Miro Vernisage; PragArtworks opening.

State visit to Serbia

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President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman representing the Czech Republic 10 Jaroslav Kubera for the first time as President of the Senate awards 12 recipients Silver Commemoration Medals 12 Reception for all Czech Ambassadors at the Senate 16 Round Table with Alena Schillerová 18 Round Table with Vladimír Kremlík 22 Greece – 365-day destination 28 ASEAN – The 52nd Anniversary of the Founding of ASEAN 48 Simona Kijonková a Milan Formánek now lecturing for ELAI 64 IEC – Experts debate current energy and climate issues in Ostrava 82 ČSÚZ

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That’s it, Dear Readers! Ladies and Gentlemen. I wish you all a very pleasant and relaxing Christmas holiday. The same goes as well to my fantastic team, Lenka, Linda, Šárka, Martina, Petra, and Radka – what would I do without them?

Benke Aikell benke.aikell@czechleaders.com www.czechleaders.com

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Jaroslav Kubera for the first time as President of the Senate awards 12 recipients Silver Commemoration Medals

C ontents

interviews

culture events  page 5

30 Et cetera – Street Art – ‘‘On the wings of freedom‘‘ 40 Stanton Chase Diversity Award 43 The Franz Kafka International Literary Prize 2019 53 Future Port Prague 2019 57 Prague Writers´ Festival 60 Connect Visions to Solutions contest won

by Czech startup, 4dot Mechatronic Systems 68 Greek Film Days 87 Galerie MIRO – Barbora Kysilková aka BARBAR – The Painter & The Thief 96 Grand Opening of PragArtworks Gallery  page 96

Vazil Hudák, Vice President of European Investment Bank

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Interview with Vazil Hudák We are all Europeans Interview which (didn´t) take place A tribute to Karel Gott Interview with Miloslav Stašek Diplomacy is a calling Interview with Jan Fischer On the forgotten Czech Statistical Office birthday, reasons for optimism and the right to meddle in politics Interview with Milan Koller Run? Then run for a hospice and go there to see for yourself.

Interview with Rostislav Jirkal I see many potential synergies for Czech and Israeli SMEs Interview with Zuzana Pavlovic The Great Return Interview with Angelique Rewers Women, saying yes to your mission will help to change the world

From left: Louise Beer, Founder and Owner, PragArtworks Gallery, Jimmy and Franci Hibbert, Art Collectors, and Anne Wright, Art Collector

diplomatic events 14 Reception on the occasion of the celebration of Fete du Trone (Morocco National Day) 20 Reception on the occasion of the National Day of the Republic of Korea 26 Thai Market: Dobrý den z Thajska 32 209th Anniversary of the Mexican Independence 76 Mango & Food Festival and Cultural Evening 90 Austrian National Day

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contents

contributors 27

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Cristina Muntean Personal Branding Summit 2019 On pioneering, co-creation and leadership Linda Štucbartová Three myths regarding the Velvet Revolution A first hand account of a teenage girl Tereza Urbánková The importance of recovery Jan Mühlfeit and Kateřina Novotná Talent or Toil?

How and why not to be scared Alena Huberová Loving to impress…

Iva Drebitko An architectural feud that inspired the creation of the most remarkable Baroque sights in Rome Emanuel Šíp 30 years – a bill to pay James A. Cusumano Universal Truth – Dialogue I: Think Nothing

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Publisher: Benke Aikell Head of Editorial: Lenka Helena Koenigsmark Office Assistant: Tatiana Fominykh Webmaster: Petra Kubernátová DTP: Šárka Čičková EU Matters: CEBRE Czech Business Representation, CESES, Europlatform Contributors: James A. Cusumano, Martina Hošková, Lenka Helena Koenigsmark, Jan Mühlfeit, Kateřina Novotná, Linda Štucbartová, Tereza Urbánková, Alena Huberová, Cristina Muntean, Emanuel Šíp, Eva Gáboríková, Iva and Joseph Drebitko Photographers: Tereza Šlápotová, Jitka Tomečková, Lea Takata, Hana Brožková, Rení Volfík a Kristýna Svobodová, Tereza Kunderová, Jaromír Zubák/ČNOPK, Arthur Koff, Oto Palán, Martina Dlabajová, ©Dreamstime

Jan Mühlfeit and Kateřina Novotná

EU matters 100 EU matters interview Interview with Alexandr Vondra I would recommend the government not to underestimate the Presidency 102 EU debate SP CR delegation visits Brussels Czech Members of the European Parliament held a discussion with Vladimír Dlouhý 104 EU matters business

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We are all Europeans I nterview with V azil H udรกk , V ice P resident of E uropean I nvestment B ank

Vazil Hudรกk has been a vice-president of European Investment Bank since October 2016. He was engaged in Slovak politics since 2012, first as the State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance and from 2015 until 2016, he was the Minister of Economy. Mr. Hudรกk started his early career at the Czechoslovak Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990. Later, he worked for the non-governmental organization East-West Institute.

From 2006-2011, he worked in the private sphere for Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase Bank. Mr. Hudรกk is married, and a father of four children. It was a great opportunity to be able to interview Mr. Hudรกk, as a leading representative of the Slovak Republic for the Czech and Slovak Leaders Magazine. We discussed not only his career journey and the role of European Investment Bank, but also his memories and thoughts about the Velvet Revolution, EU unity, and innovations.

P hoto : A rchive

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I nterview

with

V azil H udák

Your very rich and broad professional experience comes from private investment banks such as J.P. Morgan, several roles in the public sphere, including the Minister of Economy and now you are Vice-President at European Investment Bank. Your motto is “making a difference”. It seems that young people in particular cannot see how to make a difference in complex and large structures these days. What is the legacy you left behind in each organization?

Indeed, I did manage to work in different sectors of society during my life, ranging from the not-for-profit sector to commercial banking and government. Looking back at these diverse experiences I can tell you that wherever you are and whatever you do, it is important to focus on human relations. Regardless of the position or sector, I always ask myself the same questions: "What legacy do I want to leave behind? How do I want to be remembered?” In today’s fast-changing world one can expect to have several careers and the ability to move flexibly among different institutions or employers is becoming quite essential. Yet, there are two important assets that last beyond these changes. The first is the friends whom we meet during the journey, and number two is the satisfaction of making a difference. In my case, many people whom I met continue with me on my next journey, this time belonging to the circle of my friends. As to the second, achievements or projects, I am proud to mention several examples, such as the Carpathian Foundation that I helped create to support local communities, Roma minorities

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and young people in the bordering regions of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Ukraine. The next project, I am proud of, concerns the Slovak Investment Holding supporting innovative companies, which I initiated during my career at the Slovak Ministry of Finance. At the European Investment Bank, I’ve participated in a number of projects promoting transport infrastructure, clean energy and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) development in the region of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

We are soon going to celebrate 30 years since the Velvet Revolution. What are your personal memories and what lessons do you wish to pass onto the next generation?

In November 1989 I was doing my (at that time) obligatory military service. It was amazing to see how within a few days the NATO that we were trained to fight as our arch-enemy suddenly became our big friend! And how “comrade captains” fell in love with US army generals. It’s difficult for today’s young people to fully comprehend the huge change and transformation that my generation has gone through during the last 30 years! Just to mention a few already forgotten or taken for granted aspects – the ability to travel freely, the ability to speak without fear, a huge choice of everything, starting with goods, ending with personal and career choices. Personally, I must admit that I am worried that today’s youth are taking all this for granted. As a father of four sons, I know what I am talking about. Without the historical knowledge and direct experience of mine

CZECH&SLOVAK LEADERS III/2019

and previous generations, it bothers me to see that today’s young people are too susceptible to different types of populists who offer easy solutions to complex problems.

In one of the interviews, you were asked about your Eastern European mindset.

I was quite surprised. 30 years ago we certainly wished that the unification would end sooner? How does this EastWest division affect the daily work of the EU institutions?

I know that there are some people quite allergic to the notion of Eastern Europe. In my case, I have always been proud of coming from Eastern Europe! My mother is half-Polish and my father is half-Ukrainian. I grew up in Eastern Slovakia and currently, I live with my family in Prague. The beauty of Eastern Europe is in its diversity, rich culture and history and in its ability to adapt to different socio-economic environments. Our people tend to be more flexible and more hard working that those from Western Europe. But, most of all, we all are Europeans! In today’s world of growing regional polarization and increased geo-political and geo-economic tensions the only way Europe can survive as a strong entity is by standing together. This notion is quite strongly embodied also at the European Investment Bank. Of course, there are different national and regional interests.

But at the end of the day, the European interest is the main guiding principle.

You have been involved in the area of innovation and new technologies where Central and Eastern Europe lags behind.

I nterview

What should be done to prevent a new technology and investment curtain being erected in Europe?

New technologies and the ability to constantly innovate are the main driving forces of today’s economy. Disruptive changes related to artificial intelligence, digitalization, and robotization require new thinking and new approaches. Unfortunately, Europe is not always up to speed with these challenges. Our decision making is too slow and complex, we tend to be too bureaucratic and conservative. Our capital markets are too weak and do not provide sufficient support for risk-taking.

Our schools produce young people unable to think in an analytical and horizontal way. We are afraid of failure and prefer continuity to change. Also, we spend too little money on research and development (R&D)-only 1.5% of Europe’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while the USA and China spend close to 3%!

At the same time, we do have bright people to come up with innovations. Sadly for us, many innovations were started by Europeans who then migrated to the USA or Israel where they found more resources and a better environment for scaling up and commercialization.

Therefore, we have to remove these barriers to innovation. It has to start from education and continue through creating a pro-innovation environment and thinking in society.

In this context, I am very encouraged by the recent steps of the Czech government in this area under the framework of the project “the Czech Republic – the country for the future”.

What should Czechs and Slovak know about the European Investment Bank?

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is a hidden jewel of the European Union. Few people know that this is the largest international financial institution in the world (larger than the World Bank!), or that the Czech Republic gets annually around €1 billion from EIB for different projects. EIB was created in 1958 and it is owned by 28 member states of the European Union. The size of its assets is around €600 billion and its annual lending volumes over €70 billion. EIB is now in the process of transforming into a “climate bank” focusing heavily on financing projects with a positive environmental impact. Czech railways, Prague metro, and many Czech SMEs have benefited from EIB’s support.

Economists do not like questions about the upcoming economic crisis. Sooner or later, there will be one. Therefore, I will ask you what can we do to be better prepared in case there is a new economic crisis coming? Are the governments, private institutions, and individuals doing enough to prevent the total collapse similar to the 2008 scenario?

Crisis is a natural part of an economic cycle.

We all need to “adjust” from time to time. The only question is what kind of crisis, how much destruction and how to prepare for it? I was at Citi when the previous financial crisis hit the globe and then I worked at the Slovak Finance Ministry when key measures to strengthen our and European capacities to deal with a financial crisis were designed and implemented.

I believe we are now much better prepared for an eventual crisis. We have better regulated financial institutions which have much stron-

with

V azil H udák

ger capital buffers; we have much stronger financial supervision; we have new institutions like ESM (European Stability Mechanism) to deal with a crisis. Collectively, we have learned a lot from the previous crisis. So, many things are in place. What we don’t know is what kind of crisis might be coming. After 2008 we have focused on dealing with a financial crisis.

However, nobody knows whether the next crisis will be financial in nature or something else. I am more worried about a crisis that would combine economic and social aspects (e.g., migration or religious or ethnic tensions).

Dealing with such a crisis would pose a qualitatively different type of challenge!

What are your final words for Czech and Slovak Leaders Magazine readers?

I truly do appreciate this opportunity to share my views and experience thanks to the Czech and Slovak Leaders Magazine. It is important to have such platforms that connect people and ideas.

I hope this is not the last time I am able to contribute to the Leaders Magazine. As my term in the EIB is coming to an end, I am hopeful that I will be able to share with the readers my new career steps along with the new experiences it will bring.

Mr. Hudák, thank you very much and all the best wishes on the continuation of your career journey. Let us keep in touch so we can share your update with our readers.

By Linda Štucbartová

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P residential

P hoto : A rchive KPR, H ana B rožková

PRESIDENT MILOŠ ZEMAN

Appointing a new rector

Reception at the French embassy hosted by the French ambassador, attended by Andrej Babiš, Prime Minister

State visit to Serbia

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Receiving the ambassadors

State visit to Serbia

P residential

Visegrad 4 summit

Visegrad 4 summit

Visegrad 4 summit - greeting Zuzana ฤ aputovรก, President of the Slovak Republic

Visegrad 4 summit

Visegrad 4 summit

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S enate

Jaroslav Kubera for the first time as President of the Senate awards 12 recipients Silver Commemoration Medals

On 27 September 2019, on the eve of Czech Statehood Day, the traditional awarding of Senate Silver Commemoration Medals took place in Wallenstein Palace’s Main Hall. During the ceremony, the president of the Parliament’s upper chamber, Jaroslav Kubera, handed out awards to 12 exceptional figures of Czech public life, including on the basis of nominations from other senators.

“It wasn’t easy to choose from such a large number of incredible people. In my final selection, I took particular account of the fact that in a few short days we are commemorating the 30th anniversary of the November events that led here to the collapse of the communist regime and the return of democracy and the market economy,” explains Jaroslav Kubera.

Matyáš Novák, Pianist

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President of the Senate Jaroslav Kubera and RNDr. Václav Cílek, CSc.

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President of the Senate Jaroslav Kubera and Army General v.v. Emil Boček

S enate President of the Senate Jaroslav Kubera and Jefim Fištejn

President of the Senate Jaroslav Kubera and Prof. MUDr. Renata Cífková, CSc.

President of the Senate Jaroslav Kubera and Mgr. Jiří Hamza

President of the Senate Jaroslav Kubera and Natálie Kocábová, receiving the medal on behalf of her father, Michael Kocáb

President of the Senate Jaroslav Kubera and former President of the Senate Milan Štěch

Preseident of the Senate Jaroslav Kubera and PhDr. Libuše Benešová

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S enate

Reception

for all Czech Ambassadors at the Senate At the end of August, the traditional meeting was held between ambassadors and President of the Senate, Jaroslav Kubera, who alongside other representatives of the upper chamber, the Minister of Industry and Trade and the President of the Chamber of Deputies, welcomed them in Wallenstein Garden. The Senate President thanked all the ambassadors for their work, highlighting their service towards the Czech Republic’s good reputation abroad, and also their successes in economic diplomacy.

In his speech, President of the Senate, Jaroslav Kubera, thanked the ambassadors present for their year-round work

Ambassador to Georgia, Petr Mikyska, and Vice-President of the Senate, Miluše Horská

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Vice-President of the Senate, Jiří Růžička, with Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Israel, Martin Stropnický

S enate P hoto : S enate C hancellory

President of the Chamber of Deputies, Radek Vondráček, also made a speech at the meeting

Minister of Industry and Trade, Karel Havlíček

Senator Jiří Drahoš and Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Israel, Martin Stropnický

President of the Senate, Jaroslav Kubera, and President of the Chamber of Deputies, Radek Vondráček, speaking with the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Slovenia, Juraj Chmiel

President of the Chamber of Deputies, Radek Vondráček, and Ambassador of the Czech Republic to India, Milan Hovorka

Czech Ambassador to the USA, Hynek Kmoníček, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the Holy See, Václav Kolaja, and Ambassador to Lebanon, Michaela Froňková

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diplomatic event

Reception on the occasion of the celebration of Fete du Trone (Morocco National Day)

H. E. Hanane Saadi, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco hosted the traditional Throne Day reception marking the 20th anniversary of the date of His Majesty the King Mohammed VI’s accession to the throne. A glorious celebration took place at the Ambassador’s residence in Prague

Andrej Babiš, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic and H.E. Hanane Saadi, Ambassador of Morocco

H.E. Hanane Saadi, Ambassador of Morocco

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H.E. Mariam Rakhviashvili, Ambassador of Georgia

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From left: H.E. Karima Bardaoui, Ambassador of Tunisia, H.E. Virginia Hesse, Ambassador of Ghana, and H.E. Navinder Chauhan, Ambassador of India

diplomatic event

From left: Abdeslam Maleh, Minister Counsellor, Embassy of Morocco welcoming Adam Vojtěch, Minister of Health of the Czech Republic, in the far back H.E. Seoung-Hyun Moon, Ambassador of South Korea, and H.E. Mariam Rakhviashvili, Ambassador of Georgia

From left: Nuket Angin, AirArabia, Area Manager - Eastern Europe, H.E. Dr. Israr Hussain, Ambassador of Pakistan, and Antony Price, AirArabia, Regional General Manager Europe

From left: H.E. Sundus Albayraqdar, Ambassador of Iraq and Mr. Farzad Keshvargar

From left: Rashed Faleh Alharji, Ambassador of Kuwait, H.E. Fouad Bouattoura, Ambassador of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, Sediqh Bensuliman, Charge d Affaires, Embassy of Lybia and Rany Kenawy, Deputy, Egyptian Embassy

From left: H.E. Omer Hussein Thabet Saba'a, Ambassador of the Republic of Yemen and Abdeslam Maleh, Minister Counsellor, Embassy of Morocco

From left: Felix Slováček, Musician, H.E. Hanane Saadi, Ambassador of Morocco, Dagmar Havlová, former First Lady of the Czech Republic, Lucie Gelemová, Artist, and Ludvík Karl, Preciosa with his partner

From left: Dagmar Havlová, former First Lady of the Czech Republic and H.E. Hanane Saadi, Ambassador of Morocco

From left: H.E. Hanane Saadi, Ambassador of Morocco and Livie Klausová, former Ambassador to Slovakia

H.E. Sundus Albayraqdar, Ambassador of Iraq, Livie Klausová, former Ambassador to Slovakia, and Mr. Farzad Keshvargar

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D iscussion

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Round Table of Comenius

Discussion Dinner with Mrs. Alena Schillerová, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance ZOOM Unique Place, Prague Congress Center – September 18, 2019

From left: Erika Lindauerová, CEO, HP Inc., Roman Knap, General Director, Czech Post, Hana Součková, General Director, SAP, Alena Schillerová, Minister, Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius, and Jiřina Nepalová, Owner, Renomia

On September 18th more than 70 high level business women and men gathered to participate in the Round Table of Comenius – discussion dinner with the Minister of Finance of the Czech Republic. It is tradition that dynamic debate covered a range of topics from the minister’s agenda. The discussion was launched by Minister´s short welcome address and traditionally concluded by the President of Comenius Karel Muzikář, who expressed his gratitude to all guests for a fulfilling debate and the Minister for her time and willingness to attend the discussion.

From left: Martin Lukš, CEO, MyTalkey, Miloslava Procházková, Owner, Avanti Floors, Jana Nováková, Owner, Trustav, and Jiří Vacek, Co-Owner, Avanti Floors

Ivana Prosecká, CFO, McDonalds and Roman Cabálek, Owner, Better Decision Making Group

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From left: Tomáš Zima, Rector, Charles Univesity, Lenka Žlebková, Commercial Director, Prague Congress Center, Aleš Bartůněk, Chairman of the Board, Prague Congress Center, and Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius

From left: Vlastislav Bříza, Owner, Koh-I-Noor Holding, Rostislav Dvořák, President, Union of Czech and Moravian Production Cooperatives, and Jan Wiesner, President, Konfederace zaměstnavatelských a podnikatelských svazů

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Rostislav Dvořák, President, Union of Czech and Moravian Production Cooperatives

D iscussion

From left: Oldřich Reinbergr, General Director, Tereos TTD, Pavel Dvořáček, Owner, Rudolf Jelínek a.s.

Pavel Dvořáček, Owner, Rudolf Jelínek a.s. asking a question

From left: Radim Passer, Founder, PasserInvest Group, Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius, Karolína Topolová, General Director, Aures Holding, and Jakub Hlavička, CFO, PasserInvest Group

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Jiřina Nepalová, Owner, Renomia and Pavel Krůta, Owner, Korus EU

From left: Jan Oberman, Owner, Korado Consulting, Alena Schillerová, Minister, and Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius Roman Cabálek, Owner, Better Decision Making Group

Klára Sovová, Owner, AEZZ & Luční Bouda, asking a question

From left: Miloslava Procházková, Owner, Avanti Floors, Martina Kapiczová, Senior Account Manager, Renomia, Olga Kupec, Owner, Abydos, and Jana Nováková, Owner, Trustav

On the right: Tomáš Hebelka, General Director, State Printing Works of Securities, asking a question

From left: Jiří Nekovář, President, EURO-TREND, Jakub Hlavička, CFO, Passerinvest Group, Radim Passer, Founder, PasserInvest Group, and Martina Kapiczová, Senior Account Manager, Renomia

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D iscussion

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Round Table of Comenius

Discussion Dinner with Mr. Vladimír Kremlík, Minister of Transport TOP HOTEL Praha – September 26, 2019 From left: Jaroslav Hanák, President, Union of Industry, Václav Jakeš, Owner, Pretol, George Parobek, Owner, Ifield Computer Consultancy, Vladimír Kremlík, Minister, Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius, and Jan Klas, General Director, Air Navigation Services

On Thursday September 26th the Round Table of Comenius took place in TOP HOTEL Praha.

Over 70 people of various political and economic background were part of the traditional event, this time with Vladimír Kremlík, the Minister of Transport. The main topics regarded the reconstruction of highways, highspeed trains and also the city logistics and river transport. The entire event and very lively debate was moderated by the founder and president of Comenius, Karel Muzikář.

From left: Benke Aikell, your Publisher, Tero Loukonen, Chief Analyst, Passer Invest Group, and Pavel Kalášek, Advisor

From left: Daniel Barč, CEO, ETTE Capital and Martin Lukš, CEO, MyTalkey

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From left: Jiří Procházka, Commercial Director, OHL ŽS, Hana Dluhošová, Director of Investment, České Dráhy, and Pavel Krůta, Owner, Korus EU

Martin Kačur, General Director, Vodochody Airport and Hana Šmejkalová, General Director, East Bohemian Airport

CZECH&SLOVAK LEADERS III/2019

From left: Jan Klas, General Director, Air Navigation Services, Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius, and George Parobek, Owner, Ifield Computer Consultancy

D iscussion

event

From left: Jiří Zelenka, General Director, Toseda and Ondřej Presperín, Idea Maker, Collective Consulting

From left: Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius, Vladimír Kremlík, Minister, and Vladimír Dohnal, Owner, Top Hotels Group

From left: Bohumír Bárta, General Director, JLV and Jiří Nouza, President, Association of Building Entrepreneurs

From left: Tom Čáp, Executive Vice President, Comenius, Lucie Orgoníková, Chancellor, Czech Technical University in Prague, Irena Pekarová, Executive Director, Delor, and Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius

From left: Vladimír Dohnal, Owner, Top Hotels Group and Jaroslav Hanák, President, Union of Industry

From left: Jiří Maceška, Vice President, Czech-Israeli Chamber of Commerce and Petr Kuchár, General Director, Allinex

From left: Karel Muzikář Jr., Managing Partner, Skills, Jiří Kolář, Drážní úřad, and Karel Dobeš, Government Commissioner for GNSS

From left: Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius, Adam Scheinherr, Deputy Lord Mayor, and Benke Aikell, your Publisher

Overall view of the Round Table of Comenius

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diplomatic event

P hoto : J itka T omečková

Reception on the occasion of the National Day of the Republic of Korea October 2nd, 2019, Hotel Hilton Prague

From left: H.E. Arber Vllahu, Ambassador of Kosovo, H.E. Sundus Albayraqdar, Ambassador of Iraq, Pavel Fischer, Senator, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security, and H. E. Leonora Rueda, Ambassador of Mexico

From left: Benke Aikell, your Publisher, H.E. Seoung-Hyun Moon, Ambassador of South Korea with his wife

From left: H.E. Virginia Hesse, Ambassador of Ghana, and H.E. Ureerat Chareontoh, Ambassador of Thailand with a friend

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From left: H.E. Ilirian Kuka, Ambassador of Albania with his wife Mrs. Nevila Kuka, President of DSA

From left : H.E. Leonora Rueda, Ambasador of Mexico, H.E. Sundus Albayraqdar, Ambassador of Iraq with her husband Farzad Keshvargar, and Mrs. Jooshe Klompenhouwer, wife of the ambassador of the Netherlands

diplomatic event H.E. Ureerat Chareontoh, Ambassador of Thailand, and Mrs. Livie Klausová, former Ambassador to Slovakia and former First Lady of the Czech Republic

From left: wife of H.E. Seoung-Hyun Moon, Ambassador of South Korea and H.E. Sundus Albayraqdar, Ambassador of Iraq

From left: MUDr. Jamal Karra, Senior Consultant , Betlemská Dental Center, H.E. Seoung-Hyun Moon, Ambassador of South Korea with his wife, Rim Bitar Karrova, H.E. Ahmet Necati Bigali, Ambassador of Turkey with his wife on his left, and H.E. Rola Hamdan, Ambassador of Lebanon

Cutting the cake - H.E. Seoung-Hyun Moon, Ambassador of South Korea with his wife

Miguel Ángel Vilchis Salgado, Secretary of the Embassy of Mexico

From left: H.E. Seoung-Hyun Moon, Ambassador of South Korea and H.E. Rola Hamdan, Ambassador of Lebanon

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365-day destination

Top 5 Autumn Destinations The mild sweet climate of fall in Greece is what makes short journeys to the sea and the mountains so tempting. The country’s landscape is in transition, from its summer to its autumn look. Read up on the renowned destinations that we gathered just for you and plan your trip to our Greece.

Chania

As summer in Crete lasts a bit more than anywhere else in Greece, you will enjoy the sea and the wonderful mainland throughout October on this island.

An excellent place to choose for your upcoming autumn holiday is Chania.

Don’t miss out on: • A stroll around the old Venetian Harbour of the town of Chania with its renowned fortress and lighthouse.

• A visit to the city’s market and tasting the drooling culinary delights of Crete.

• Canyoning at Samaria gorge and exploring an impressive array of flora and fauna.

• Participating in agritourism activities in the Vamos and Milia traditional villages.

• Basking in the sun on the golden exotic beaches.

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GREECE – ALL TIME CLASSIC

Nafplio

Nafplio, Greece’s first capital, is built in the innermost spot of the Argolic Gulf. The town’s romantic atmosphere and its rich history make it a perfect destination for families or couples alike.

Don’t miss out on: • A stroll along the narrow cobblestone alleys in Palia Poli (the Old Town) lined with neoclassical mansions.

•A visit to Syntagma Square, which is surrounded by significant historic buildings.

•T aking a picture of the landmark of Nafplion, Bourtzi. This small fortress is built on the islet of Agioi Theodoroi across the shores of Nafplio.

•C limbing up the 999 steps to the Palamidi Castle, from where you can drink in the view of Nafplio’s Old Town.

Ioannina

Ioannina City, Epirus’ capital, is adorned with Lake Pamvotida and its little islet. The town’s multicultural past is depicted in its historic centre.

Don’t miss out on: •A walk by the shore of lake Pamvotida.

•T he Castle Town of Ioannina, which is still lived-in in our days.

•T he old town, which is located near the Castle Towns Fortification, where you’ll come across the picturesque neighbourhoods of Siarava, Kourmanio, and Gyali Kafene.

• The unique architecture of Ioannina and the shopping arcades.

•A visit to the Archaeological Museum, the Wax Museum and the Municipal Art Gallery.

•A tour by the aesthetic forest on the hill top that looks over the town of Ioannina.

•A stop by the Perama Cave, dating back 1.5 million years.

•B uying some of the local traditionally designed jewelry.

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GREECE – ALL TIME CLASSIC

Plastira Lake This is one of the biggest artificial lakes in Greece. Green mountain peaks bestow even greater beauty on the region and fast-flowing streams embellish the breathtaking scenery. Every season here has its own beauty. A handful of charming villages are located along the lakeshore or on the mountainous slopes which offer an idyllic view of the lake!

Don’t miss out on:

• Walks or bike and horseback rides along the lakeshore.

• Renting out a canoe or pedal-boat and enjoying the lake ride.

• Swimming and enjoying the various amenities offered on the beaches of Pezoula and Lamperou.

• Drifting through the air by paragliding or hang gliding at the air sport facilities offered at the mountain tops of Templa or Agonas (Neraida Village) and Koufolongos (Krioneri Village).

• Testing your skills in archery at the organized venues found at the villages of Rousso, Sekliza and Neraida.

• Rejuvenating walks in the mountains of Agrafa through an extensive network of shaded forest trails. Choose one of the eco-trails in the Educational Forest of Belokomitis and surrender to the magic of nature.

• Experiencing climbing at Karamanoli near Neraida village (here one can find a miniscule ski centre) in addition to the mountain shelter Elatakakos at the Belokomitis forest.

Monemvasia The walls of the medieval fortress town, Monemvasia, is a dream destination if you are a romantic at heart. Take your other half by the hand and start your walk by crossing the bridge, through the stone walls and the fortresses gate.

Walk back into time as this destination exudes an atmosphere of a bygone era.

Don’t miss out on:

• A stroll around the narrow, winding streets and listen to the story of a town that once “hosted” the emperors of Byzantium!

• A tour of numerous stone mansions, medieval towers, historical buildings and old churches.

• A visit to the home of one of the most widely acclaimed Greek poets of the 20th century, Yiannis Ritsos.

• A walk up “Goula”, the upper castle, to enjoy the panoramic view of the city.

• A stop by the imposing Cathedral of Agia Sophia, which hangs between the rocks and the steep cliffs.

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diplomatic event

From left: H.E. Dr. Miklós Boros, Ambassador of Hungary, H.E. Ljiljana Pancirov, Ambassador of Croatia, H.E. Ureerat Chareontoh, Ambassador of Thailand, H.E. Kay Thi Soe, Ambassador of Myanmar, H.E. Tanja Strniša, Ambassador-Designate of Slovenia with her spouse Anton Strniša

On 19 September 2019, the Royal Thai Embassy in Prague, in collaboration with Team Thailand offices in Prague, namely Thai Trade Office, Prague and Tourism Authority of Thailand, Prague Office and Czech-Thai Committee, Foreign Section of Czech Chamber of Commerce, organized a Thai Market: Dobrý den z Thajska, at the garden of the Thai Residence in Prague. Owners of Thai Restaurant, importers of Thai food products, Thai beverage, Hom Mali Rice, Thai massage shops and a Czech Tour Operator were present at the event. Thai food, prepared by Ambassador’s chef and also by professional Thai chefs, Thai Singha Beer, and Thai products were sold at the event. In addition, a demonstration of Thai umbrella painting, live music and Thai massage were also parts of the main attraction at the event. Visitors and invited guests also had a chance to try 4 different ready-to-eat meals from CPF. The event was attended by approximately 1,500 visitors. The event helped promote Thai food and Thai ingredients in the Czech market and also raise awareness about Thainess and the visibility of Thailand in the Czech Republic.

H.E. Roberto Alejandro Salafia, Ambassador of Argentina

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From left: Mr. Chinnawat Themkumwun; H.E. Ureerat Chareontoh, Ambassador of Thailand, Miss Dares Hutawattana, and Miss Visanee Vongvirulh

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H.E. Khaled Alatrash, Ambassador of Palestine with his spouse

Personal Branding Summit 2019

I,

the

B rand

On Pioneering, Co-Creation and Leadership Cristina Muntean is a consultant, trainer, mentor and coach who specializes in personal branding, strategic communications, emotional and systemic intelligence for leadership. A former journalist with more than 12 years of experience in the Czech, Romanian and international media, she founded Media Education CEE, a PR advisory and training agency in Prague in May 2010. Her clients are executive level managers and entrepreneurs withTop100 companies in the Czech Republic and Central and Eastern Europe. Cristina is also an internationally certified trainer and coach with the Enneagram, a complex system of personal development, and a facilitator of systemic dynamics in organizations. She provides services in English, Czech, French and Romanian, her mother tongue. Cristina can be reached at +420 776 574 925 or at cm@cristinamuntean.com.

Let me tell you a story of madness, of a dream and of a bunch of people who made it possible. Let me embark you on a journey that took less than a year, but it felt like a lifetime. Let me tell you a story of pioneering, of fabulous people who are, ultimately and everywhere, at the heart of everything - and of leadership, personal and systemic alike. Let me tell you the story of an endeavor that changed my life this year.

Earlier this year in January I was catching my breath.

A month before, in December, I had just published my first book You, the Brand – Personal Branding for Career Growth, in Czech, and the reverberations of this step were still hitting me while shaping my focus and my priorities for this year. As I was listening to the market, I was already dreaming of the next logical step. Then it stroke me: what if I tried to organize the first ever online conference in the Czech Republic dedicated to strategic communications and personal branding?

I admit, I am not the first to have come up with the idea of an online summit. In the United States Jessica Dibb has been organizing the Enneagram Global Summit for a few years already. In the Netherlands Jennifer Campbell had just started this January the Systemic Leadership online summit. These two ladies were my main sources of inspiration and I am grateful to be a part of their communities. Yet, in the conditions of the Czech market this felt like a crazy idea. But what have I got to lose, I asked myself? So I started to talk about the possible new project with my customers and others ready to listen.

People’s reactions warmed my heart. They saw the potential in my idea and encouraged me to take the next steps. And so I did.

People first The first step I took was to map my resources and assemble a solid team. I knew that, if I wanted to succeed with this project, I needed to surround myself with brilliance. From the graphic designer Pavla Rathouská, who has been responsible for my visuals for years, to Oskar Čorič, my astute web designer and to the unique Ančí Chytilová, whose soothing voice and approach brings up the best in people in front of the camera, the team started to take contours. We booked the Summit logo and jingle; we met for the first time together on June the 4th. We gave ourselves a cutthroat deadline: the conference would go online on Sunday, October the 6th, at 18.00. And then we went to work.

In the ecosystem: navigating stakeholder complexity In the next step we drafted the raw content of the Summit. We invited 30 speakers to share their thoughts on communications in three different streams: personal branding for career growth, career transition and success in entrepreneurship.

Some of the most impactful names on the Czech market (their full overview is available on our website www.personalbrandingsummit.cz) agreed to be interviewed for the Summit. We then spent the whole summer preparing and conducting the interviews. At the end of August we moved into post-production. We created 30 video teasers available freely on YouTube, 30 short interview versions available to the people registered online in the Personal Branding Summit 2019 community free of charge and - mainly - 30 full versions of the interviews. For our paid users we’ve also created a wide range of bonuses and benefits such as downloading the interview audio recordings and PDF, 9 bonus videos and 4 infographics helping people looking to refresh their personal communications, and an e-book – In the Presence of Greatness – also available for download.

When I took a step back in September to review our stakeholders, I realized we were operating on at least 9 fronts embracing more than 500 people: me and my team; our guest speakers (30 people); their own VIP guests invited to the conference (30 people); our project partners, including ČSOB and its newly opened Campus, who graciously put their space at our disposal for video shooting; various associations and media partners; our ambassadors (15 people) and – last but obviously not least – our customers with whom we communicated nonstop on all possible channels included in a hefty integrated communications model, and who had three different profiles (career growth within companies, career transition and entrepreneurial success). If I had ever wanted to feel how complexity looks like, well – this was my chance. And I lived it at full.

Technology and human touch Another thing that made this project so thrilling was its mixed technological and human potential.

As the Summit took place online, people could access its content from everywhere in the world; the only precondition was to speak Czech and have access to Wi-Fi. Participants also didn’t have to be afraid about missing on anything – all the Summit content is available even after the conference end, so people can get back to it anytime they

want. While the technological advantages of the conference were clear, we were also painstakingly aware of a potential backlash. In the Czech Republic only 4% of people work remotely, compared to 13% for example in the Netherlands. While the digital experience is powerful, it can never fully replace the thrill of face-to-face networking, good food and the like. But this was never out intention. What we wanted to achieve was to create an alternative, complementary experience allowing people to access valuable content online.

That’s why we counterbalanced this potential technological dryness with communications as intimate as possible. We created a closed group on Facebook where people could ask their questions live and we were personally available in real time for all customer enquiries. We did everything to bring the best of technology and human touch together.

On co-creation and leadership Last but not least, the thing that touched my heart the most throughout this experience was the atmosphere of co-creation in our team.

We all pulled together and we made it by the deadline with outstanding results. If you imagine collaboration like a line of people holding hands, looking and moving in the same direction, cocreation is something much bigger. It is the equivalent of standing in a circle, acutely aware of your own role and the roles, place and qualities of the others, and of pouring your very best into the middle of the circle while watching in awe how something new emerges miraculously from the energies of everyone involved. For me this was perhaps the most marvelous experience and one of the greatest gifts of this pioneering endeavor: to discover the miracle that we can create when we come together as one, connected by a vision that what we do makes sense and serves ourselves and our entire ecosystem.

By the time you are reading these lines the Personal Branding Summit 2019 is probably over. Yet, this project that seemed like a mad idea earlier this year is still out there, open to be discovered and explored. An online space for insights, information and inspiration, it stretched my boundaries and it also brought me a deep sense of trust in the possibilities of the future. For this is the reward of pioneering and leadership: to dare, to stretch, to bring resources together and to create endless sources of value for the many people. With this at heart I can already say: what a marvelous year!

By Cristina Muntean české znění naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.czechleaders.com

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A ssociation

of

S outheast A sian N ation agenda. The AEC envisions the bloc as a single market with free flow of goods, services, investments and skilled labour, and freer movement of capital across the region.

ASEAN or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is an intergovernmental organisation, established in Bangkok, Thailand, on 8 August 1967, aimed primarily at promoting economic growth and regional stability among its 10 members including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

ASEAN aims to promote collaboration and cooperation among member states, as well as to advance the interests of the region as a whole, including economic and trade growth.

In 2015, it established the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), a major milestone in the organization’s regional economic integration

H.E. Mrs. Ureerat Chareontoh, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand

H.E. Mrs. Kenssy D. Ekaningsih, Indonesian Ambassador

The theme for ASEAN 2019 under Thailand’s Chairmanship is “Advancing Partnership for Sustainability”, the grouping is looking towards the dream of building a community that is oriented towards the people, centers on the people and leaves no one behind. It intends to promote sustainability in all dimensions to enable ASEAN to respond to changes and challenges, such as climate change. It also aimes to maintain peace, stability and look towards the future; capitalise on opportunities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to promote the digital economy and green growth; enhance relations with partners to develop sustainably and gain a higher global stature for ASEAN; and step up connectivity in all fields towards a seamless ASEAN.

“Thailand, as the Chair of ASEAN 2019, is proud to say that the salient characteristic of ASEAN is dynamism and forward-looking with the ability to sustain changes and remain resilient and relevant, as reflected in its constructive engagement in the regional and international issues of common interests and concerns as well as its active role in addressing many security challenges, both in traditional and modern sense of the word,” said H.E. Mrs. Ureerat Chareontoh, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to the Czech Republic and the current Chairperson of the ASEAN Committee in Prague.

“Indonesia has been very active within the framework of ASEAN cooperation including ASEAN Outlook on IndoPacific and has recently inaugurated the new building of ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta,” said H.E. Mrs. Kenssy D. Ekaningsih, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the Czech Republic.

As for relationship with the Czech Republic, there is an increasing economic development between ASEAN Member States and the Czech Republic. Last year, trade volume between the two sides has reached over 7 billion US dollars.

The Czech Republic is certainly a major hub in Central Europe. At the same time, ASEAN, the region with almost 650 million population, a common market of a combined GDP over US$ 2.92 trillion, is now one of the most dynamic economy in the world. There are significant potentials for closer economic cooperation between the Czech Republic and ASEAN. Currently, in Prague, there are six ASEAN embassies, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Phillipines, Thailand, Vietnam, and, the newest member of the ASEAN family, Myanmar. This year, ASEAN celebrated the 52nd Anniversary of its founding. Let’s see what the ambassadors have to say about ASEAN.

H.E. Mr. Ombra T. Jainal, Philippine Ambassador

H.E. Mr. Ho Minh Tuan, Ambassador of Vietnam

“ASEAN is a perfect example of diverse countries being able to overcome their differences and co-exist in peace and security as well as achieve progress and development as the ASEAN leaders are committed to working together for mutual benefit,” said H.E. Mrs. Zanariah Zainal Abidin, Ambassador of Malaysia.

H.E. Mrs. Zanariah Zainal Abidin, Malaysian Ambassador

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"Under the Philippine leadership, two landmark documents were signed by the ASEAN leaders at the 31st ASEAN Summit in Manila in 2017: The ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers and the ASEAN Declaration on the Role of the Civil Service as a Catalyst for Achieving ASEAN Vision 2025," said H.E. Mr. Ombra T. Jainal, Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines.

“As the ASEAN Chair in 2020, Vietnam will promote the achievements of the ASEAN over the past decades and continue to strengthen the community bonding, reinforce the regional peace, security and stability, uphold the ASEAN identity, and improve the global partnership for sustainable development,” said H.E. Mr. Ho Minh Tuan, Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

“Being diplomats from ASEAN country, apart from bilateral relations we are also responsible to promote ASEAN in the Czech Republic and contribute to the ASEAN-EU relations,” said H.E. Mrs. Kay Thi Soe, Ambassador-Designate of the Embassy of Myanmar.

H.E. Mrs. Kay Thi Soe, Ambassador-Designate of Myanmar

D iplomatic

On 5 September 2019, the Royal Thai Embassy in Prague hosted a reception celebrating the 52nd Anniversary of the founding of the ASEAN at the Thai Ambassador Residence.

H.E. Mrs. Ureerat Chareontoh, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to the Czech Republic delivered her welcome speech emphasising the importance of ASEAN and its dynamism and

forward-looking character. On this occassion, H.E. Mrs. Eliška Žigová, Director-General of the Department of Asia and Pacific, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also presented as the guest of honour. ASEAN ambassadors from other five different countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, and Vietnam also presented at the event. During the celebration,

event

the six ASEAN countries provided national dishes and cultural performances. The event was attended by diplomatic corps, especially, ASEAN dialogue partners, representatives from the government, private and academic sectors, including Czech media in total of more than 160 people.

From left: H.E. Mr. Ho Minh Tuan, Ambassador of Vietnam, H.E. Mrs. Kay Thi Soe, Ambassador-Designate of Myanmar, H.E. Mrs. Zanariah Zainal Abidin, Ambassador of Malaysia, H.E. Mrs. Eliška Žigová, Director of Asia Pacific Department, Czech MFA, H.E. Mrs. Ureerat Chareontoh, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand, H.E. Mrs. Kenssy D. Ekaningsih, Ambassador of Indonesia, and H.E. Mr. Ombra T. Jainal, Ambassador of the Philippines

From left: H.E. Mr. Kaoru Shimazaki, Ambassador of Japan, H.E. Mrs. Eliška Žigová, Director of Asia Pacific Department, Czech MFA, and H.E. Mrs. Ureerat Chareontoh, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand

Members of the Working Group of the ASEAN Committee in Prague

From left: Eva Anderová, Vice President for PR, UNYP and President, Kafka Centre, H.E. Mr. Efthymios Efthymiades, Ambassador of Greece, H.E. Mrs. Ureerat Chareontoh, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand, Mr. Benke Aikell, your Publisher, and H.E. Mr. Christoph Israng, Ambassador of Germany

H.E. Mrs. Ureerat Charoentoh delivered her welcome remarks

H.E. Mr. Zhang Jianmin, Ambassador of China

From left: H.E. Mr. Said Hindam, Ambassador of Egypt, H.E. Ms. Manuela Franco, Ambassador of Portugal, and H.E. Mr. Francesco Saverio Nisio, Ambassador of Italy

From left: doc. PhDr. Michal Pullmann, Ph.D., Dean of Faculty of Arts, Charles University and H.E. Mrs. Ureerat Chareontoh, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to the Czech Republic

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ET CETERA STREET ART ‘‘On the wings of freedom‘‘ 20.09|03.10 2019

Embassy of Italy in Prague

From left: arch. Ottaviano Maria Razetto, Vice President of the Eleutheria Foundation and Exhibiton Curator, Cav. Francesco Augusto Razetto, President of the Eleutheria Foundation and Exhibition Curator, H.E. Francesco Saverio Nisio, Ambassador of Italy, and Italian Artist „Solo“

From left: Cav. Francesco Augusto Razetto, President of the Eleutheria Foundation and Exhibition Curator, H.E. Francesco Saverio Nisio, Ambassador of Italy, and arch. Ottaviano Maria Razetto, Vice President of the Eleutheria Foundation and Exhibiton Curator

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H.E. Francesco Saveria Nisio, Ambassador of Italy with his spouse Elisabetta Nisio

The Eleutheria Foundation in collaboration with the Embassy of Italy in Prague renews the cultural brand "Et Cetera" with a new exhibition about the ultra-modern Street-Art, involving young Italian and Czech artists. An initiative whose high symbolic value is rewarded by the introduction in the program of the centenary of the Italian representation in Prague and the start of diplomatic relations. The initiative was curated by FrancescoAugusto Razetto, Ottaviano Maria Razetto and Genny Di Bert, respectively President, Vice-President and Curator of the Eleutheria Foundation. Located in Thunovská street, in a part owned by the Italian Embassy, the exhibition was inaugurated, with great public success, on 19 September 2019 in the presence of the Italian Ambassador, His Excellency Francesco Saverio Nisio, and the Deputy Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic, and will open to visitors to Malá Strana, in the historic center, from 20 September to 03 October (free admission). The theme chosen for the event is "freedom" commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of Jan Palach and Jan Zajíc, two Czech boys who in 1969 sacrificed their lives in the name of the rights of their people against the pressing grip of the regime state to which Czechoslovakia was subjected.

Two symbols of freedom and the struggle against oppression that, after half a century, remain icons of an incorruptible and ever-present message.

From left: H.E. Francesco Saverio Nisio, Ambassador of Italy, Cav. Francesco Augusto Razetto, President of the Eleutheria Foundation and Exhibition Curator, Dott. Genny Di Bert, Exhibiton Curator, David Strauzz, Czech/Canadian Artist, "I am Rushdog", Czech Artist, Solo, Italian Artist, Diamond, Italian Artist, and Yest, Italian Artist Exhibition

Visitors at exhibition

Visitors at exhibition Mrs. Laura Migliacci

Exhibition

From left: Jitka Gali, Italian Embassy, arch. Nino Guida, and Eva Poddaná, Secretary SPI

From left: Jitka Gali, Italian Embassy and Eva Poddaná, Secretary SPI

From left: H.E. Francesco Saveria Nisio, Ambassador of Italy and Giovanni Usai, Director, Progetto Republica Ceca magazine

From left: Francesco Augusto Razzeto, President, Eleutheria Foundation, H.E. Francesco Saveria Nisio, Ambassador of Italy, Ottaviano Maria Razzeto, Curator and Vice President, Eleutheria Foundation

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diplomatic event

Anniversary

of the Mexican Independence Commemorative event held September 16, 2019 at Lucerna Cinema “On Monday, September 16, the Embassy of Mexico to the Czech Republic celebrated the 209th Anniversary of the Independence of Mexico with a magnificent event held at the iconic premises of Kino Lucerna, with full attendance of official authorities, including the Vice President of the Senate, Mrs. Miluše Horská, members of the Diplomatic Corps, Mexican community and friends of Mexico.

The occasion started with the fabulous interpretation of the Mexican and Czech Anthems by Mexican soprano Naomi Villegas, followed by the official messages of Ambassador of Mexico, H.E. Leonora Rueda and Vice Minister of the Foreign Ministry Martin Tlapa.

The traditional “Grito” could not be absent and after many “Viva Mexico”, the fiesta continued with the colorful, joyful, vibrant folkloric dances performed by the so called “Grupo Achai” (Brother in yaqui language), whose members, from the State of Sonora, Mexico, presented their talent with the steps of different regions of the country: Jalisco, Chihuahua, Yucatan, Guerrero and Veracruz. During their show, an impressive projection of the tourist attractions of the country was an unbeatable choreography for the presentation”.

Achai during the show

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diplomatic event

H. E. Rosaura Leonora Rueda Gutierrez with Ivo Krýsa, Deputy Director, Public Health Authority of City of Prague

Achai during the show

H. E. Rosaura Leonora Rueda Gutierrez waving Mexican flag H. E. Rosaura Leonora Rueda Gutierrez and Achai

From left: Eliška Hašková Coolidge, Consultant, Eva Anderová, Vice President for PR, UNYP and President, Kafka Centre, and Benke Aikell, your Publisher

From left: H.E. Belaid Hadjem, Ambassador of Algeria, H.E. Franki Verwey, Ambassador of South Africa, and H.E. Samuel Mbrayeh Quartey, Ambassador of Ghana

Member of Achai

From left: Jiří Kmoníček, Mister International for the Czech Republic and Mr. Zdenek Musil

Achai during the show

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N ovember 1989 T ribute

P hoto :

archive

THREE MYTHS regarding the Velvet Revolution A first hand account of a teenage girl

I was thirteen years old when the Velvet Revolution came. Only 13 or already 13?

Thanks to having a sister who was ten years older, attending the Faculty of Medicine and active in the strike committee at the Charles University in Prague, I had not only first-hand information but also a great inspiration to become involved.

One of my lasting tangible memories is my mid-term and final report card from 1989/1990 term. It says “no-grade given” for the subjects of history and civics. The regime changed and teachers suddenly did not have any guidelines as to what to teach and how to grade. I still remember feeling freezing cold during my participation at the demonstrations either at the Wenceslas Square or Letná field during November days that were colder than usual in 1989. I remember proudly wearing jacket with Czech tricolors, cut out from the girls’ shoes which were obligatorily worn during the physical education classes . They were called jarmilky and were badly suited for any physical activity I still remember the change, expectations and fear of the unknown, as neither our parents and nor the teachers were able to answer the questions regarding the future.

After 30 years, I am still aware of the impact that the Velvet Revolution had on me.

With many friends of my generation, we discussed the influence of the collapse of

34

a régime at this young age. When you personally experience a regime change within six weeks (from the events on November 17 until the election of Václav Havel as the president on December 29, 1989), it definitely gives you a confidence on what is possible and what you can achieve. It was a stark contrast to what our parents experienced when their dreams were crushed by the Soviet Army in August 1968.

1. Childhood is always nice Many nowadays tend to diminish the influence of the former régime on their lives on the account that they were surrounded by a loving family and friends, so their childhood was nice. I had loving parents, yet, I blame the communists for stealing my childhood. Thanks to the propaganda, I remember quite frequently discussing with my best friend on our way home from school whether the imperialists would truly attack “our beautiful, peaceful and prosperous country belonging to the socialist camp and only wishing peaceful and harmonious relationships with others”. The propaganda was accompanied by several civil defense education trainings per year.

Dressed in raincoats, plastic bags tied tightly on our hands and feet, chemical masks on our faces, we had to run either in the

CZECH&SLOVAK LEADERS III/2019

forest or in the classroom. Upon the command: “Nuclear attack” we were supposed to lie down but! remember the essential rule - the head had to always face the other side than epicenter of the explosion, otherwise we were proclaimed dead. Since I suffer from no sense of direction, I died every time. Not to mention the shortage of largersized chemical masks. Due to being one of the tallest in the classroom, I still remember the doubt and fear not only every time we practiced but also whenever I was listening to the propaganda communist news blaming the Blood Searching Imperialists for the imminent attack. Only lately, I have learned from my friends in the US, that they were subjected to the same propaganda rhetoric, this time blaming the Red Empire of Evil.

We call ourselves “political generation”, since our childhood was so strongly influenced by world politics. I remember an evening TV fairy tale being cancelled on the occasion of the death of the Soviet leader. To me, as a child, this happened when Brezhnev died in November 1982, then Andropov in February 1984, and the same happened following the death of Chernenko in April 1984. Being an eight year-old pupil, I was hoping the almighty USSR would chose a leader that would last longer and we would not be deprived of our TV series.

We all welcomed a young leader, full of energy, Mikhail Gorbachev with his slogans of

“glasnost” (meaning increased openness) and “perestroika”(reform movement).

Meanwhile, I quickly learned that you speak about certain things at home and you say different things at schools. It all started with me bragging about my great grandfather being a famous personality with his name mentioned in the so-called Masaryk’s dictionary when I was in the third grade.

Masaryk’s dictionary is the second largest encyclopedia volume after Encyclopedia Britannica, published during the First Czechoslovak Republic. As Masaryk and this period of Czechoslovak history did not fit the communist history outlines, my parents were summoned to school. Unfortunately, this stopped profound discussions with my grandmother Rose about her childhood.

Later on, I was too busy living the Velvet Revolution that it was only after she died, I realized how much I missed from the intergenerational exchange. Certainly, I was not the only one. However, holding my tongue proved useful later when I started to listen to Radio Free Europe or Voice of America with my parents.

I learned how to adapt to my friends disappearing. Two of my close friends emigrated with their families without saying good-bye.

I remember regularly visiting their empty flats sealed by the secret police hoping that they would return. Even my parents could not help, because admitting any knowledge about potential emigration was dangerous for anyone’s career.

The most sensitive part during my adolescence was perhaps the lack of toilet paper and female sanitary pads. At a very young age, I remember on my way home from school touring several shops asking if they had these items, being in the sensitive adolescent age.

My mum had always delegated this task, to me. Leaving school earlier than her at work meant I would have a better chance of success in hunting for the high-demand goods.

I wonder if I owe the Communist regime for start of my passion for women empowerment and gender equality.

2. Regime change was inevitable, imminent and discussed in advance therefore no need for uncertainty and fear

Setting conspiration theories aside, more and more people tend to diminish the brutality of the regime, including a current member of the Parliament, a representative of the communist party, Mr. Ondráček, who was at that time a special militia member beating up students. Others claim that the fall of the regime was only staged. I remember very well Wednesday, November 22, 1989. The tanks and the militia troops were close to Prague. No one knew whether they would use the brutal force to attack the protesters again. Some high officials in the army were considering using flying airplanes

in low-level altitudes, that would severely damage hearing abilities, accompanied by already proven brutality of water cannons with the help of notoriously known brutal militia troops to crash the opposition of the growing number of demonstrators. Army troops were on high alert. Many people, my husband Rostislav being one of them, still remember the existential fear, which they faced when lying under the collapsing bodies, suffering lack of oxygen and being brutally beaten by armed forces. This WAS the reality. My parents begged me to come home directly from the school. I promised. After school, I put on tricolor flag and I went directly to the Wenceslas Square. As we reached the square rather early, we were very close to the Statue of St. Wenceslas and captured by TV crews. My parents were speechless when they saw their daughter on the main TV news. Only now, being a mother myself, I understand their fear. The images of crushing the demonstration of Tiananmen Square in June of that year were still too fresh, and certainly they put yet another flashback of 1968 reminiscence. “Sorry, mum and dad. I simply had to go”, I say after 30 years. In Prague, the communication was relatively easy. We should not forget the regions, outside of Prague. Not only students and demonstrators were under much bigger scrutiny, but also they had hard time to access the right information.

Forget mobiles, social media and instant communication. Most households did not even have own landlines. And those who did, were to a great extent spied upon. Students from outside of Prague, workers who joined them and others were the true fighters for the freedom and their role should not be forgotten. Proving the unity of the whole country was essential. The general strike on Monday, November 27 proved that the country was truly united for the change. We should remember this lesson whenever the politicians nowadays try to misuse the division between us and them, Prague and the rest of the country. The motto of the Velvet Revolution: “The truth and love will overcome over lies and hatred” proved right on December 29, 1989, when Václav Havel was elected the president of Czechoslovakia.

3. Democracy means the ultimate victory

“Democracy is precious and fragile”, were the first words I said to my US Civics teacher, Mrs. Lyndeen Knapp, when I was 17 yearold exchange student, attending Colony High School in Palmer, Alaska and I continued: “I see that people in the US do not value democracy enough”. Sometimes, I wish I would be wrong. Meanwhile, I realized that democracy has stopped being valued not only in Western Europe, but also in Central Europe. Democracy for me means freedom. Freedom of expression, freedom to travel, freedom of religion, freedom of press, freedom to protest, just to name the most

L inda Š tucbartová

essential ones. I am trying to pass the legacy of the Velvet Revolution to the next generation, but I know that it is difficult. Democracy as a regime has been constantly challenged. Let me remind with Aristotle that “A democracy exists whenever those who are free and are not well-off, being in the majority, are in sovereign control of government, an oligarchy when control lies with the rich and better-born, these being few”.

Democracy proved the proverb that it is as strong as its weakest part. And after 30 years, the Czech democracy has still many weak points. Yet, also many strong ones. The Supreme Court upholds the Constitution. New, free independent media are emerging to counterbalance both propaganda webs and media owned by business tycoons whose independence have been doubted. Young people start to be interested in the politics again. Their interests in truly global issues, such as climate and environment protection, responsible consumption, circular and shared economy, give me hope that they will carry on the message of democracy and freedom that needs to be constantly safeguarded and protected. As Václav Havel said: “Vision is not enough, it must be combined with venture. It is not enough to start up the steps. We must step up the stairs”.

“It was the most important year in the history of Europe”, said British historian Timothy Garton Ash. I continue with an appeal particularly to my generation: Let us remember, live and pass on this legacy.

By Linda Štucbartová

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A N I N T E R V I E W W H I C H ( D I D N ’ T ) TA K E P L A C E

A TRIBUTE TO

The death of Karel Gott, the most successful Czech singer, and also an actor and painter, affected not just Czechs and Slovaks, but also many admirers abroad. Here at Czech and Slovak Leaders, we had been seeking an interview for many years, but unfortunately his health meant that that interview never took place. Let us at least now take a look back together at Karel Gott: he is a figure certainly deserving of a place in our magazine.

Over a career lasting continuously since 1965, Karel Gott sold over 50 million albums, putting him in the ranks of global stars. He sang not just in Czech, but also in German, English, Italian and Russian.

In 2018, Karel Gott received Germany’s prestigious “Goldene Henne” prize for his life’s work. He sold 25 million records in Germany, and is the second winner of the award from the Czech Republic, following Václav Havel who received it in 2009.

He was the first singer from Czechoslovakia to perform in Las Vegas for half a year, and he sang a number of times in Nashville, later in Atlantic City and in Carnegie Hall. Other countries and regions where he held major concerts and tours include Australia, Israel, Latin America, Canada and Cannes, France.

Fans and detractors alike agree on one thing: Karel Gott was a true professional.

Modest, always perfectly prepared, with a desire to give the best performance possible, whether it was for a large concert or a commercial performance for a private group; you could always rely on the Master.

He loved music and his audience, and he spread joy around.

He loved his little daughters above all. He was able to appear with them in the fairytale feature film “Když draka bolí hlava”(When Dragon Gets a Headache). It was symbolic for him, because as a boy, a teenager, he was attracted to a career as an actor, and one of his idols was Oldřich Nový. He was slightly disappointed that most directors had only ever put him in films playing himself.

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And few realised that his duet, Srdce nehasnou (Our Hearts Will Go On), was also his farewell...

In a historical context, Karel Gott’s most successful year of his career abroad was 1968.

After it came out on 1 October 1968, his debut LP (Die guldene Stimmeaus Prag) became the number one best-selling album in Germany (even beating groups such as the Beatles, Rolling Stones and others), staying at number one for 24 weeks (selling a few million copies, which was a record at the time). During this period of revolutions and violent uprisings, the apolitical Golden Voice from Prague was on stage every evening during his first huge solo tour of West German music halls, and on breaks he was the star guest on legendary shows on the ARD and ZDF television channels. After Prague’s occupation by Russian tanks on 21 August, his German organisers and record company allowed him to take a break from his tour for a few days so he could check that his parents and friends in Prague were okay, but he had to return immediately to avoid contractual fines for cancelled concerts, and he subsequently performed at his tour’s next sell-out concert in Hamburg’s Musikhalle.

Following is a special excerpt we have prepared for you from Karel´s book, “Zwischen Zwei Welten”, or Memories of 1968, which has only been published in Germany, and in which Karel Gott looks back at the most successful year of his career abroad.

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I spent 1968 in West Germany. The hippie movement, which was fast becoming established in the country, wanted to overturn numerous old conventions. They spoke of free love, yet at the same time admired Ho Chi Minh, Mao Zedong, Che Guevara, and even Fidel Castro almost to a cult of personality extent. I saw great and unmistakeable chaos in West Germany. I knew West Germany as a country where everything ran precisely and orderly and suddenly I saw burning cars, smashed shop windows and hoards of young protestors there. I tried to hold dialogues with the people, and I asked them: “How can you be so ungrateful when you’re living in a democratic society? Come and visit us in Czechoslovakia for a few days and see for yourself what the socialist ideal you admire so much looks like in practice!”

It is fascinating that the main leaders of this German student revolution, who truly and significantly transformed German society in 1968, later returned to normal civilian life, and many of them became the bourgeoisie that they had previously seen as their greatest enemy. Today, in retirement and looking back a few decades, some of them speak of the “sins of youth”.

What makes the start of my career in Germany all the more interesting is that it was very closely related to these events (something I could not have realised at the time). I must have appeared to those young people, to the members of those left-wing communities and students, as some kind of exotic creature. With the country so divided, a large section of German society was able to identify with me more

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A N I N T E R V I E W W H I C H ( D I D N ’ T ) TA K E P L A C E than with the hippies. On my 60th birthday in 2009, the following article was published in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: “In a year in which the youth wore long hair and hippy dress, suddenly a young man came from Czechoslovakia to Germany in a suit and tie, singing Weisst du wohin and representing the antithesis of most of his peers.”

In 1968, I did loads of international performances and concerts. I had my first solo concert in Prague in Lucerna, and my Lucerna performance became a tradition over the following decades. When I met my colleague, the

singer and composer Udo Jürgens, in January 1968 at the festival in Cannes, he told me: “I won the Grand Prix de la Eurovision in 1966 with ‘Merci Cherie’. I want to take part in the competition again, but there’s a condition that the composer must have citizenship of the country he’s representing, meaning Austrian for me. But the singer singing the song doesn’t have to be Austrian. I’ll write a song for you, Karel (the song was Tausend Fenster), and you can go to London and the Royal Albert Hall in April to represent Austria.” The international press wrote about it a lot: ‘English cloth,

Austrian tailor, French arranger, German songwriter, Czechoslovak singer’. Although we didn’t win in London (Spain’s Massiel won, with Cliff Richard coming second), the whole of Europe, hundreds of millions of people, watched Eurovision on TV. So I later also recorded ‘Tausend Fenster’ in English, Italian, Spanish, French and, of course, Czech.

1968 was marked by another hit I performed at the Golden Rooster festival in Rio de Janeiro: Lady Carneval by Karel Svoboda and Jiří Štaidl. Even in Germany, this song, with German lyrics, still remains one of my biggest hits.

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AN INTERVIEW WHICH (DIDN’T) TAKE PLACE Flying to Brazil was another of my dreams fulfilled. Today, half the world travels there, but at the time it was like a trip to the other side of the world, to a totally different culture, for all of us. In Rio I met Paul Anka, who had been in Prague in 1966 and remembered not just the city, but also “beautiful Maruška”, who had made eyes at him there. Paul Anka recently returned to Prague for the first time for a number of decades, to the Congress Centre, and of course I had to visit his concert. Lady Carneval has been recorded in thirty languages: besides my version, there have been loads of cover versions produced by other male and female singers.

My debut German single, “Weisst du wohin” (Schiwago Melodie) sold well as soon as it was issued. 250 000 singles were sold in a short period of time, but that was just the beginning. In mid-May 1968, I sang the song for the legendary television show “Einer wird gewinnen”in Weisbaden, and half of Germany saw the programme.

My record company, Polydor, pulled off a masterstroke for me on 23 May 1968. The European Cup football finals were being played – AC Milan against Hamburger SV – and during the half-time interval, the showmaster Vico Torriani announced: “And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, let us listen to Karel Gott’s song, ‘Weisst du wohin’.” The German streets were empty, with everyone watching football. Although Hamburger SV lost the match, Polydor (and thus I too) emerged the winner. The next day they called me: “Mr Gott, you won’t believe it, but your single is sold out everywhere in the whole country, we aren’t able to press enough new records, we sent tens of thousands more singles to the stores today and they were gone in a few minutes.” I sold over 1.2 million singles over the following days and weeks.

My first LP came out on 1 October 1968 and something incredible happened again: it became the number one best selling record and stayed in the charts for dozens of weeks. At the end of 1968, I ended up the third most popular singer in Germany, yet the previous year I had been almost unknown, basically a newcomer, as they say in the music industry today.

When the renowned commander of the German student revolution, Fritz Teufel (sic!), had to testify under oath in court about the unrest in West Germany, a case followed by media across Europe, he answered the question, “Schwoeren Sie bei Gott?” (Do you swear before God?) with the response: “Nein. Ich schwoere bei Karel Gott!”

My diary was bursting at the seams in August 1968. I had a few performances in Germany, I was taking part in other popular German TV shows, and there were concerts arranged in Sopot, Poland for 21 and 22 August. I flew there, but my concert was cancelled at the last minute. One can only surmise why: because

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the Polish army was also involved in Czechoslovakia’s occupation, something most Poles disagreed with; the organisers must have become afraid my concert could be “taken advantage of” by the people there to protest openly against the Polish government. “Mr Gott, forget it, you’re not performing.” I flew from Sopot to Prague first thing in the morning on 22 August, where I was able to make sure my parents were okay.

But I was faced with a dilemma… I couldn’t stay in Prague longer because I had to fly to Hamburg the next day where I had various duties, in particular preparations for my great tour of Germany, which had been planned for months and couldn’t be cancelled or moved.

As soon as I stepped out of the aeroplane, the furore began. The press across the whole of Europe began speculating the next day: Karel Gott has an official reason to travel to Germany, and who knows? He may never return to Czechoslovakia. The tabloids were even worse: “The Golden Voice of Prague on the run!”

I had to respond immediately. If I’d stayed silent, that would only have confirmed all the speculation. My record company Polydor’s bosses quickly called a press conference where

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they stated: Karel Gott is not on the run, he is only here for his tour and he will be going back as soon as the tour ends, back to Prague.

The head of Polydor, the legendary Ossi Drechsler, with whom years later I was one of the first “German” singers to sign a contract on “life-long co-operation” (guaranteeing that I would be entitled to issue a new record every year in Germany for the rest of my entire life), later told me in confidence that my decision to return home after the tour was a relief both to him and the record company in all respects: “I’ll tell you, Karel, as a businessman: your German audience, for whom you became an overnight star, might not have understood you staying forever in Germany. They would have accused you of leaving your home in hard times, and you would no longer have been the “Golden Voice of Prague”, that desirable and rare artist from a different world, but just one of many we have here in Germany…”

By Linda Štucbartová české znění naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.czechleaders.com

The importance of recovery Exercise: Dr James Levine, Director of the Mayo Clinic-Arizona State University Obesity Solutions Initiative and inventor of the treadmill desk, has been studying the adverse effects of our increasingly sedentary lifestyles for years. He says that we all stopped smoking but now we are getting the same impact as if we were still smoking just by sitting for 8-9 hours per day. According to him, ‘sitting is the new smoking’.

Sleep: it affects our physical, emotional and mental capacities and it’s been proven that lack of it has adverse impact on us.

Some time ago I wrote an article for Thrive Global about resilience as our ability to bounce back when things don’t go as planned. However, resilience also depends on our ability to thrive amidst tough challenges.

We won’t be able to build any resilience if we don’t recharge, recover, renew the energy we spend on our daily activities. Technology should make our lives easier but instead, in many cases, technology creates increased demands on us while with age, our capacity decreases.

Capacity is what we all are given; however, many of us take it for granted and typically try to increase it using more time. Harvard Business Review published an article titled ‘Manage your energy, not your time’ which clearly shows that the core problem with working longer hours is that time is a finite resource. Energy is not. Defined in physics as the capacity to work, energy comes from four main sources in human beings: the body, emotions, mind, and spirit. In each, energy can be systematically expanded and regularly renewed by establishing specific rituals or behaviours that are scheduled, practised and eventually become automatic.

If we don’t work on renewing our energy, we won’t be able to manage our lives effectively and at some point of time, the whole house of cards we have been steadily building will collapse including ourselves.

So, what kind of energy do we have to consider? First, physical energy which we need to function properly and which we get from: Nutrition: this is nothing new, and there has been a lot written on proper nutrition and eating light and often.

Rest: with so many of us working long hours to keep up with a growing workload, and risking burnout, the importance of rest can be easily forgotten. Prioritising rest and vacation time is critical for doing our best at work and living a healthy life.

Inadequate nutrition, exercise, sleep, and rest diminish people’s basic energy levels, as well as their ability to manage their emotions and focus their attention. Nevertheless, many people don’t find a way to practice healthy behaviours, given all the other demands in their lives.

In addition to physical energy, there is emotional energy. Did you know that our brain is built to deal with stress that lasts about 30 seconds?

Let’s be honest now, how long does our stress last these days? Hours, days, weeks?

For some, stress can last months and years, which may lead to chronic stress and that can be damaging to the body. Some individuals eat less when they're stressed, but most increase their food intake, particularly food high in sugar and fat. Science Daily refers to a research the findings of which reveal a vicious cycle, where chronic, high-insulin levels driven by stress and a high-calorie diet led to more and more eating. This study indicates that we have to be much more conscious about what we're eating when stressed, to avoid a faster development of obesity.

When people are able to take more control of their emotions, they can improve the quality of their energy, regardless of external pressures they’re facing. To do this, they first must become more aware of how they feel at various points during the day and of

life and work

the impact these emotions have on their effectiveness. Most people tend to perform best when feeling positive energy. The lower our reserve of positive emotions, the more vulnerable we are.

What is recovery? Recovery is organising our life to ensure we perform at our highest level.

That is what successful people do when they don’t do what they excel in but that is also what makes them excel in what they do.

Recovery is about focus. If we work longer and harder, it’s like cutting a tree with an axe that is getting blunt. Proper recovery sharpens it but also helps determine which trees are the right ones to chop. Intermittent breaks for renewal result in higher and more sustainable performance. The length of renewal is less important than the quality. It is possible to get a great deal of recovery in several minutes provided it involves a ritual that allows you to disengage from work.

Recovery is about being present. Most people are not present these days; they are distracted and when not working, they are checking their phones and notifications; they are everywhere else but where their body is.

“Wherever you are, that’s where you should be,” wise words by Dan Sullivan, founder of Strategic Coach.

In addition, people can tap into the energy when work really matters to them. However, the high demands and fast pace of corporate life don’t leave much time to pay attention to anything else, and many people don’t even recognise the meaning and purpose of their work as potential sources of energy.

Therefore, some companies started adopting new ways of working, and others even set up ‘renewal rooms’ where people can go regularly to recharge and relax.

So, do we need to work 24/7 to achieve our dreams? No, we don’t. Therefore, it is important to start thinking about using our energy to our best ability and advantage, perhaps developing little rituals which can contribute to energy renewal, while companies, in turn, need to come up with solutions to ensure the demands at work are manageable and employees have opportunities to recharge and recover.

By Tereza Urbánková

Tereza Urbánková is a PR, communications and marketing professional with 20 years’ experience and proven success in delivering awardwinning communications programmes for multinational companies operating in industries such as hospitality, retail, IT, defence, broadcast, logistics, pharma and engineering. After having lived and worked in the UK for 12 years, she moved to Germany where she now works for Boehringer Ingelheim, a global pharmaceutical company, as Head of Global External Communication, Animal Health. Tereza is a member of the Executive Committee of the Czech British Chamber of Commerce in London. She speaks Czech, English, Spanish and Russian and can be reached through her LinkedIn profile.

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Stanton chase DIVERSITY AWARD

Stanton Chase Prague team

Czech manager Renata Mrázová, who is currently the Chief People Officer at the Home Credit Company, accepted the award for diversity and inclusion, the so-called Diversity Award, on Thursday at Obecní dům. This important award is presented every year by Mickey Matthews, International Chairman of Stanton Chase Company, which is active in searching for executives.

According to the Stanton Chase, diversity is rooted in universalization of the system, in other words in globalisation, which has paradoxically increased pressure on diversity. Searching for a single currency or universal language creates the need to form diverse teams consisting of people from various cultures and generations, and of various genders. “As a result the teams are better, higher-performing and more stable, and companies are able to offer equal opportunities to everyone without difference”, says Jozef Papp, Managing Partner, Stanton Chase Prague.

During a Client Reception evening, Stanton Chase celebrated the tenth anniversary of its entry onto the Czech and Slovak markets. Despite the relatively short period of the company’s activities here, it has managed to become a leader in the field in the Czech Republic, and over 250 clients have used its services.

Roof top at Obecní dům

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Mickey Matthews, International Chairman, Stanton Chase

Guests enjoying the beatiful scenery of Obecní dům

Cake to celebrate

Obecní dům

Guest speaker Jan Muhlfeit, former Chairman Europe, Microsoft and Lecturer

From left: Flemming Riber, Coppenhagen, Vice Chair Practice Groups and Marek Huml, Managing Partner Prague

Benke Aikell, your Publisher and Eva Anderová, Vice President for PR, UNYP and President, Kafka Centre

From left: Tony Kang, Stanton Chase Seoul, Eriko Fukuoka and Yumiko Kawakami, Stanton Chase Tokyo, and Mickey Matthews, Stanton Chase Intl Chairman, Baltimore

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From left: Mickey Matthews, Stanton Chase Baltimore, Yumiko Kawakami, Stanton Chase Tokyo, Rich Kolpasky, Stanton Chase Detroit, Eline Kullock, Stanton Chase Sao Paulo, Paul Holm, Stanton Chase Moscow, Finley Konrade, Stanton Chase Dallas, Eriko Fukuoka, Stanton Chase Tokyo, Philippe Palacin, Stanton Chase Paris, Ivo Hahn, Stanton Chase Hong Kong, Nick Wylde, Stanton Chase London, and Lixia Huang, Stanton Chase Shanghai

Marek Huml and Jozef Papp, Managing Partners of Stanton Chase Prague

Renata Mrázová, Chief People Officer, Home Credit, Diversity Award winner

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Jozef Papp, Managing Partner, Stanton Chase Prague

Guest speaker Jan Muhlfeit, former Chairman Europe, Microsoft and Lecturer

Mala Chawla, Global Practice Group Leader for Diversity and Inclusion, Stanton Chase

P hoto : R ení V olfík

a

K ristýna S vobodová

From left: Pierre Michon, laureate of Franz Kafka Prize; Eva Anderová , Director of Franz Kafka Center; Radka Hoffmanová, Program Department of Franz Kafka Center; Lucie Paříková, Head of Office of Franz Kafka Center; and Tomáš Chlebeček , Deputy Director of Franz Kafka Center

The French writer Pierre André Michon was awarded the prestigious Franz Kafka Prize at the Old Town Hall in Prague on October 22, 2019. He became the nineteenth laureate of this international literary prize awarded by the Franz Kafka Society in cooperation with the City of Prague. The ceremony was hosted by Jakub Železný (Czech Television), music performed by violoncellist Terezie Vodička Kovalová.

Eva Anderová, Director of Franz Kafka Center and Pierre Michon, laureate of Franz Kafka Prize

From left: Vladimír Železný, President of Franz Kafka Society and member of Jury of Franz Kafka Prize 2019; Milan Štěch, former President of the Senate; Hana Třeštíková, Councillor of the City of Prague; and Jan Wolf, Chairman of the City Hall Culture Committee

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T he F ranz K afka I nternational L iterary P rize 2019 Pierre Michon called his latest award “a successful metamorphosis” and added: “What about this wonderful surprise? Thank you all from the bottom of my heart, of course. To tell you that to see me succeed to Václav Havel, Nádas, Jelinek, Handke and Magris, and especially to Roth and Yan Lianke, gives me a lot of pride, perhaps even vanity. That I do not know Prague, that I will greet the bridges, the river, the houses where Kafka wrote, the cemeteries…”

Pierre Michon (born 1945 in Châtelus-leMarcheix, Creuse department) is a French writer.

His first novel, Small lives (1984), is widely regarded as a genuine masterpiece in contemporary French literature. He has won several prizes for Small lives and for later The Origin of the World (1996) as well as for his body of work. Michon's novels and short stories have been translated into English, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese, Polish, Serbian, Czech and Norwegian.

His awards include Prix Décembre (2002), Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française (2009) and Petrarca-Preis (2010).

The Franz Kafka International Literary Prize has been awarded by the Franz Kafka Society since 2001. Its laureates to date include Philip Roth, Ivan Klíma, Péter Nádas, Elfriede Jelinek, Harold Pinter, Haruki Murakami, Yves Bonnefoy, Arnošt Lustig, Peter Handke, Václav Havel, John Banville, Daniela Hodrová, Amos Oz, Yan Lianke, Eduardo Mendoza, Claudio Magris, Margaret Atwood and Ivan Wernisch.

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Pierre Michon, laureate of Franz Kafka Prize in Franz Kafka Center

Pierre Michon, laureate of Franz Kafka Prize and Actress Veronika Lazorčáková in Franz Kafka Center

From left: Josef Čermák, Member of Committee of Franz Kafka Society and member of Jury of Franz Kafka Prize 2019 and Jan Vít, Member of Committee of Franz Kafka Society

From left: Thorsten Kalinowski, partner of Greek Ambassador; H.E. Efthymios Efthymiades, Ambassador of Greece in the Czech Republic; Fadhl AlMaghafi, Deputy Head of Mission from the Embassyof the Republic of Yemen; and H.E. Roland Galharague, Ambassador of France in Prague

From left: Pierre Michon, laureate of Franz Kafka Prize; André Derval, member of Jury of Franz Kafka Prize 2019; and Lucie Rounová, Interpreter

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T he F ranz K afka I nternational L iterary P rize 2019

From left: Fadhl AlMaghafi, Deputy Head of Mission from Embassy of the Republic of Yemen; Eva Anderová, Director of Franz Kafka Center; Benke Aikell, your Publisher; H.E. Efthymios Efthymiades, Ambassador of Greece in Czech Republic; Thorsten Kalinowski, partner of Greek Ambassador; and H.E. Sundus Omar Ali Albayraqdar; Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq with her husband

From left: Lucie Paříková, Head of Office of Franz Kafka Center; Pierre Michon, laureate of Franz Kafka Prize; and Radka Hoffmanová, Program Department of Franz Kafka Center

From left: H.E. Roland Galharague, Ambassador of France in Prague; Pierre Michon, laureate of Franz Kafka Prize; and Lucie Rounová, Interpreter

Cellist Terezie Vodička Kovalová in Brožík Hall in the Old Town Hall in Prague

From left: Hana Třeštíková, Councillor of the City of Prague; Vladimír Železný, President of Franz Kafka Society and member of Jury of Franz Kafka Prize 2019; and Pierre Michon, laureate of Franz Kafka Prize

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Miloslav Stašek, State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs I enjoy going back to Czernin Palace, the seat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

From 2002 to 2006, I was responsible for running the Diplomatic Academy. These were landmark years for Czech diplomacy and were full of events. I personally remember in particular the preparation and implementation of the NATO Summit in 2002, which was symbolic in many respects, allowing the Alliance to expand by a full seven countries, but was an opportunity for many statespeople to say goodbye to Václav Havel. Thus a record number of delegations at the highest levels headed for Prague. The summit also took place just four months after the devastating 2002 floods, so it was difficult not just in terms of co-ordination and security, but also logistics. The Czech Republic joined the European Union in 2004. The entire civil service had to be made ready in advance, with officials trained not just centrally, but also at a regional level. It had been years since I had last met Miloslav Stašek, my colleague and an expert on the Middle East of many years standing. We not only looked back together on diplomacy’s major milestones of the last 30 years, but we also endeavoured to focus on those aspects of the foreign service that are less well-known to the public. Last but not least, we looked at the issue of gender.

One of the roles of the State Secretary is to ensure that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs fulfils the criteria and requirements of gender policy, including within the EU and the European External Action Service. Since my departure, I have asked myself the question of whether I would have remained in diplomacy if the issue of reconciling family and work life had been focused on back in 2006.

Miloslav Stašek joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs twenty years ago. During his career, he headed the Middle East and Africa Department, was Deputy Ambassador in Riyadh, led the Embassy in Kuwait, worked as Ambassador to Egypt with accreditation for Sudan, and worked as Ambassador to India with accreditation for Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. He was Director of the Economic Diplomacy Department and was Deputy Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic and Operational Affairs. Since November 2017, he has held the role of State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Miloslav Stašek is married and has three children. In his youth, he was the champion in middle-distance running. Despite his busy programme, he finds time every day for a regular workout so he can continue to focus on bodybuilding.

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P hoto : A rchive

Diplomacy is a Calling We’ll be celebrating thirty years since Czech diplomacy was restored to the independent diplomatic service of a sovereign state in November 1989. How do you look back on that period?

Since 1989, and subsequently since the division of Czechoslovakia in 1993, there has been a huge change in personnel. Former workers who did not receive negative lustration certificates had to leave. New diplomats were frequently recruited from amongst researchers, since they fulfilled the requirement of knowing two foreign languages. The first turning point in terms of the professionalization of the foreign service was the Diplomatic Academy you mentioned, which was set up in 1997. This was the first step towards conceptual work in career training and career development. Another milestone was the Czech Republic joining the European Union, which allowed our diplomats to work not just in the services of the EU, and not just within the European Commission, but also after signature of the Lisbon Treaty in the services of the European External Action Service. From my perspective, this development reached its pinnacle in 2015 when the new Act on the Civil Service was ratified, with the Act on the Foreign Service subsequently adopted in 2017 as a “lex specialis” dealing with specificities related to the foreign service. This act puts diplomatic practice into the context of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic and Consular Relations, the consular service, and the career and procedure of diplomats, diplomatic ranks and the awarding of ranks, which leads to the

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opportunity to apply for higher management positions in diplomacy both in the Czech Republic and abroad. Today, the Czech Republic has a foreign service system comparable to that of its neighbours, Austria and the Federal Republic of Germany, which were models for us.

The 1990s are often described as “Wild West” years, with people becoming ambassadors who weren’t even 30 years old. In practice, this put them at a disadvantage in relations with foreign counterparts from more advanced countries, because normally at that age they would be at the level of Attaché or Third Secretary. Today, standard practice is to accept candidates for foreign service following successful application for study at the Diplomatic Academy, in general at the age of 25–27 years old. After training for a couple of months, including a placement abroad, they begin a permanent job at headquarters. They build their career up gradually, such that at the age of approximately 45 they can achieve the highest position of heading a diplomatic mission as Consul General or Ambassador.

After looking at the development of the foreign service, let us now look at developments in terms of issues. In the 1990s, the core issues were joining NATO and the EU, while in contrast, economic diplomacy is highlighted today.

I’d still like to point out one period in which we focused a lot on development co-operation and transformative assistance. Remember that we submitted our application to the EU in 1994, and it took ten years to become

a full member. We then began to share our own experience of transformation and preparation for joining the EU. Now, we focus this assistance on the countries of the Western Balkans, with accession talks ongoing with Serbia, and discussion within the EU on launching accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania. Our assistance doesn’t just involve political and transformational assistance, as we also offer our experience of transforming from a centrally managed economy to a market economy, and our experience of privatisation. It isn’t just countries in Europe that are interested in this experience, but also countries in Asia.

Economic diplomacy and stressing such diplomacy is a matter of the last five years.

One can say that economic diplomacy is literally genetically encoded in the practice of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanks to our unique network of embassies abroad. It is our diplomats who play a key role in individual countries in supporting export and assisting specific companies. We are now endeavouring to bring together the platforms of different agencies such as CzechTrade, CzechInvest, Czech Centres and CzechTourism, putting them all under the management of the heads of missions, the highest representatives of the Czech Republic abroad.

The opening and closing of diplomatic missions is a headline-grabbing topic which few actually really understand. On the other hand, how many Czechs realise that with 120 missions across the world, this is the highest number in the Czech Republic’s history?

It remains true that our network of diplomatic missions is a kind of living whole, and not a final number. Changes through the optimisation, closing and opening of missions are governed by the interests of Czech policy – and not just political, but also economic policy. In around 2010, six missions were closed, whereas since 2013 we have been gradually opening and expanding missions. We have 120 diplomatic missions: 93 embassies, 18 consulate generals, 7 permanent missions and delegations, 4 consular offices and 2 diplomatic missions of another type. From 1 January 2020, we are planning to open a diplomatic mission in Singapore. These official state representations are further complemented by 23 Czech Centres, the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Integrated Foreign Network, CzechTourism agency branches, and also honorary consulates and honorary consulate generals, of which there are about 220, but this number is always changing. Honorary consulates have a similar role to professional consulates, but are run by honorary consular officers who do not have diplomatic status and are not Ministry of Foreign Affairs employees.

The Czech Republic has a new brand: the Czech Republic as the Country for the Future. How is this reflected in diplomatic practice?

Singapore can serve as inspiration here, in terms of infrastructure, and in terms of technology and transport. Science, research and new technologies will be one of the main areas of co-operation with Singapore. The Czech economy is an open economy primarily based on exports. Unless we create optimal conditions through a support network abroad, we cannot have long-term success in exports. It is important to have not just a high-quality network of diplomatic mission trade councils and agencies that help get our producers onto less traditional markets than we have been used to, but it is also important to have a high-quality export portfolio. Here, new technology plays a large role. The government’s new strategy, summarised by the slogan Czech Republic – the Country for the Future, goes even further in supporting the implementation of trends linked to Industry 4.0, digitalisation, robotisation, and the use of artificial intelligence to support the competitiveness of the Czech economy and Czech products in general. If we want to progress in these new sectors of industry and business, fundamental changes in our education system will be required. During my work in India, I saw how Indians enjoy high-quality education in mathematics and physics, meaning they are leaders in the IT sector. You can see that the top management of most major IT companies around the world is comprised of Indians.

Not only are they talented people, but their education system has prepared them well for their careers, combining both motivation and rote learning.

Diplomacy isn’t just a profession, but also a calling. On the other hand, the world is changing, with ever more dual-career marriages; with today’s low unemployment rate, working for the state is no longer so attractive for young people.

Working in diplomacy is considered one of the most prestigious positions in the civil service hierarchy, and there is much that is unique about it. It is assumed that you will spend some of your career abroad. In the past, over 1000 candidates applied for positions, with 15 of them chosen. Today, around 100 candidates apply for eight systematised positions. We don’t just take candidates with humanities degrees; we also need lawyers and experts on economic affairs, as a generational change is beginning to take place in these roles. I admit that it is more difficult for women to reconcile their working and family lives, but it is part of my job as State Secretary to make this easier. Since I have spent a large part of my career abroad, I know how important a role a well-set-up system plays. Here at the Ministry, it is in our interests to ensure that not just women, but also married couples work abroad. Today, female diplo-

mats are able to give birth abroad, without having to interrupt their careers, and return to work following their maternity leave. The Act on the Civil Service ensures that the Ministry pays all costs incurred.

We also provide for part-time work and working from home. We offer two children’s playgroups to our employees; our nursery school is considered one of the best because our colleagues provide kids with toys literally from around the whole world. We hope that our “Zamiňáček” playgroup will become a hatchery for future diplomats. We organise the “Zamiňák” summer scheme, our Olympics and also a regular event for St Nicholas Day or lightning of a Christmas tree. We know that our employees are our most valuable asset. We take care to secure them continuous development. Another major change is the option of transferring from the ranks of socalled administrative and technical staff to diplomatic roles after completing the necessary training and meeting all criteria.

In the past, our employees didn’t even have high-quality insurance, but today, thanks to the Act on the Civil Service, they and their families are insured. And last but not least, I would also like to say that we pay for costs related to the schooling of the children of our employees abroad.

I’d love to spend another hour with you, but now I’d like to ask you to say a word to Czech and Slovak Leaders Magazine readers from the State Secretary.

The Czech Republic wants to be a consistent partner in both politics and business.

We have quite a complex period ahead of us in international politics in regard to Brexit, which will have to be followed by a period of reflection from the remainder of the European Union on where the Union wants to go now. Debate on reform will be unavoidable; Brexit is not a unilateral affair of Great Britain alone; there will be impacts on both sides. I think the Commission should be more pragmatic, realistic and certainly closer to its citizens. On the other hand, the idea that we are being dictated to is also incorrect; we are a part of the Union and what happens within it.

For the Czech Republic, it remains important that the EU expand to the Western Balkans; I have already mentioned Serbia’s accession and North Macedonia and Albania as the countries most ready to begin talks. Last but not least, I would like to note the importance of our relations with our closest neighbours – in terms of both the continuation of the extra co-operation amongst the countries of the Visegrád Four, and co-operation within the Eastern Partnership.

By Linda Štucbartová české znění naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.czechleaders.com

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now lecturing for ELAI

Two exceptionally interesting personalities have recently expanded the European Leadership and Academic Institute (ELAI) series of lectures.

Simona Kijonková, one of the most fascinating and successful entrepreneurs, and Milan Formánek, a biohacker, futurist and innovator who has been a Media Network Manager at Red Bull Media House for 13 years.

Simona Kijonková founded Zásilkovna in 2010 and in eight years she expanded it into an international logistics company with 790 million turnover. Simona is currently the Head of the Packeta holding – ten companies, including Czech Zásilkovna, and manages 700 employees. She invests in other start-ups as well. She has won numerous awards for her entrepreneurial and innovative activities.

Simona Kijonková at a charity event

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Simona Kijonková

Milan Formánek during his lecture

Her workshop at ELAI is called Mindset and Strategy of Success. „First of all, it is important not to enter a business we are unfamiliar with,“ explains Ms. Kijonková when sharing the strategy for success. „It is also important not to be afraid and not to wait too long. By its very nature, man does not like change but I think that stagnation is the first step of decline. Partial setbacks should definitely not discourage us, because negative experiences give us lessons and shape us to better performance and better decisions in the future. Last but not least, I would like to emphasize not to make projects simply for financial gain and profit. If you build your projects primarily to help people, you build a beloved brand and customers will come back to you. Profit for you will then be just a sub-product and confirmation that you are doing your job well.”

Milan Formánek says that linking creativity with new technologies and business is his inspiration. His mission is to increase the ethics and aesthetics of marketing and development of potential and competitiveness through education. „Work with priorities“ is the name of his workshop at ELAI. And what is his recipe for efficiency and simplification? „In general, I try to eliminate urgent things and focus on the important,“ emphasizes Milan Formánek. „However, for me, it is intentionally important, something most people do not pay attention to.

Because I am not customer service, I do not need to please everyone, or to meet everyone, instead can focus on the greatest growth opportunities. I do not want to do anything just because it has always been done“ he concludes.

Milan Formánek

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I nterview

with

J an F ischer

On the forgotten Czech Statistical Office birthday, reasons for optimism and the right to meddle in politics

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P hoto : A rchive

I nterview

with

J an F ischer

I met Jan Fischer at the University of Economics in Prague, where he lectures foreign students as part of a newly accredited international master’s programme. Although his CV encompasses many important roles, including candidate for President, Vice President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, he has spent most of his career at the Czechoslovak and Czech Statistical Office. Today he describes himself as a working pensioner who focuses on lecturing and the issue of innovation, and who continues to work as an advisor to the Czech Statistical Office. Together, we looked back at 100 years of the Czechoslovak Statistical Office, a birthday the media has somewhat forgotten.

In preparing for this interview, I had that Czech song of my youth, “Statistika nuda je” (Statistics is Boring) going through my mind, and I remembered my maths teacher at elementary school, who claimed that mathematics wasn’t for girls and also my worries about the maths exam I had to take for the IFTG programme at the University of Economics. Statistics certainly isn’t boring, and my interview with Jan Fischer was one of the most stimulating I have had, in terms of both breadth and depth.

We’re meeting at the University of Economics, so let’s start with today’s generation of young students. How do you see the young generation? And how are they doing in mathematics, a subject much feared in the Czech Republic?

It is very common for the older generation’s attitude to the young to be rather critical, as is the claim that, “it wasn’t like that when we were young.” I try to avoid that, but I’m not always successful. Today’s youth are different. I notice their technological maturity; I might prefer more personal contact for myself to contact mediated by smartphones and computers. They certainly aren’t a cynical generation. If there’s something I worry about, then it’s bullying, although that has always been there, but hasn’t always been talked about. So I’m an optimist in regard to the young generation. In terms of mathematical knowledge, the most recent OECD study shows that mathematical knowledge in the Czech Republic is declining, although we have always achieved good results in mathematics. I personally support doing a maturita universal school leaving examination in maths, but I do respect the opinion of the current Education Minister, Robert Plaga, that we need first of all to agree on how to teach mathematics well.

Mathematics isn’t just about mathematics itself. It’s also about a way of understanding the world, a mindset and logic. The young generation should adopt these approaches, leading to a particular way of looking at the world and life around us, more.

The successful first generation of postrevolution managers, and also ambassadors, were very often recruited from amongst graduates of the Czech Technical University (ČVUT). In another interview in this issue, Miroslav Stašek, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, notes the success of the Indian education system in mathematics.

Mathematics really does offer huge opportunities. I recall that we had a lack of mathematical statisticians at the Czech Statistical

Office (ČSÚ) in the 1990s. The then-President of the ČSÚ, Eduard Outrata, who had returned from Canada, suggested to me that we go to ČVUT to select suitable candidates from the Nuclear Physics Department.

I was sceptical of this. I remember that we chose one particular candidate and he ended up becoming a real mainstay of the ČSÚ.

So I came to realise that I could be wrong.

Let’s look at the Czechoslovak Statistical Office and its 100th birthday, which has been forgotten in the media. What is it that we citizens don’t know about the ČSÚ, but we should know?

I think that fortunately a lot is known about the ČSÚ. It isn’t awareness of the Office which is important really, but rather trust in it. I teach a lot to my students about trust and its importance. Credibility is the be-all and end-all, from choosing methods to using administrative data sources to spreading information. People have got to trust the products of official statistics in the form of figures, data and analyses. I’m glad that the ČSÚ ranks top in trusted institutions.

(Author’s note: in 2018, the ČSÚ and Czech National Bank were in 4th position amongst most trusted institutions, trusted by 62% of citizens, while the top three positions were held by municipal councils, mayors and the Constitutional Court). You can lose your trust in a matter of hours, or perhaps even minutes, but it will take months or years to earn it again. So it’s not important that people know in detail about what goes on within the Office, but rather that they trust its production. On the other hand, the Office needs to be transparent enough so that it can communicate, present and defend the indicators and definitions it employs and its activities.

The public are probably aware of the name of Eduard Outrata, who worked in Canada for Statistics Canada. He returned to the Czech Republic in 1993 and became President of the Czech Statistical Office. There have undoubtedly

been many more important figures and historical milestones over the past 100 years of history which the ČSÚ is celebrating this year.

I’d like to remind your readers that the Office wasn’t set up from scratch in 1919. It followed on from the previous Statistical Office of the Kingdom of Bohemia, which was of a very high standard. It thus had something to build on in terms of methodology, content and staff. It is also of interest to see that the new Czechoslovak politicians felt the need to have a high quality statistical institution available to them, which they could trust and which would take on responsibility for statistical activities in the newly established state within its new borders. As statisticians, we are proud that one of the first acts passed by the new parliament of the independent Czechoslovakia was the Act on a State Statistics Service in January 1919, which established the State Statistical Office. It still impresses me today how modern and concise this act was, containing the rights and obligations which characterises official statistics in a modern democratic society. The office had tremendous authority in demographic statistics, it undertook housing and population censuses to a very high standard, and it had soon mastered price, labour market and foreign trade statistics. Professor Dobroslav Krejčí, the Office’s first President, was rightly described as the “father of Czechoslovak/ Czech statistics”. Debates about statistics were held across the whole of society, and even President Masaryk made an active contribution. One of these debates was about the concept of nationality. There were discussions over whether nationality should be something one declares – by the way, this is one of the features of a democratic society – with citizens deciding for themselves their nationality and declaring this in the census form, or whether instead efforts should be made to ascertain an objective nationality on the basis of a set of common external elements, which was one of the proposed approaches. During the period

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with

J an F ischer

of the First Republic, the Office provided a link between science, applied research and practice. Many expert practitioners also worked in academia. In the past decade, we have returned to this link between science and practice at the Czech Statistical Office. Statistics has its basis in science. I would also mention the interwar school of actuarial mathematics, which was world-class, and Professor Emil Schoenbaum, who emigrated to escape the Nazis.

He returned then again escaped following the communist coup in 1948. The communists didn’t need actuarial mathematics. Basically that English term “flourishing” could be used to describe statistics during the pre-war period.

You’ve mentioned the links between statistics and politics, and not always in a beneficial sense. How independent can statistics actually be?

I’ve already spoken about trust. Credibility is linked to other traits such as independence, consistency, political impartiality, timeliness and transparency. Political impartiality is the be-all and end-all of how statistics operates in a democratic society. Statistics acts with methodological independence, both in selecting indicators and in publishing them.

I often tell my students that statistics mustn’t be cynical, closed to debate or detached from current events. In terms of disclosing information, the fundamental rule is that no political or economic subject should be favoured: basically facts and causality should be presented without praise or criticism. Analysis is at the core of doing statistics; without it, statistics is just a “data graveyard”. There are often debates around the world as to whether statistics authorities should make forecasts. There are different models. In some countries, such as in France, statistics authorities do forecasts.

Here in the Czech Republic, since 1993 we have adopted the approach that the statistics authority should not make forecasts.

When you make forecasts, this inevitably gives rise to expectations from many parties, whether these be markets, analysts, politicians or the public. Some forecasts may raise expectations then incorporated into other predictions, e.g. from the Ministry of Finance or the central bank. It is of note that both Brussels and Luxembourg, where Eurostat is based, neither require nor prohibit forecasts. It is worth mentioning here that while statistics takes great care to ensure standardised data, common definitions, classifications and methodologies, there are no rules about how to organise a statistics office. There are various models in Europe, where there are centralised statistics services and partially decentralised services, where specific ministries are charged with performing statistics services and where a central statistics office plays the role of co-ordinator of the entire system. This is the case for the Czech Republic.

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Let us move on to another topic you work on, specifically support for science and innovation. Two countries outside Europe are regularly placed at the top of the rankings in this area: Israel and South Korea. A lot is said about Israel, but what inspiration do you think South Korea can give us?

In terms of the organisation of science and research, South Korea can serve as a model for us in drive, in resolve and in a determination to promote and achieve determined goals. I had the opportunity to undertake a short placement in Korea when I studied the country’s modern post-war history. Its development and progress is best seen when you compare photographs of postwar Seoul, which the front passed through three times during the Korean War, with photographs of today’s modern city. Korea has very well-organised research, wellthought out science management, and a lot of attention is paid to co-operation with industry even in academic education, allowing for a rapid transferral of knowledge to practice. In the Czech Republic, this approach can be seen in Nexen Tire in Žatec’s industrial park. The added value of this enterprise for the Czech economy is not just based on job creation, but in particular on inspiring close co-operation between science, research and industry within the entire process not just of manufacture, but also management of the business.

Finally, I would like to ask you about your optimism in regard to the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. You are an optimist, but you admit that it is becoming ever-harder to “be an optimist and remain an optimist”. You’ve also said that “winning an election doesn’t give you carte blanche”.

I remain optimistic, especially in regard to the Czech Republic. At a global level, after the collapse of the dual model of geopolitical order we were too slow in finding a unifying paradigm. After the collapse of the Twin Towers on 9/11, we had the feeling that we

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had found ourselves in a new situation, but we were unable to appreciate the depth of the change. The paradox of today’s world is that despite the massive amount of data, analyses and statistics we have, its potential for making prognoses is very weak. We lack the ability to predict at a global level.

Nor were we able to predict the recession of 2009/2010. Renowned international organisations at that time were predicting roughly 2% GDP growth for the Czech Republic in 2009. The first figures I received as newly designated Prime Minister from the Czech Statistical Office for the first quarter of 2009 did not show 2% growth, but rather a 4% fall. This weak predictive ability is reinforced by the so-called black swan effect. (Author’s note: this refers to a major, but unexpected, event with a massive impact on society. Because it represents a deviation from normal progression, it is difficult to predict.) The Arab Spring is one of those situations which we understood and interpreted poorly. The world is full of deep geopolitical wrinkles which we are unable to grasp. We are two or more steps behind developments. Because the world is becoming so complex, those who offer (often false) oversimplifications come to power and influence. Populists of all kinds offer oversimplifications in the form of political slogans, facile solutions, evoking expectations or promising that they will come up with a solution if they receive the votes of the electorate. I reject the reduction of politics to a method of getting into power. The political world is broader and belongs to the people and individual groups, to the population in general and to non-governmental organisations, and even if I don’t always agree with them I must give them the space. Politics isn’t a reserved or privatised space only for politicians. We all have the right to meddle in politics, because we are part of it.

By Linda Štucbartová české znění naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.czechleaders.com

FUTURE PORT PRAGUE The 3rd Future Port Prague, the largest visionary conference and festival in the heart of Europe, was all about moonshots. There couldn’t be a better occasion than the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing to remind ourselves about the immense power of human imagination, courage, and grit.

The Main Conference and also Festival Stage was an unending stream of eye-opening inspiration about the incredible opportunities future technologies offer. Over 60 brilliant speakers from around the world shared their personal stories and real-world case studies showing what’s possible already today and what comes tomorrow.

The main festival and conference stages were accompanied by three partner stages. The Experiment Stage by Czech Radio conducted live interviews with top speakers. The Novartis Stage focused on the future of education, work, and healthcare. And finally the Space Stage by CzechInvest and the Ministry of Transportation explored space as the new business frontier, featuring a dozen of highly successful yet little-known Czech companies working in numerous international space missions and projects.

Plenty of electric cars, vans, drons, 3D printing, virtual reality, robots, simulators, ebikes and other innovations were presented.

Our section dedicated to EVs continues to grow each year, this year offered rides on more than 20 different electric bikes.

This year, the conference featured a broad spectrum of luminaries including the former Slovak President Andrej Kiska.

Genetic researcher Prof. Samuel H. Sternberg also participated.

Shalev Lifshitz, a 16-year old Canadian AI researcher talked about Future of AI. A business meeting in virtual reality, a mind-boggling digital escape game by Red Bull, EV, e-scooter, and e-bike test rides, scifi cinema, open Fab Lab laboratory guided tours or 4 others stages (Experiment stage by Radiožurnál on the picture) – the Future Port side program has never been richer.

Some of the speaker highlights were Neil Harbisson, the first officially-recognized cyborg who returned to Prague with his new implant that monitors time.

One of the festival speakers was Brian Spears, whose company New Age Meats makes meat by cultivating animal cells in a lab.

Just like every year, Future Port Prague also offers the opportunity to try new technologies for yourself with the participation of 145 exhibitors from around the world presenting their latest innovations, advancements, and gadgets.

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I nterview

with

MUD r . M ilan K oller

P hoto : A rchive

THEN RUN FOR A HOSPICE AND GO THERE TO SEE FOR YOURSELF

MUDr. Milan Koller MUDr. Milan Koller is very much the Renaissance man from today’s perspective. At 65 years of age, he took partial retirement. Over the three years since, he has accomplished previously unfulfilled dreams. He has acquired a Group C, D and E driving licence (for large goods vehicles, buses and trailers). Through his friend, a transport company maintenance worker, he found out that the hospice in Most was looking for a doctor. He took the decision to offer his help to the hospice, and he now works there as chief physician. He has learnt to speak German fluently and is currently preparing for an advanced examination at C1 level.

He has begun running marathons. And in order to give greater meaning to his hobby, he has set up the “Běhej pro hospic” (Run for Hospices) movement.

Doctor, let’s begin with a question which I’ve taken from the popular film, The Intern. The seventy-year old star, played by Robert de Niro, becomes an intern at a company full of people under thirty years old. The recruitment officer poses him the question: Where do you see yourself in ten years? Over the past three years, you have managed to retire, change your medical specialisation, run marathons and acquire a Group C, D and E driving licence. So where do you see yourself in ten years?

Long-term plans are for the young and middle-aged generations. I don’t ask myself that question. I think in terms of this year and next year. For me, retirement was a watershed. I thought long and hard about whether to focus on my hobbies and perfect them, or whether to take a more complex path in which I can do something of benefit.

Hold on, I don’t get that. You’ve been a doctor your whole life, an occupation that is one of the few professions which is not just a job, but rather a calling.

Exactly. Doctors can be doctors, and often cannot do anything else. I considered my new expanded driving tests as an opportunity to demonstrate that even doctors can do something else. Doctors often perceive themselves as a special category, even amongst themselves. When I got my Group C, D and E driving licence, i.e. for lorries, buses and trailers, I felt the need to

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During his standard week, he manages to work in two gynaecology clinics, drive a bus for two city public transport lines, undertake medical services at the hospice in Most, and of course he also regularly runs and organises support for the hospice. His daily routine, character and mission is best portrayed in a short amusing video available on YouTube, entitled Běžím pro hospic (I run for the hospice).

Despite his successes and ambitious plans, MUDr. Koller is unassuming and humble. He was surprised to be asked for an interview for Leaders magazine, and he doubted he was a sufficiently important figure. This was the first time I have experienced such a response in over two hundred interviews I have undertaken.

I subsequently received a number of long, congenial and very open and personal e-mails, one in German. I received an invitation to visit the hospice for lunch.

And so I set out with our photographer, Tereza …

Have you ever been inside a hospice? I’d guess not. How do you picture it?

A gloomy atmosphere, dark rooms and a depressing atmosphere of the presence of death?

The good doctor says that you have to experience a hospice. Few can talk about them. I will at least attempt to describe my own experience. Most’s hospice sits next to a beautiful park. The sun was shining and we had the opportunity to observe its smiling staff and the cheerful good doctor. Director Blanka Števicová is not just the director and manager of many years’ standing, but also a renowned cook. I will long remember her chilli con carne. As I will the fact that every year the hospice has to acquire 44% of its budget from grants, gifts and charity donations. It costs 16 million CZK a year to run the hospice. 44% of costs are covered by insurance and 12% is paid by the clients themselves, and so the Director has to take on another role as magician in order to procure the remaining 44%. Over my whole time there, I felt the special energy of this place, where time flows differently. I felt a slowing of time, and also a fundamental need to get to the heart of things in my interview, right down to the very core.

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I nterview

succeed because I am a doctor. I was also worried about causing an accident and killing someone. I was worried that headlines in the tabloid media would be sure to include the fact that it was a 66-year-old doctor who had killed someone. I originally wanted to drive a lorry or trailer, but my desire for a part-time position prevented this.

But this isn’t a problem for a city bus driver.

When driving my bus I am fully focused yet relaxed at the same time. I perceive people and their worries, but also the beauty of the local landscape.

You are far from the usual negative stereotype of Czech pensioners, often described as passive, unwilling to learn, in poor health...

I don’t need to be a model. I can see that many factors influence one’s current state, such as one’s previous professional life, health and the many consequences of previous decisions. Many of my peers have problems, health-wise and money-wise, and that proverbial passivity is more a consequence than an underlying cause. I myself thus focus on making contact with people of the young and middle-aged generations.

of palliative medicine to the maximum extent. It is a system of services that promotes quality of life for the terminally ill. It practises a holistic approach to the ill, securing complete nursing, psychological, social and spiritual comfort. It offers a support system allowing one to live to the full to the very end.”

It remains a paradox that were we to ask those respondents whether they want to die at home or in a hospice, the difference would be even greater; I’d estimate 90% of respondents would prefer to pass at home, and 10% in a hospice. Hospices still don’t have a good reputation.

We all want to die at home. Is that because we idealise death?

The option of dying at home would seem the best when so-called home hospice is available, in which doctors and carers are in close contact with the family and available when needed. On the other hand, this still

with

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involves reactive care, with changing shifts, and it isn’t always clear in advance how quickly deterioration can occur, and what burdens and complications care for the dying brings to those around them. I myself have witnessed acute requests for admission to hospice that we have unfortunately been unable to manage. Care for immobile patients is incredibly demanding, and it involves having to take care to ensure not just preventing bedsores, but also maintaining hygiene, correct medication and much more besides. Families can find this at the edge of, or even beyond their capabilities.

You might be surprised that even palliative medicine has its own witticisms: “A doctor tells his dying patient: You’re not alone. And the dying patient responds: But I am.” And that’s true. We die alone. We should all acknowledge this truth. We are all afraid of facing death alone. But we will. I have seen myself that family members want to be with their loved one to the paradoxical end. They sit by the bed, but then they need to leave for a moment and that’s when their loved one passes. Don’t believe the films. Death isn’t the dying person uttering words of wisdom and then breathing their last breath.

The process of dying takes a long time, and for the lay person it isn’t often easy to manage. On the basis of my own experience, I prefer the option of home hospice complemented by an acute bed in a normal hospice. You’ve had the opportunity to see our peaceful environment, and our terrace with a view for yourself, allowing not just close family members to be present, but also pets. Here, the doctor isn’t the most important element: the most important element is our carers. I myself experience great satisfaction when I do my rounds and I see that the patient at the very end of their life is still cared for, bathed, clothed and groomed: they are treated with dignity. It is often hard to recognise how close to death they are. This is all done very care

You say you have to experience hospices. Why? Today, hospices are highly taboo places.

Long-term research suggests that 85% of respondents would like to die at home.

80%, however, will die in hospitals, nursing homes or in institutional care. The wish to die at home arises from a fear of dying alone in an anonymous environment without family and friends present. It should be acknowledged that this can occur in hospitals. Hospitals are not designed for dying in, but rather for treatment. The definition of a hospice means it has a different function. Citing from the website of our hospice in Most: “A hospice is a nursing-type healthcare facility that makes use of the findings

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I nterview

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MUD r . M ilan K oller

Is an older doctor a benefit for patients?

I sense that we feel closer to each other. Also the risk of burnout is much lower for me than it is for my younger colleagues. When I look back at my life, I feel that I’ve done what I wanted to do. I haven’t got any ambitions.

Years ago, I got into yoga, which gave me the opportunity to experience the state of here and now, while also giving me the option of making a choice – good or bad. I have also opened up space for chance, which I consider to be the most wonderful thing in life.

ally begged for each year. I could have made the decision to work for free, but I didn’t think that was a systematic solution. While training for the marathon, I came up with the idea of helping in a different way. Most training runs for the marathon are slow and boring. Over 18 weeks, you might run, for example, 10 km/hour a few times a week. Training for a marathon is necessarily boring, having to give your legs the right amount of training. I got an idea of how to elevate my running; how not to burn out as a runner. I achieved my personal record when I ran the marathon in 3 hours 46 minutes, and the half-marathon in 1 hour 45 minutes.

I’m in the top tier in my age category. Any further improvement would require further strenuous effort. I didn’t want to improve my running, but rather give more meaning to my running.

Chance really does play a large part in your life. One chance in the form of your friendship with a maintenance worker led you to the hospice. Another chance in the form of a delayed salary payment led you to seek another way to fund the hospice.

The director came and explained to me that she first had to send out regular salaries to employees who existentially depend on it.

I’m lucky in receiving four salaries and one pension. The next month saw me filled in on the details of funding and the sum of seven million crowns a year, which has to be liter-

And so your Run for Hospices activities began, which are today focused not just on supporting the hospice in Most, but also on supporting hospices throughout the Czech Republic.

And we return to our discussion on the fact that hospices have to be experienced. I endeavour to make contact with runners, who are separated by some distance from hospices. They are young, successful, well-off people with the best equipment, who share their experiences of foreign holidays before the start. So I thought I would set them the challenge of running for hospices. We give

fully without excess handling, which could worsen pain. Have you ever tried to bathe a 70-kilogram incapacitated person in an ordinary bath in an ordinary apartment? And then there’s enjoying the fresh air: many lifts still don’t take wheelchairs.

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running greater meaning. If anyone happens to run slowly, they’ll still have a good feeling of contributing to a worthy cause.

I came up with the idea that I would give 1 CZK to the hospice for every person I outrun. So I can be much more successful than the scoreboard might imply. I like Gandhi’s quote: Be the change you wish to see in the world. Last year, I ran the half-marathon three times and the marathon once. I calculated that I outran about 14 500 runners, so I gave a sponsorship gift for this sum to the hospice in Most. This year, I’m endeavouring to invite dozens of people to do something similar, to expand awareness of all the 14 hospices operating in the Czech Republic. I’m endeavouring to simplify the entire system. If people register for a halfmarathon or marathon, they can donate the same sum as the starting fee to a selected hospice directly. I’m also calling on them to hand over the sum in person, so that they can experience the hospice. You can’t form a relationship to a hospice merely by sending them money. That is only formed when you visit it. I cordially invite everyone to run to their nearest hospice while training.

A lack of time is just an excuse. Running for a hospice gives your run greater meaning.

It is entirely up to you when you join us...

By Linda Štucbartová české znění naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.czechleaders.com

P hoto : T ereza K underovĂĄ

cultural event

On Wednesday October 16th there was a screening of The Hours in Světozor Cinema. The film was commented by Michael Cunningham, author of the novel that preceded the film

Between 16th and 20th of October a traditional celebration of literature - International Prague Writers' Festival was held. 29th year of this one of a kind Festival, founded by New York born poet Michael March and his wife, journalist Vlasta March, offered readings of famous writers from across the globe, extraordinary conversations on current issues and unique film screenings. "Beauty saves the world", a quotation by French philosopher Simone Weil was the guiding idea of the Festival.

Most of the events took place in the Senate of The Parliament of the Czech Republic.

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cultural event

Astrid Meyers Rosset, widowed wife of Barney Rosset at the screening of Barney's Wall. Barney Rosset fought the censorship in the 60's by publishing forbidden writers such as W. Burroughs or S. Beckett

Sandy Meehan, American filmmaker and film lecturer showed her documentary "Barney's Wall" on famous publisher Barney Rosset at the Prague American Centre

James Gabbe, American author and filmmaker, presented his documentary on China and India - To The Mountaintops at the University of Economics

Canadian writer living in Paris Nancy Huston reading from her novel Fault Lines

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Michael March, president of PWF, talking to the Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek

The Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek gave an inspiring speech at the Opening Ceremony which took place in the Prague Mayor's Residence. In the picture he is holding an original copy of Beckett's play published by Barney Rosset that Astrid Meyers Rosset gave to the Festival

Czech ambassador in France Petr Drulák moderating the reading of Nancy Huston

Australian intellectual Germain Greer in the conversation "The horror of the world hides behind its beauty" which was part of the Friday Gala Evening

Junot Díaz, American writer of Dominican origin, had a reading on Saturday

During a brunch at Art and Event Gallery Černá labuť visitors of the festival could talk to Michael Cunningham and have his books signed. (interpreter Barbora Vrbová, Michael Cunningham)

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cultural event

One of the most respected philosophers of today François Jullien in the conversation "The horror of the world hides behind its beauty"

Influential Mexican reporter Alma Guillermoprieto reading from her early novel Dancing with Cuba

Arnon Grunberg, mischievous Dutch writer, had a reading and conversation on Saturday

Conversation "Beauty saves the world" (A. Grunberg, N. Huston, G. Greer )

Michael Cunningam at his book signing

Czech author David Zábranský had a reading on Sunday talking about the future of literature and the world

Germaine Greer reading from her book The Boy

Conversation "Dancing and drowning" on the revolutions in Latin America, migration and social media (Junot Díaz, moderator Maria Golia, Alma Guillermoproeto)

Germaine Greer

Czech author Jan Němec reading from his new novel Possibilites of a Love Story

Final reading of the Festival - Michael Cunningham talking to Michael March about his new novel Glory

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G ala

event

P hoto : J aromír Z ubák /ČNOPK

Panel discussion I From left: Petr Šimůnek, Moderator, Forbes, Vít Šimral, City Council Member, City of Prague, Prof. Dr. Ute Schmid, Head of the Cognitive Systems Group, University of Bamberg, and Prof. Michal Pěchouček, AI guru, ČVUT/Avast

Connect Visions to Solutions contest won by Czech startup, 4dot Mechatronic Systems Prague 25 October 2019 – Czech company 4dot Mechatronic Systems has won the Connect Visions to Solutions international startup contest. The panel chose it at the Winners’ Night in Prague’s Hauch Gallery from four finalists who presented their solutions in the artificial intelligence field. Almost 200 young companies from 30 different countries sent applications for the fourth year of this start-up contest organised by the Czech-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (Česko-německá průmyslová komora – ČNOPK). The finals were preceded by the AI Forum conference, at which experts from global companies, universities from Germany and the Czech Republic and Prague City Council presented their visions for the exploitation of artificial intelligence and specific business models.

Judith Gerlach, Bavarian Minister for Digital Affairs

Partner of the competition - Juan Bernabé Moreno, Global Head of Advanced Analytics, AI & Data Lab, E.on

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Jörg Mathew, President of the German-Czech Chamber of Industry and Commerce

Petr Šimůnek, Editor in Chief, Forbes Česko and Moderator

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Martin Podešva, 4dot Mechatronic Systems, start up competition winner at „Connect Visions to Solutions“ 2019

Martin Podešva, 4dot Mechatronic Systems, start up competition winner at „Connect Visions to Solutions“ 2019 at his speech

G ala

event

Jury and finalists of the start up competition „Connect Visions to Solutions“ 2019

From left: Jörg Mathew, President of the German-Czech Chamber of Industry and Commerce; Bernard Bauer, CEO, German-Czech Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and Judith Gerlach, Bavarian Minister for Digital Affairs

Partner of the competition - Milan Šlachta, Representative of Bosch Group in Czech Republic and Slovakia

Prof. Michal Pěchouček, AI guru, ČVUT/Avast

Partner of the competition - Jarmila Plachá, Head of ŠKODA AUTO DigiLab

Panel discussion II From left: Milan Šlachta, Representative of Bosch Group in Czech Republic and Slovakia, Eduard Palíšek, Country CEO, Siemens Czech Republic, Jarmila Plachá, Head of Škoda Auto DigiLab, and Juan Bernabé Moreno, Global Head of Advanced Analytics, AI and Data Lab, E.on

Partner of the competition - Milan Šlachta, Representative of Bosch Group in Czech Republic and Slovakia

Workshop - Martin Li, ŠKODA AUTO DigiLab

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Many authors claim that everything we do comes down to whether we have the talent to do so. Many others, such as Malcolm Gladwell in his book "Outliers", or Geoff Colvin in a publication "Talent is Overrated", state that if we dedicate ten-thousand hours to a certain task, we will achieve mastery. In our opinion, the truth is somewhere in the middle.

If one is to become a master in an activity, it depends on several aspects. The first is of course, talent, which is very closely linked to hard work. That leads us to the second crucial point, hard work: to which we can use talent in the right way. The third element is the time we are able to spend in flow; where we use our natural talent even in extreme conditions.

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EVERYBODY HAS A TALENT Talent is a part of the genetic code that we gain from previous generations. As each of us are equipped with genes, it means we all have predispositions to be successful in something. So, the right question is not about whether we have talent, but what we have it for.

Early signs of talent appear at an early age, when children intuitively show love for some activities. For example, if a child plays with a toy very often, it means that the activity gives him some energy. On the contrary,

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activities that do not interest the child, take energy and talent from them. Therefore, it is ideal to monitor the relationship of the child to the individual activities; therefore making it easier to determine which activities the child is pre-conditioned for.

Just as genes do not unlock themselves, although develop through environmental exposure, talent must be awakened in some way as well. In order to turn talent into a strength, we need to invest time and work on its development.

One of my talents (according to Gallup Strengths Finder) is communication. Thanks to my great-grandmother actively speaking to me as a toddler, I was able to rapidly develop good communication skills. As

a result, by the age of five, I was able to interpret adult jokes without a sense of shyness. Another of my talents is critical thinking, although I was not aware of that until I started working with Microsoft. These examples clearly portray how important the environment is in helping us discover and develop our talents.

TO BE IN THE FLOW An indispensable element is flow: a state in which we make the most of our natural talent even under extreme conditions. In other words, we do what we enjoy, and become completely absorbed by it. Well-known epigeneticist claims that children under six years spend ninety percent of their time in hypnosis (flow). In this state, they involve all senses; therefore learning quickly and easily.

The alpha and omega of the flow moment is the present moment; during which all doubts and track of time disappears.

Amygdala, the emotional part of the brain, keeps alerting us on where we can fail, which results in unnecessarily stress and restriction of our performance. During the flow, the amygdala calms down.

If we are in a state of complete focus (the here and now), we use our complete set of senses and have no doubt towards our success. According to expert studies, we are able to learn up to four hundred and fifty percent faster in this state. At the same time, human creativity increases by up to four hundred percent, and productivity by five hundred percent. The more talent we have, the more we train and the more we are in a state of flow, the faster we can master that activity.

HOW TO DEVELOP THOSE ELEMENTS? With children, it is necessary to observe what activities they choose and what they ultimately enjoy. At a later stage, through various testing, it is possible to discover what specific strengths children have. For example, in the ‘Unlock Children's Potential’ course, we use the strength test to further clarify individual talents.

Furthermore, it is important to allow children to develop their talents as much as possible, through frequent encouragement.

This ultimately means letting them spend time with other children who have similar talents or hobbies, whilst providing positive reinforcement. Generally speaking, if

a person has a very strong emotional bond to an activity, they get into a state of flow easier.

As a team member of tennis player; Jiří Leheček, I had the opportunity to attend the US Open, where I was able to witness the training of Rafael Nadal, whom I later met briefly. Ninety percent of Rafael´s activity is in the state of flow, even during a generalised warm-up, which is potentially why he achieved mastery much faster than others.

THE OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE It is not just about the grades or cup awards from sporting competitions, optimal performance is only possible if we are personally successful and content at the same time throughout the entire process. There is a big difference between motivation, i.e. medals, results and grades, and inspiration, which represents a deep emotional attachment to the activity and enables good results in the long term.

To be successful and content in the long term, it is necessary, not only to get into the flow, but also to maintain that state.

This ultimately requires sufficient mental resistance with which we can work through four basic tools.

The first is our body, which we must work with in order to produce the right hormones to support our self-confidence.

The second is breath control, more specifically, deep breathing, which has the ability to bring us back to the present moment and calm the amygdala. There are several breathing exercises, we teach at our courses and seminars, which can assist in strengthening mental resistance.

The third is thinking. It should always be remembered that one does not lose, until one surrenders to that thought. If we are not doing well, we need to keep our heads in the game and try to make the most of the experience, later using that experience as feedback, to improve future engagements.

The fourth is the correct habits and rituals. One of the extraordinary qualities of the brain is neuroplasticity; the ability of brain synapses to modify in response to extrinsic/intrinsic perceptions, the performance experience and also varied thought patterns. Repetition of a particular task strengthens these nerve connections, formulating the ideal structure for that task. Conversely, if we do not reflect on past engagements, or have a pessimistic mind-set towards the experience, the connection between these neurons will begin to deteriorate, until eventually it disappears completely.

EVERY CHILD IS A GENIUSDISCOVER THEIR HIDDEN TALENTS Do you want to help your children to discover their talents and prepare them for future life? As part of the ‘Unlock Children's/ Student's potential’, with access to the latest psychological knowledge, parents can learn how to effectively lead children in the right direction, so that they can not only be successful, but also live happy and content lives. The recent bestseller: ‘Unlock Children's Potential’ (Albatros, 2018) book, written by Jan Mühlfeit and Kateřina Novotná, is also constructed around successful courses for children, students, and parents. Due to the high interest in these workshops, an online course for parents, teachers or trainers, who are actively working with children (www.odemykanidetskehopotencialu.cz) is now available.

By Jan Mühlfeit, Global Strategist, Coach and Mentor, former Microsoft Chairman for Europe české znění naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.czechleaders.com

Bestseller Unlock Children’s Potential is being now prepared also in an English version

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International Energy Club 2019:

Experts debate current energy and climate issues in Ostrava Participants in the prestigious IEC conference discuss the domestic energy and climate plan, the security of energy supplies and the possible threat of energy poverty Joint toast of conference organisers and patrons – from left: Michal Dolana, Managing Partner, DDeM, s.r.o., Jan Světlík, CEO and President of the Advisory Board, CYLINDERS HOLDING a.s., Alena Vitásková, Chairwoman, A Vitásková Institute, Evžen Tošenovský, Member of the European Parliament and member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, Martin Herrmann, COO Retail, innogy SE

Welcoming of guests and opening remarks by Ivo Vondrák, Governor of the Moravian-Silesian Region and Deputy at the Parliament of the Czech Republic

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Representatives of the largest energy companies met in Ostrava alongside leading government administration representatives for the 10th annual International Energy Club (IEC) session. They held in-depth discussions on issues related to the current state of the local and European energy sectors, including the planned domestic energy and climate plan.

The session was opened by Evžen Tošenovský, MEP and member of the European Parliament Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE).

René Neděla, Deputy Minister for Energy at the Ministry of Industry and Trade spoke about preparations for the domestic energy and climate plan. In this regard, he noted the European Commission’s recommendation to increase the share of renewables in the energy mix from 21 to 23 percent. He calculated it would cost three billion crowns to meet all the energy and climate protection goals by 2030. Aleš Tomec, Chairman of the Board of Directors at OTE then spoke about possible options for the Czech energy sector’s further development, and their impacts. One of his conclusions was that any complete withdrawal from nuclear energy would cause a highly marked increase in costs, import dependency and complications in securing a reliable electricity supply.

Martin Herrmann, Member of the Board at innogy SE, gave information on the details of the division of the innogy energy group in the Czech Republic. He stressed that this fact would not mean any changes in the reliability and security of energy supplies for its customers. Dávid Hajmán, Strategy Director at ČEZ, described the anticipated development of the European energy industry in the context of the climate policies of the EU and individual states. Martin Záklasník, CEO of the E.ON Group in the Czech Republic, talked about the demand for energy efficient solutions amongst corporate and municipal customers, and assessed the potential of specific measures for ensuring long-term accessible, secure and sustainable energy in the Czech Republic.

View of hall

From left: Dávid Hajmán, Strategy Director, ČEZ, a.s., Tomáš Hüner, Smart Infrastructure Director, Siemens, s.r.o., Martin Záklasník, CEO of E.ON Group in the Czech Republic

From left: Alena Vitásková, Chairwoman, A Vitásková Institute, Mirek Topolánek, Member of the Board, eustream, a.s., Jiří Brož, CEO, VÍTKOVICE CYLINDERS a.s.

From left: Aleš Tomec, Chairman of the Board, OTE, a.s., Richard Vidlička, Project Committee Chair and Board of Directors member, E.DSO European Distribution System Operators

From left: Zuzana Šolcová, Executive Director, Association of Energy Managers, Zuzana Dvořáková, OTE, a.s., Pavel Zámyslický, Director of Energy and Climate Protection Department, Ministry of the Environment

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I nternational E nergy C lub 2019

Jakub Unucka, Deputy Governor of the Moravian-Silesian Region

From left: Petr Kusý, Board Member, Energy Regulatory Office, Rostislav Krejcar, Board Member, Energy Regulatory Office From left: Jan Valenta, CEO, Executive Chairman at GasNet, s.r.o., Tomáš Varcop, Executive Chairman, innogy Energie, s.r.o., Martin Herrmann, COO Retail, innogy SE

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From left: Leona Schovancová, Head of Customer Service and Sales, Inertia Energy (CZ) s.r.o., Jan Ruml, Consultant, Czech Gas Association, Zdeněk Kaplan, CEO, Executive Chairman, innogy Energo, s.r.o.

Martin Záklasník, CEO of E.ON Group in the Czech Republic

I nternational E nergy C lub 2019

Luboš Pavlas, Group CEO, Sev.en Energy

From left: Pavel Drobil, Chairman of the Board, ANACOT CAPITAL a.s., Petr Kusý, Board Member, Energy Regulatory Office

Martin Hájek, Director, Association for District Heating, Jiří Feist, Member of the Board, EP POWER EUROPE

Dávid Hajmán, Strategy Director, ČEZ, a.s.

Voting at the end of the conference on the occasion of the 10th annual IEC session, during which Martin Herrmann was elected Honorary President of the International Energy Club

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G reek F ilm D ays

2 Edition nd

From left: Mr. Thorsten Kalinowski, Eva Anderová, Vice President for PR, UNYP, President, Franz Kafka Centre, and Honorary Consul of Zambia, Benke Aikell, your Publisher, and H.E. Efthymios Efthymiades, Ambassador of Greece

of "Greek Film Days" in Prague The Embassy of Greece in the Czech Republic organized the 2nd edition of "Greek Film Days in Prague" from 31 October until 2 November 2019.

Along with the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, as its creative partner, and with the generous support and sponsorship of Glebus Alloys, the Embassy of Greece proudly presented two movies and two documentaries, screened for the first time in the Czech Republic, that brought the best of contemporary Greek cinema to the Czech audience.

Furthermore, two of the films' directors contributed presentations regarding their work: Nikos Labôt, director of "Her Job", presented the Masterclass "Seeking Realism" in FAMU International, and Kostas Follas, director of "A Tree Remembers" participated in a Q&A session after the screening of the film. The Greek documentary "A Tree Remembers" presents the tragic story of Lidice, the Czech village that was eradicated by the Nazis in retaliation for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich.

Miguel Angel Vilchis Salgado, Minister, Political and Economic Affairs, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Mexico

"Agora Greek Bistro and Food Market" graciously catered the opening reception of the 2nd edition of the Greek Film Days in Prague.

From left: Eulogia Cotelo, Marketing Coordinator, Glebus Alloys, Alexis Valais, Agora Greek Bistro and Food Market, Kyriakos Diakoglou, Agora Greek Bistro and Food Market, and Thanassis Tassoulas, Agora Greek Bistro and Food Market

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From left: Meshulam Zisso, TV Producer and Photographer, Eva Anderová, Vice President for PR, UNYP, President, Franz Kafka Centre, and Honorary Consul of Zambia, and Václav Pavlas, Prague Municipality

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From left: Dagmar Boušková, Interpreter, Alexandr Onishenko, Artist, Galerie Jakubska, and Zuzana Weisgärberová, Hilton Hotel

G reek F ilm D ays

From left: Barbara Pella Smallegange, Studio Senf, Rene Beauchamp, Consultant Hotelier, and Wiegert Smallegange, Voerman Czech

From left: H.E. Antonios Theocharous, Ambassador of Cyprus, Elissavet Karali, Consul, Embassy of Greece, Kostas Tsivos, Assistant Professor, Institute of Greek and Latin Studies, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, and Eva Anderová, Vice President for PR, UNYP, President, Franz Kafka Centre, and Honorary Consul of Zambia

From left: Vít Kořínek, International Exchange Students Coordinator, FAMU International, Dimitris Polyzos, Lecturer, FAMU International, Maria Alerta, Counsellor, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Greece, and Nikos Labôt, Director of the film "Her Job", with students of FAMU International

Mr. Nikos Labôt, Director of the film "Her Job" and Maria Alerta, Counsellor, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Greece

From left: H.E. Antonios Theocharous, Ambassador of Cyprus, Georgios Kotopoulos, Embassy of Greece, with his wife, Mrs. Lina Prasini, and Ms. Kiki Kirezi

From left: H.E. Mr. Efthymios Efthymiades, Ambassador of Greece, Veronika Kellerova, Mayor of Lidice, and Dimitris Vlachopanos, Writer

From left: Thanassis Avukatos, Uninox, Ivana Avukatu, Interpreter / Translator, and Pavlos Olziersky, Counsellor, Economic and Commercial Affairs, Embassy of Greece

Martha Elefteriadu, Singer and H.E. Efthymios Efthymiades, Ambassador of Greece

Panagiotis Drossos, Owner, Greek Corner and Dagmar Boušková, Interpreter. The Greek Delicatessen "Greek Corner" graciously offered its premises for a glass of wine event after the screening of "A Tree Remembers"

From left: H.E. Efthymios Efthymiades, Ambassador of Greece, H.E. Ilirian Kuka, Ambassador of Albania, with his wife, Nevila Kuka, President of the Diplomatic Spouses Association Prague, and Mr. Thorsten Kalinowski

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ABOUT ALENA HUBEROVA Fifteen years in the corporate arena with roles in marketing, sales and communication, living in 5 different countries across Europe and Asia. Today Alena works with individual and corporate clients on developing their communication, public speaking and influencing skills. Since 2017, she has focused on working with female executives.

SHELeads is her signature online training program designed to help women shine with their uniqueness, powerfully influence people and become inspiring leaders who never lose sight of who they are, Powerful & Feminine.

Alena’s achievements include speaking at the TEDx UNYP 2017 conference, winning the second place in the 2018 Czech National Championship of Public Speaking, and coaching X.GLU, a team from the Czech Technical University to win the world title at the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2017 in Seattle, USA (in collaboration with Presenation.com).

Alena is regularly asked to speak at industry events and conferences.

She is a contributor to various magazines and newspapers. You can read her articles and follow her blog at:

P hoto : A rchive

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www.alenahuberova.com

Do you know what is a sure-fire sign you’re getting old? That you become highly politically incorrect. Think your grandpa for instance, and the startling statements coming out of his mouth sometimes. He probably no longer cares so much about what people think of him, nor has a burning desire to impress others and showcase his virtues. Are you also getting old?

I have a feeling I am…

A month ago I went to a social event. It was one of these ‘smart’ events with ‘smart’ looking people. I arrived to the venue, got myself a drink and chose a strategic corner from which to observe the happenings.

I was impressed! Even from my remote corner I could hear flashy sounding job titles and jaw-dropping stories of achievements. And then… “Hello”, I notice someone tapping on my shoulder. I turn around and there’s a lovely looking couple in their forties. We exchanged a few pleasantries and The Question popped up immediately: “So Alena, what do you do?”

Uhmmm, I thought to myself, don’t get me started! I felt it coming… I could taste it in my mouth… My perfectly crafted pitch!

I was ready to play the game and play it big with something extraordinary to leave them in awe. But then (I don’t know how that happened!), I swallowed it and something else came out instead: “Me? I have fun! Loving my life here in Prague!”. You could tell from the look at their faces, they didn’t expect such a response and they weren’t quite sure how to take the conversation further. There was an awkward silence…

Don’t we just love impressing each other?

This little episode made me think. Don’t we just love impressing each other? Is that somethings inherent to the human nature?

Is that a learnt skill? Does the dopamine flood our system, making us feel so good that we have to do it time and time again?

I don’t know but it most certainly proves to be very useful…

I remember when I left the corporate world and started my own business, I attended all kinds of educational courses to help me develop an entrepreneurial mindset and acquire essential skills to get my business off the ground.

One of the first things I learnt was to impress potential customers without having anything to impress them with. How? Easy! ‘Fake it till you make it’, very useful skill indeed.

I remember waking up in the mornings

covered in cold sweat thinking how on earth am I going to make ends meet at the end of the month. But I would swallow my fears, put on my best gear, give myself a confidence boost with a couple of power poses and off I went to impress potential customers and convince them that doing business with me was crucial for their success!

The next invaluable thing I learnt was to showcase my brilliance in a very clever way, without making it plain obvious. I learnt the art of bragging without bragging. What a gem! All you need to do is drop very subtle (but powerful) phrases or comments in the conversation. “Ah, I am so sorry I am late! The traffic was so bad on getting out of the TV Nova station! If you were actually interviewed by the TV station or you just had a coffee with a friend who works there, doesn’t really matter! It works, they will be impressed!

Or Social Media! It is a heaven for the art of bragging without bragging. You put on your best clothes, borrow a Rolex watch from a friend, take pictures of yourself at the best restaurant in town and post them to your Instagram stories. Do not worry. You don’t need to order a meal and spend your entire monthly wage in the process, just get a coffee! The results are well worth it! Or, say you want to show what a wonderful parent you are! Just get your partner and the kids to pose at some magnificently looking location, with their best smiles on. The fact that your partner has been cheating on you for years doesn’t matter. No one will know and they will be impressed…

When you think about it, we jump at the opportunity to impress each other at every occasion, online or face-to-face.

I think we all do it to varying degrees, in our own clever unique ways and truth be told, it yields certain results. As someone who is selfemployed, I see the benefits of doing this in business especially when you’re starting out and have no proven track record. But, didn’t we take this game of ‘look how amazing I am’ too far? Both on the emitting and receiving sides of the game? Or you never caught yourself staring at someone’s Instagram account, thinking you could do with some of their magnificent looks and lavish life style?

There are two sides to every coin Ying & young, day & night, light & dark, good & bad. We live in a world of polarity. Success does not exist without failure. Creation does not exist without destruction. Perfection does not exist without flaws. The same applies to each and every one of us. We too have two sides to us. The bright and shiny

side with our achievements and successes, our strengths and virtues. And the dark side with our demons, our flaws, failures and frustrations, with our little dark secrets. Both sides are essential parts of who we are. Yet, it seems to me we walk around in life with a mask on, showcasing the perfect version of ourselves. And we spend a tremendous amount of energy and effort on covering up our shortcomings and everything else that could hurt the perception others have of us.

Does it really have to be that way? Where is our authenticity?

Let’s celebrate our flaws and failures I am all for showcasing and celebrating our successes, oh yes! But what if we also celebrate our flaws, failures and fuckups?

And acknowledge our demons? What if we drop the mask and start showing more of who we really are under all that armor?

What if we let go of our politeness and be honest about how we really feel and what we really think? How would that be? I believe a tremendous amount of weight would get off our shoulders. We could finally let our guard down and who knows? Perhaps we could feel just a little more free and happier…

Going back to my story and the clumsy start of my conversation with the lovely looking couple. Needless to say, I managed to squeeze my perfect pitch into our exchange (oh well, I am not perfect) but then the conversation shifted and we ended up talking about what we hated in each other’s cultures, laughing about our peculiar habits, sharing stories of of our relationship failures etc. Our interaction has moved to a whole new level. We opened up, it felt real and genuine. And I think I left the event with two new friends...

So, speaking for myself, I think it’s worth it to be more politically incorrect. And, we don’t need to wait to get old to try it…

My best wishes!

Alena

By Alena Huberova Leadership Trainer / Keynote Speaker Helping Women Become Inspiring Leaders, Powerful & Feminine www.alenahuberova.com alena@alenahuberova.com české znění naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.czechleaders.com

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I nterview

with

R ostislav J irkal

I see many potential synergies for Czech and Israeli SMEs

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I nterview How did your professional connection with Israel start?

Rostislav Jirkal, CEO of STATUTORY, wishes to enlarge mutual cooperation in the segment of SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) using possible synergies of combining Israeli start-up approach with the Czech traditional one.

P hoto : A rchive

I visited Israel for the first time in 2016 as a tourist on a family trip. I still remember how impressed I was by the country and its achievements over just 70 years of the existence of the State of Israel. Again, there’s no coincidence but synchronicity, six months later I started to manage a joint Czech-Israeli project in the sphere of cybersecurity, which brought me to Israel several times, including the visit to the famous Cybertech Tel Aviv conference.

There were 100+ start-ups, I could see examples of the cooperation between big corporations and small active players, supported by universities, providing the latest research. I realized that the government was setting up the conditions and not interfering (what a difference in comparison to my home country). And, last, but not least, the role of the Army, not only in defense but also in applied research. All of that made me understand, appreciate and become a supporter of the whole Israeli start-up ecosystem.

Your specialization brought you to see the newest Israeli facilities, such as Intel company in Kirjat Gat or PricewaterhouseCoopers Cyber Security Experience Centre in Beer Sheva. What elements from the startup nation can be transferred to the Czech environment?

It was quite a unique experience to see the Kirjat Gat company with its truly automated Intel chip production line. Likewise, PwC Cyber Security Experience Centre supports the global PwC network with top-class knowledge regarding Industrial Control Systems (ICS) & Operations Technology Security. This team is working together with country or regional PwC offices and truly delivering their unique know-how to customers around the globe.

As I mentioned earlier, the Israeli ecosystem has been built for many decades and in many aspects, it is truly unique. Being an entrepreneur and businessman, I have started to look for possible synergies of combining the Israeli start-up approach with the Czech industrial tradition, experience and the tendency to complete and improve, rather than jump start from scratch.

I see great synergy opportunities there.

Many Czech companies have successfully managed to establish themselves not only in the Czech markets but also Central and

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R ostislav J irkal

East European ones, however their further growth is limited. For Israeli companies, this might be a great opportunity for entering the whole EU market offering new solutions, but at no risk. The second trend concerns generational changes.

I have been an entrepreneur since the Velvet Revolution and after 30 years, I belong to the founders’ generation. I sold my company three years ago and I see many of my colleagues looking for suitable investors as successors when family handover is not an option. And there is another important value, the Czechs have been known for their manual dexterity, nicknamed as “the Czech golden hands”.

What would you recommend to someone interested in exploring the possibilities of joint cooperation?

Find an experienced advisor. It is true that Czechs and Israelis are very friendly but the mentality, especially business mentality, is different. Czechs tend to underestimate themselves, they do not know how to pitch themselves, usually not have well structured “one-pagers” and fast thinking and acting Israelis with yalla approach might be confused as to the intent of the cooperation. On the other hand, Israelis are great in self-confidence and promotion, but when it comes to the follow-up and follow-through, the Czech persistence, planning and long-term orientation might be very useful.

What is the value you personally would like to add to existing CzechIsraeli business relations?

Thanks to several business visits, fantastic support from both Business Chambers, both embassies and many Israeli friends, I have become familiar with the Israeli technology scene. I have been active in Czech and Central Europe for three decades, and I am quick to identify candidates for potential collaboration.

Existing business platforms, formed by traditional government and business chambers organizations, usually require the personal participation of company representatives on events, conferences and foreign missions. My goal is to serve those, who cannot dedicate staff to these activities, and generate for them relevant direct contacts. This concept has already been proven by several successful partnerships I have managed to secure.

By Linda Štucbartová české znění naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.czechleaders.com

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P hotos :

An architectural feud that inspired the creation of the most remarkable Baroque sights in Rome

One of the things Rome is known for is its magnificent architecture. On every corner, wherever you look, you’re greeted with an incredible fountain, statue, building or church. Yet few today realise that the greatest examples of Baroque art in Rome in fact came about through the passion, jealousy, hatred and petty ego displayed between two Italian architects, Bernini and Borromini.

The two were as different as they come. Bernini was charming, well-spoken, well-mannered, from a wealthy family and always impressed by witty banter, even in the presence of the social elite. In contrast, Borromini possessed absolutely none of Bernini’s charm. Borromini was brash, had a lack of self-control, angered easily and showed his emotions. Yet he was an incredibly talented architect who

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Bernini

author ’ s archive

Borromini

Piazza Navona, Church of Borromini and the fountain of Bernini

suffered from what we today call depression.

Bernini and Borromini clashed professionally for many years. They reluctantly worked together on Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, where Borromini began to feel overshadowed by Bernini. It wasn’t so much the difference in their personalities which gave rise to the creative feud over Piazza Navona, but rather something less comprehendible. “I don’t mind that I don’t have the money,” said Borromini, “but I do mind that he does not honour my work.”

Their dispute was taken to an entirely new level in 1644 when Cardinal Giovanni Battista Pamphili was elected Pope Innocent X. Innocent decided to transform a lacklustre space in the centre of Rome into a grand plaza worthy of him and his prestigious family. When his vision for the Piazza Navona came to fruition, Innocent decided it needed a focal point: a central fountain incorporating a large Egyptian obelisk.

Innocent was a great fan of Borromini’s inno-

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vative work, so he was quick to choose him as the architect to extend the Acqua Vergine aqueduct for his fountain. Borromini also suggested that the fountain should have four specific sides, representing the world’s four great rivers: the Nile, the Danube, the Ganges and the Plata. Satisfied with this proposal, Innocent asked Borromini and a handful of other architects to submit their designs for his new fountain.

In the end, and to the surprise of all of Rome, however, Innocent chose Bernini to design his fountain, and Borromini to design the Church of Sant’Agnese in Agone, which was to stand right opposite the fountain. Borromini was outraged that his ideas had been given to his rival, so he allegedly decided to make subtle changes to the church in order to get revenge for Bernini’s fountain.

It is said that Bernini designed the figure Rio de la Plata with one raised hand to protect himself from the forthcoming fall of the church built

Detail of a statue with a raised hand by Bernini in front of the church by Borromini

by Borromini. There is another myth that the Nile statue is hiding under a veil not because the river’s source was not yet known, but rather because he didn’t want to gaze upon the bizarre design of Borromini’s church.

Borromini is said to have claimed that in the feud with his rival, he added a small statue of Saint Agnes to the base of the church’s bell tower. This statue stands with her hand over her heart, allegedly worried that Bernini’s fountain will soon collapse because it was built without soul and cannot hold the weight of the great obelisk.

No proof has ever been found that these two architects did in fact make these subtle design changes to spite each other. But one thing that is very clear is that this life-long feud gave Bernini and Borromini the fire they needed to complete most of their absolutely best work.

The crowning glory of Borromini’s architectural skill was his final building, the church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (1638 - 1667). This work aroused unusual enthusiasm and admiration from experts and the lay public alike, and its renown spread well beyond Italy’s borders, likely influencing Europe’s Baroque architecture at that time. Borromini impressed all the builders there with his revolutionary solutions to problems. He had to be constantly present to guide their hands so they could grasp

San Carlo alle quattro fontane

his plan. It was far removed from the proven rules of construction in that he created shapes which appeared to disobey the rules of gravitation, purely through his absolute mastery of construction techniques. He worked in close accordance to geometric patterns. The church’s design was highly intricate and based on two triangles positioned together. Two circles are drawn within, together creating a perfect oval.

Its façade, completed after Borromini’s death, corresponds precisely to the wave of movement generated by the spatially complex interior. Bernini himself said he had never seen anything so incredible before. The church interior is plain and entirely white, without the richly gilded ornamentation commonly used in Baroque sacral architecture at the time.

Bernini’s Sant'Andrea al Quirinale church was his response to Borromini’s great work. This church is also relatively small. Its construction took 12 years (1658-70) and it was also built late in his career.

This oval building with chapels set into the external walls relies on the precise design rules created

by Michelangelo. Bernini’s mastery is in his use of optical effect, with dark marble illuminated using cleverly designed side roof ports, lending an additional dimension to this small construction.

In 1660, Borromini began to lose spirit. The fame and success of his rival Bernini was get-

ting to him more and more. Work on his next project, Sant'Andrea delle Fratte, had come to a halt and his façade of St Philip Neri had been disfigured by lateral extensions. He travelled to Lombardy, but he began to suffer from melancholy upon returning to Rome, not leaving his home for whole weeks at a time. As his condition deteriorated, he burnt all his drawings, became sick and began suffering from hypochondriacal hallucinations. The decision was then made to force him to abstain from all activity so he could sleep. During one hot summer night, unable to work or relax, he got up and caused severe injury to himself with a sword. After inflicting this lethal injury, he repented, received the last rites and wrote his will.

On his request, he was buried anonymously in the tomb of his teacher and friend, Maderno.

Borromini’s architecture, almost forgotten during the course of the 19th century, was recognised as a work of genius in the 20th century, and both architects are today considered the absolute masters of High Baroque.

Author: Ing. Arch. Iva Drebitko české znění naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.czechleaders.com

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diplomatic event

Mango the Magnificent

P hoto : J itka T omečková

Mango & Food Festival and Cultural Evening

Host for the evening: H.E. Ambassador of Pakistan Dr. Israr Hussain and Mrs. Dr. Rubina Israr Mango, King of Fruits, is known in the world for its excellent flavour, attractive fragrance, beautiful shades of colour, delicious taste, and nutritious value.

It adorns the cuisine as raw fruit, salad, pickles, ice cream, juice and with yogurt as mango lassi.

Pakistan is the 4th largest producer of mango in the world. More than 200 varieties are grown in Pakistan.

The most famous varieties include Chaunsa, Sindhri, Langra, Dusehri, Gulab, Khas and others.

From left: Mr. Farzad Keshvargar, Mrs. Dr. Rubina Israr, Spouse of the Ambassador of Pakistan, H.E. Dr. Israr Hussain, Ambassador of Pakistan, and H.E. Sundus Albayraqdar, Ambassador of Iraq

From left: H.E. Rashed Faleh Alhajri, Ambassador of Kuwait, H.E. Leonora Rueda, Ambassador of Mexico, and Ivo Krýsa, Deputy Director, Public Health Authority of the City of Prague

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CZECH&SLOVAK LEADERS III/2019

Mrs. Dr. Rubina Israr, Spouse of the Ambassador of Pakistan, H.E. Dr. Israr Hussain, Ambassador of Pakistan

diplomatic event

From left: Mrs. Dr. Rubina Israr, Spouse of the Ambassador of Pakistan, H.E. Dr. Israr Hussain, Ambassador of Pakistan, H.E. Leonora Rueda, Ambassador of Mexico, and Ivo Krýsa, Deputy Director, Public Health Authority of the City of Prague

H.E. Said Mohamed Elsaid Hindam, Ambassador of Egypt

From left: Mrs. Francesca Perego, Mrs. Dr. Rubina Israr, Spouse of the Ambassador of Pakistan, H.E. Dr. Israr Hussain, Ambassador of Pakistan, and Federico Bernardi, First Deputy, Embassy of Italy

From left: Aida Ben Jemia, Spouse of the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates, Mrs. Dr. Rubina Israr, Spouse of the Ambassador of Pakistan, H.E. Dr. Israr Hussain, Ambassador of Pakistan, and H. E. Abdulla Mohammed Al – Maainah, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates

From left: Mrs. Dr. Rubina Israr, Spouse of the Ambassador of Pakistan, H.E. Dr. Israr Hussain, Ambassador of Pakistan, and H.E. Arber Vllahiu, Ambassador of Kosovo

From left: Mrs. Dr. Rubina Israr, Spouse of the Ambassador of Pakistan, H.E. Dr. Israr Hussain, Ambassador of Pakistan, and H. E. Kaoru Shimazaki, Ambassador of Japan

From left: Mrs. Dr. Rubina Israr, Spouse of the Ambassador of Pakistan, H.E. Dr. Israr Hussain, Ambassador of Pakistan, and H.E. Zhang Jianmin, Ambassador of the People´s Republic of China

From left: Ivo Krýsa, Deputy Director, Public Health Authority of the City of Prague, H. E. Leonora Rueda, Ambassador of Mexico, H.E. Saiíd Hindam, Ambassador of Egypt, and H. E. Abdulla Mohammed Al – Maainah, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates with his spouse, Mrs. Aida Ben Jemia

From left: Felix Slováček, Musician, Mrs. Dr. Rubina Israr, Spouse of the Ambassador of Pakistan, H.E. Dr. Israr Hussain, Ambassador of Pakistan, and Lucie Gelemová, Spouse of Mr. Slováček

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I nterview

with

Z uzana P alovic , F ounder

of

G lobal S lovakia

THE GREAT RETURN Photo: Zuzana Palovic´ archive

Can you introduce your initiative Global Slovakia?

I am the founder of Global Slovakia (www.globalslovakia.com). We are not-for-profit organization that aims to ‘share Slovakia with the world’.

What does that mean? It means we want to codify, celebrate and transmit Slovak heritage and culture to foreign communities. At this stage we are doing it primarily through our books, and of course our workshops.

This year we have already travelled quite a bit, we have just returned from a series of presentations in Romania. There was once a very large Slovak community (dating back to the reign of Empress Maria Theresa), and this community is still active today. Since 2018 we have begun to tour the world with our books and have held presentations, from Washington DC to Moscow, from New York City to London, as well as in Bratislava and Prague.

Our first book, ‘Slovakia: The Legend of the Linden’ (www.legendofthelinden.com) co-authored with Dr Gabriela Bereghazyova, is what we refer to as Slovakia’s first national narrative.

It’s a complication of 200+ pages of evocative text, illustrations and photography that emotionally tells Slovakia’s journey through history.

From 500 years before Christ to present day, ‘The Legend of the Linden’ is a tale told through symbolism, that of the Linden tree (Lipa) and its heart-shaped leaf, which we refer to as the ‘code’ of our region.

Indeed, the Lipa code is something that unites Czechia and Slovakia. It is a cultural totem that dates back to Great Moravia, to a time when the ancient Slavs revered divinity in nature. The Lipa was embodied by the Goddess Lada, one of the most important deities of the Slavic pantheon of gods. And it is to this day, that the Linden is still referred to as the sacred tree of the Slavs.

In more modern history, the Lipa code was resurrected some 1,000 years later, by President Masaryk with the first establishment of Czechoslovakia. Papa Masaryk was a very clever man, who understood that the newly erected country needed to legitimate itself. And how do countries achieve that? Through economic prowess, but also through mythology and symbolism.

That is how the Lipa entered our national consciousness. Today, it is in Slovak passports and Obcianske Preukazy, but also on our state institutions, ministries, universities, national monuments and the list goes on.

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I nterview

The second book, ‘The Great Return’ is very different, but also complementary with our first. It offers readers a fresh perspective on Slovakia in the 21st century and looks at how our country is transforming, thanks to Slovakia’s lost daughters and sons coming home.

This is very significant since Slovakia suffers, and has historically suffered, from brain drain.

For example, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Slovaks were the second largest emigrating nation, after Ireland. Today, 10% of our active labor force resides abroad, and we have the largest student diaspora (per capita)

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Z uzana P alovic , F ounder

in the European Union. Many of these students study in the Czech Republic of course.

I wanted to create a project that flips the common narrative. Instead of focusing on braindrain, I decided to explore brain-gain. From time travelers to cultural shifters, ‘The Great Return’ documents what happens when Slovakia’s young human capital: leaves, learns and returns to shift the culture of the country for better. The 300-page publication pairs cutting edge research with personal interviews, and 58 portrait photographs that bring the journey of personal but also national transformation to life.

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The featured respondents include young people from various industries and sectors, including start-ups, science, art and civil society.

The stories of the young returnees are overlayed with more mature perspectives, from business, society and government. Some big names, like the CEO of the ESET or the Minister of Foreign Affairs add their commentary on the phenomenon. As did Slovak national treasure and internationally acclaimed filmmaker Juraj Jakubisko, who said “home is where your bed is, or symbolically speaking, it is the soil you were born into”.

Last autumn, I had the great pleasure and privilege to travel with our former President, as part of the Slovak Delegation, to the United States. On the eve of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Czechoslovakia, I presented ‘The Great Return’ before President Kiska and an esteemed audience in Chicago. This was an important moment in my career and deeply significant for me personally, because it was in honor of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk.

A man I refer to as my intellectual patron, and a man who helped carve a new country into the heart of Europe, also thanks to Chicago’s large Czech and Slovak community, that funded and supported him.

Your personal journey is quite remarkable. You were born in Czechoslovakia and then your family fled to Canada when you were very young. Do you have any memories and impressions (perhaps thanks to your parents) about the life behind the Iron Curtain?

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I nterview

with

Z uzana P alovic , F ounder

I was five years old when my parents illegally crossed the Iron Curtain in the hopes of finding a better life in the free West. Before we were able to emigrate to Canada, we spent about 9 months living in and out of the various refugee camps in Vienna. Although I was very young, I remember this period very vividly. All of a sudden, my life was flipped upside down.

My family and I went through a period of great instability and this deep dive into the unknown continued when we moved across the Ocean. For example, during our time in Austria, I began to attend school, learn German and assimilate into a new culture. When we moved yet again, my little self had a hard time adapting to yet another society and language – this time English, which is why I stopped speaking for months altogether.

As per my impressions of life in communist Czechoslovakia, well, like most children I only have positive things to say of my early childhood. I remember being surrounded by lots of family and loved ones; aunts, uncles, cousins but also grandparents and great grandparents. We lost this social network when we crossed the ocean into the New World.

But, I do remember one very radical difference, the teachers and care takers in my kindergarten (in Austria) and primary school (in Cana-

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da) were a lot kinder. They spoke to us gently and at least in Canada, they encouraged me to express myself. This was very different from my daycare experience in Bratislava. I remember all the children, including myself, being scared of the caretakers. They were viewed as persons of authority and there was this huge power gap between us and them. We were just children – and expected to follow the orders the adults gave us.

Having experience living in 9 countries and across 4 continents you decided to return and empower your country. Many people who return after living abroad for a long time claim that you must be prepared not only for living in a new culture, but also for return to your homeland if you were abroad for more than a couple years in a row. What were your expectations and what was the reality?

I may be young, but I have led a very exciting life, which includes living, studying and working in now -10 countries across 4 continents, including South Korea and Argentina. I most recently lived in the Czech Republic, more specifically in Prague, and found the experience incredibly rewarding. It gave me many more insights into the Czech experience and

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mindset, and also made me nostalgic for Czechoslovakia.

My far-reaching and perhaps excessive travels are a reflection of a freedom once denied to my parents. I believe we are witnesses to a remarkable junction in history, my generation is the first generation that has the freedom to move. My own parents grew up behind the Iron Curtain, as did my grandparents, and their parents. The end of the Cold War, brought about a radical change in terms of access to new freedoms, and our accession into the European Union 15 years later only opened the access further.

I travel because I can – and my parents couldn’t. I travel because I want to discover the world, because through discovering the ‘other’ I actually learn about my ‘self’. It was my international exposure that catalyzed my hunger to re-connect with my Slovak roots.

This discovery has spilled over into my professional life, it is why I founded Global Slovakia (www.globalslovakia.com) and it is a knowledge we directly refer to in our books.

Of course, return is far from easy, and I talk a lot about the obstacles one might encounter, in my second book (www.thegreatreturn.eu).

If I were to compare the ‘departure and return’ cycle I would say that ‘return’ is much more difficult. When we are abroad, we are in the learning and adapting phase; living in another culture is exciting, and being accepted by another culture is rewarding. But, return home means the ‘integration’ of the knowledge.

There comes a time, when we must decide where we want to lay our roots down and with whom we want to share our knowledge, skills and energy. I chose to come back to Slovakia, because I feel inspired to give back, I also see a lot of gaps. But, integrating what I learned ‘out there’ with the reality back home is complex and difficult. Ideas cannot be simply copied and pasted, nor should they.

Lastly, and I argue this point in the book, return is not mandatory. I believe that you can also help your country from abroad, sometimes maybe even more effectively. Because what Slovakia is lacking, and this is also due to its experience of 41 years behind the Iron Curtain, are global perspectives. Slovaks that live abroad are part of the global networks that Slovakia needs to scale-up, also economically speaking.

I nterview

At the beginning of the 21st century, many people decided to move from the East to the West. You published the book “The Great Return” that maps the fate of nearly five dozens Slovaks who left, got experience abroad and then returned back to Slovakia. Is there any common theme to all stories?

Since the turn of the century, over 100 million Eastern Europeans have gained ‘freedom of movement’, and many youth have taken advantage of this privilege. In the first years of the EU-8 accession (when 8 former Eastern Bloc countries re-joined Europe), over 1 million migrants entered the UK alone. The press referred to it as ‘a continent moving West’ and this raised the alarm.

But, 15 years later, the East-West migration has settled. For example, migration patterns are a lot more circular and cyclical, then unidirectional, in nature. They say that half of Polish migrants are back in Poland at any given time.

This is also possible thanks to charter airlines and their cheap plane tickets. When these young Central and Eastern Europeans are not working or studying abroad, they are back in their home countries enjoying their holidays and spending their money.

But one of the recurring returnees themes was that those that came back did so because they felt inspired to give back to their community. Of course, these were ambitious people who were also interested in their professional growth. But they wanted to pair their career development with national development. Abroad, they learned something new and this ‘new information’ shifted their paradigm vis-a-vis how they saw their home country – and their role in it.

Overall, returnees have a higher level of selfconfidence. And this more empowered perspective is critical because it is something that is still missing in Slovakia. Confidence, communication, critical thinking and dare I say – creativity is not something that is prioritized by the Slovak education system. Memorization and repetition is the modus-operandi.

Rather than encouraging students to think for themselves and then express those opinions before their teacher and classmates.

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Z uzana P alovic , F ounder

Slovakia has elected a new president who has become very popular in the region. Mrs. Čaputová has been on several occasions mentioned as a president of both Czechs and Slovak. Do you see change in a way Slovaks have been presenting themselves abroad?

Madam President is a huge inspiration for young people in Slovakia. Her rise to success is remarkable because she truly started as an unknown candidate with very little support.

I remember when I first learned that she was running, I was pleasantly surprised to discover a female candidate, but was doubtful that she would make it.

I followed her campaign attentively and she was nothing short of a champion. Obstacle after obstacle she continued to preserve. No matter the challenge, or the near defeat, she continued to believe in herself. And maybe there were moments, where that too waned, but the important thing is, she did not give up.

Of course the rest is history, and her accession into the Presidency sent a strong message to many Slovaks. To dare to have set a vision for themselves and to have the courage to follow-it, despite the challenges and hardships that await.

I have to say I am proud to have her as my president. As a former environmental rights lawyer, she brings a sense of justice to the role, and I look forward to all that she will accomplish. As per her representing Slovakia abroad, she is absolutely killing it!

I love seeing photos of her foreign visits, because that is where you can see her thriving the most. Her story, her looks and her demeanor all add to the charming effect she has on the international community. And this attention can only benefit Slovakia. Our country needs more visibility and she is definitely catalyzing interest.

We are going to celebrate 30 years since the Velvet Revolution and you are going to publish another book. Czechoslovakia: Behind the Iron Curtain. What can the readers look for?

Global Slovakia intro video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWZvdobxwEo

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G lobal S lovakia

"Czechoslovakia: Behind the Iron Curtain" is our third book. Dr Gabriela Bereghazyova and I take readers on an emotional journey deep into what life was like during communism. The project exposes how the greatest experiment of the 20th century inspired, persecuted, and almost destroyed Czechoslovakia. The visually stimulating, action packed book comes alive through 30 unique illustrations and dozens of photographs, captured by some of the best photographers of the era, including Ladislav Bielik, Dana Kyndrova, Juraj Bartos and Jan Lorincz.

At the moment, we are launching a crowdfunding campaign for it and appreciate everyone’s contribution. This project is incredibly important because – ultimately – it is a celebration of freedom. A freedom that many of us take for granted today, especially the youth. This book is to serve as a documentation and reminder of what life was like in unfreedom.

Of course, we also document the many good aspects of the ideology and what it brought to our region, including free education and health care. Slovakia benefited greatly under communism, our country was very rapidly modernized thanks to it. But, the fact that there was no freedom of information, no freedom of gathering, no freedom of religion or no freedom of movement cannot be denied.

The book also documents how these four decades still affect Slovak mindsets and skillsets today.

You claim that our future is greater than our past. What are your next personal plans and aspirations?

From a young age, I came into awareness that our time on earth is short. There is only so much one can do in a lifetime. This is why Gabriela (co-director of Global Slovakia) and I are so keen to continue to move forward.

Our aspiration is to codify and transmit as much of the Slovak story as we possibly can.

We already have the fourth project in the works, this is a children’s book that documents the large migration waves of Slovaks to America, from various eras, including the late 1800s, the communist era and the 21st century.

We also acknowledge the limitations of print, and of books in general. People don’t read so much anymore and the attention span of youth is even shorter. As storytellers we want to take our work to the next level, which is why we want to make videos. In the near future we will be putting together a pilot episode and pitching it to the major networks.

So yes, our ambitious are huge, but we also believe we have the skills and drive to make them happen.

Thank you so much for this interview, speaking to Czech and Slovak Leaders is an incredible privilege and I am most grateful for this opportunity.

By Linda Štucbartová české znění naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.czechleaders.com

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ČSÚZ

Czech-American relations and changes in the US through the eyes of the Czech ambassador

In cooperation with Czech & Slovak Leaders

With great interest, members and friends of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute listened to the information from the Czech Republic's Ambassador to the U.S.A., H.E. Hynek Kmoníček on current Czech-US relations as well as on changes within the United States

"Relations between the Czech Republic and the US are at a very decent level today." This information opened the meeting of members and friends of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute with Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the United States of America Hynek Kmoníček on August 29.

He has substantiated his claim with a variety of data that are not well known in the Czech Republic. For example, Czech products occupied 25 percent of the US market for ultralight aircraft, or 60 percent of the market with explosives. Czech antivirus firms placed in the top three positions in the US market.

CZ-USA, a subsidiary of Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod (the Czech Armory Company)

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in Kansas City, which has been active on the US market since 1997, plans to invest two billion crowns in a new factory in Arkansas.

Altogether, Czech firms, which operate mostly under English-sounding names, create several thousand jobs in the US, and the governors of individual US states attract other Czech investors to the country with a variety of incentives or tax breaks. According to the

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ambassador, the current level of relations between the US and the Czech Republic can almost be compared to their level during the First Republic period, and could remain so for some time. In the economy, the US is still number one in the world. "The American economy is in principle blooming," the ambassador said. Gross domestic product is rising, currently up 2.1 percent, inflation

ČSÚZ

Kazakhstan's Ambassador to the Czech Republic H. E. Serzhan Abdykarimov spoke about changes in Kazakhstan within this year with the members and friends of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute

is low and unemployment is at its lowest in fifty years. It seems irrelevant to the economy who is president, the economy is going its own way. On the other hand, the ambassador pointed out that growth in the US economy was slowing gradually after all: GDP growth reached 4.8 percent in the 1960s to the 1980s, and now only 2.1 percent. The reduction is offset by an increase in debt.

"The future of the Czechs in the US is assured," ambassador Hynek Kmoníček said in another part of the talk. It can be assumed that the number of Czech Americans will grow. Currently, about a hundred thousand Czech Americans, mostly descendants of the emigration wave from the second half of the 19th century, claim Czech origin and relation to the Czech Republic at all. In Texas, about 12,000 people say they speak Czech at home. But the most Czechs are in Nebraska, where they account for 5.5 percent of the population. New Czech schools are also being set up in the US. The condition is that at least 5 Czech-speaking children are taught in them.

Kazakhstan's ambassador to the Czech Republic, H.E.Serzhan Abdykarimov, informed members and friends of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute about changes in Kazakhstan within this year at his talk. He called his speech "Kazakhstan between the past and the future".

He reminded participants of the meeting how Kazakhstan, which spans 2.7 million square km and has a population of more than 18.5 million, has changed over the past nearly 30 years of independence. "It has succeeded in transforming Kazakhstan into a modern state that has been included in a group of the 50 world's most competitive

At the end of the talk, the chairman of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute Jaromír Šlápota handed over the commemorative Silver Lion to Ambassador H. E. Hynek Kmoníček

countries," he said. Last year, Kazakhstan recorded 4 percent economic growth.

GDP, which is 27 percent accounted for by SMEs, has risen from $11 billion in 1993 to $170 billion currently. A National Fund with more than $86 billion has been created to address social-economic problems in crisis situations. Foreign direct investment reached $320 billion. Industrial production is being modernised, digitisation is being introduced, important infrastructure projects are being implemented. 12.5 thousand kilometres of roads, 2.5 thousand kilometres of railways or two modern ports at the Caspian Sea were built. Thanks to the Kazakh program of Nurly Zho and the Chinese initiative of One Belt, one way the transport of goods from China to Europe via Kazakhstan is now four times shorter than shipping, and the country has earned 1.5 billion in sales from transit in the past year. Kazakhstan has gas and oil reserves and is currently the world leader in uranium mining, which is sold under the control of the International Atomic Energy Organization.

Hebr

At the end of the talk, the chairman of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute Jaromír Šlápota handed over the commemorative Silver Lion to Ambassador H. E. Serzhan Abdykarim

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P hoto : A rchive

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The Czech and Slovak Leaders were privileged to get the exclusive interview with Angelique Rewers, one of the leading female US coaches, on the occasion of the International Coach Federation Converge 2019 Congress that was held in Prague.

Angelique left the corporate world to start her own company The Corporate Agent. She started as a consultant, however the demands from her customers quickly helped her company to focus on coaching, training and mentoring as well .

For more than a decade, Angelique and her team have provided business training and advice to thousands of small businesses across 72 countries worldwide on how to secure 5, 6 and 7-figure corporate contracts.

When she started her consultancy business in 2007, she witnessed another colleague who had to explain what the profession of a coach meant in a business environment at a big conference. Who would guess that only a few years later, coaching would turn into a 12.7 bn USD industry, increasing steadily in all parts of the globe?

Angelique served as Uber’s first-ever official Uber mentor, and has worked with USAID, National Geographic and The Smithsonian to speak to technology innovators and start-ups from across Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Her passion is to support particularly women business owners, as she sees how tough it can be for women to shake off the gender bias after effect when starting a business. That’s why shifting this mindset became an important part of the work Angelique does to help women business owners reach their greatest potential.

We met in the lobby of Prague Corinthia Hotel.

Despite the fact that Angelique claimed being jetlagged, I could see her radiating with energy, focus on the here and now, prior to delivering her presentation speech to a large audience. I admired her inner calm and total presence, and again, I believed that it was no coincidence, but synchronicity that I could meet yet another powerful woman supporting other women. Hope you will enjoy the interview as much as we enjoyed our encounter.

I nterview

with

A ngelique R ewers , CEO, T he C orporate A gent

Women, saying yes to your mission will help to change the world Angelique, I know that this is your first time in Prague, in the Czech Republic.

How do you like it?

I love Prague, I love Europe in general and I come to Europe often. I tend to think that everything is better, the coffee tastes better, the wine, the food. Except the service (laughing, as we were trying to catch the attention of any waiter for a rather long time).

Although, the first morning, when I woke up and I was looking forward to a great downtown view from my room on the 22nd floor, all I could see were clouds. For someone like me, coming from sunny Florida, used to the sun, blue skies and palm trees all year round, this came as a big surprise and definitely a step out of my comfort zone. As a coach, I often encourage my clients to get out of their comfort zone, as this is when the learning happens.

Besides the morning milky fog, I appreciate that the weather is warm and so I get to truly feel the spirit of the city. I like to walk outside, to be able to feel the atmosphere in the streets, I like to sit in cafés and watch people, just by being present.

I much prefer this to running from one monument to another or from a painting to a painting inside the museums.

Being present brings us to another great skill that coaching helps to develop. In the age of constant connection to social media, not many people do know how to be fully present.

I agree. People ask me all the time how I manage. I am known as a superfast person. What they do not see is that I pause very often.

I came to the lobby and while waiting for the interview, I just sat, observed, drank and savored my cup of coffee. I had my journal with me, so I could do some journaling. I love to be present and this skill allows me to be crazy busy in between.

What do you think of the ICF conference?

Having close to 1000 participants from 70 countries, it makes this event the premier coaching event of 2019 in the Czech Republic.

About 35% of my clients are coaches themselves. I have spoken for ICF in the US before and this is the first time I got to speak at one of ICF’s international events. They received over 500 applications for about 25 speaking slots.

I applied to speak for the ICF conference three times, twice I got rejected. I often say to my clients: “Do not give up.” Everything does not happen according to plan. Carrie Fisher known for her Princess Leia character, said: “Instant gratification takes too long”. Third time's the charm, as speaking in Prague is actually much more

exciting to me than speaking at the conference in the US, where the event was held previously.

You spoke about communication, focused on marketing and sales conversations.

When I reapplied, I also changed my topic.

I got more specific which made the trick. You have to try different messages when reaching out to companies, media, industries or associations. Not only make it personal, but make sure the message resonates. People nowadays are overwhelmed and they do not want to be bored. As to the presentation itself, as I am a fast talker, I need to slow down. I am used to having clients from many countries. I learned to listen and to ask questions. Last night, thanks to my conversations, I learned about coaching and its rapid growth, particularly in the Middle East.

You started in the corporate environment but left due to a burnout and frustration not getting enough career opportunities as a young woman. You established a consultancy company, however eventually you ended up as a coach, and about 70 percent of your clients are women .

Instead of listening to my messages on marketing and PR, I was constantly asked questions how I was getting the corporate clients. My clients literally chased me. It took me a year to figure it out and then to transform my business from corporate consultancy t o training, mentoring and coaching small business owners.

We have celebrated a decade in January 2019.

I love working with women -- although some of that has been by default. Because I’ve been invited to speak at many women’s conferences, our clients have tended to be more women.

When they find their zone, they do sales in a very natural way and they simply take off.

Women entrepreneurs tend to play by rules that do not serve them. I challenge them. Is there a rule why you cannot charge more?

Is there a rule why you cannot contact a big company? From a young age, we are taught to be people-pleasers. This does not serve us.

Even nowadays, in some corporations during leadership skills trainings, women are taught some ridiculous rules that do not serve us, like “wait your turn to speak” or “ don’t be too bold or too direct ”. It’s a big reason as to why women leave corporations to start their own business. However, they often tend to take the invisible baggage of stereotypes with them.

Women need to learn to trust themselves as business owners and act accordingly.

Therefore, I want women to have their own clear view in a particular industry. Not the one of an association, or competitors. Simply their own view. Once we have it, we go out and passionately share it. It is a muscle that all women need to develop.

Let us discuss the failures that come with learning and being out of the comfort zone. Can you share your biggest one?

Like most successful entrepreneurs, it is absolutely true that I had more failures than successes. For example, in 2013, I decided to organize a big conference in Washington D.C in a luxury hotel. I signed a huge contract.

I bit off way more than I could chew. I was in big trouble. 60 days from conference, I had about 11% tickets sold. The expenses and the debts emerging were just horrendous. At that time, I sent a message to my mentor at 3 am in the morning. On top of that, my husband had no idea. The next morning my mentor started shouting at me: What the hell are you doing? For the next 45 days, I did only sales calls for 16 hours a day. There were days when I stayed in my pajamas, I was eating delivery food all the time. I ended up with 435 people, maximum room size but I felt I was very close to falling from the cliff. It was a painful and stressful lesson. I got so distracted that I did not concentrate on the one thing that mattered.

And for too long, I did not ask for help. It was a stressful time but also turning point. It made me learn and grow.

What is the professional aspiration of The Corporate Agent founder? What are you looking forward to?

I am looking forward to the next stage of developing my business which will take me from having to manage the day-to-day operations so I can focus almost entirely on strategy and sharing my message. I am fond of Richard Branson and his entire model of putting the right team in, in order to be able to concentrate on the strategic development.

Imagination is another important part of coaching. Let us play a “what if” exercise. If you had a magic wand, what would you do?

For me, I would like to have my own jet, in order not to spend so much time at the airport. Of course, it would be a solar powered, environmentally friendly jet.

For women business owners, I would use the magic wand to stop their fears of consequences, failure and most importantly judgment from others. I wish I could wave the wand and create 30 days when women owners would say yes to big challenges, get out from behind their computers and out to the wider world. If women did it for a month, they would see that there is no monster and they would believe that all they want is out there. Just start saying yes to your mission, yes to your purpose and yes to your visibility. If women just dare to share the message they have, the world would be a much better place.

By Linda Štucbartová

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30 YEARS – a bill to pay

The past 30 years in the Czech Republic after the Velvet Revolution were undoubtedly a success. Czechia has become a normal market economy with functioning democracy and growing living standard of population, while main external objectives, memberships in NATO and EU have been fulfilled, with no enemies and immediate danger in the neighbourhood.

In spite of this, an uneasy feeling and resigned passivity spread all over the country. Many people have become phlegmatic to the state they co-own, and gloomy atmosphere makes influence on many things from weak and protracted public investment e.g. into transport infrastructure up to decreasing success in international sport competitions. The risk of burning one’s fingers for any idea, especially for the public interest or the flag is almost absent. Second grade politicians are prevailing on the political scene, often missing a strategy and courage for the future but the more trying to lure potential voters with partial compensations and promises not solving their long-term problems.

A recent opinion poll has shown that a considerable part of the society, about one third of people aged over 40 years, expressed the view that they were better off under Communism than today. It may also contain some nostalgia or defiance but it is necessary to take into account that some of our citizens really do not benefit from today’s general level of achieved development.

Many of those manifestations are by far not limited to Czechia; the atmosphere has generally deteriorated all over the Western world. Property discrepancies grow everywhere, as the analyses of Credit Suisse have convincingly shown, but in the Czech traditionally egalitarian conditions it hurts more than anywhere else, especially when there is a suspicion that some of the

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properties were not gained in a legally or morally justifiable way.

It is necessary to look at the role of society’s elites. During the Velvet Revolution and for some time thereafter, the elites, with a special role played by former dissidents, were virtually unanimous in their strive for democracy and market economy and successfully convinced the rest of the nation to accept even very swift and painful reforms. But the situation gradually changed to the worse. Some of those leaders of the change returned very early to their previous métier, others were shifted aside by more ambitious competitors, and some of them found an opportunity if the processes in the economy were insufficiently controlled. Manifestations like fraudulent privatizations, the dissolution of the promising Czech capital market that had been previously created by voucher privatization, and the so called “banking socialism” that had to be cured with immense contributions from the taxpayers, undermined the trust of broad public to the reforms and to the politics in general. Of course, some destructive and corrupt activities were to be expected during so profound changes, and their real extent may also be medially somehow exaggerated, nevertheless their existence earlier or later halted necessary reforms and gave birth to political populism offering sweet treats instead of bitter remedies.

The elites were too inconsiderate to those who were simply losing in the process of globalization. Insufficiently extinguished effects of the decline of obsolete industries with the decay of once preferred regions, aggressive consumer credit policy resulting in the fall of hundreds of thousands into the hands of distrainors, and above all the imported financial crisis after 2008; this all, justly or unjustly, contributed in the broad public to the feeling that the elites failed to lead the nation. It formed a very risky

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situation that might drive the country into a social rift and further decline of its position in the international comparison.

Czechia needs reforms again; beside the long delayed pension, health and education reforms also measures directed towards the support of new technologies and searching for investment into high value added production and into public infrastructures. New elites unsatisfied with the state of things have at first to unite on the vision about the future of the country.

Even mass demonstrations we have recently experienced cannot help if no vision for the future is available to attract the majority of the society. This is a theme concerning not only people aged up to forty years but for all who care about the country or, at least, for own descendants, irrespectively of their political opinion and denomination. And then the most complex task may come to disseminate the vision in the political sphere and in the public maybe down to village pubs: listen to the problems of common people and propose solutions, convince and encourage, and, which is the most difficult, act in person as an example. Hard to do?

We have for it a splendid past experience.

The same was performed by patriots in the nineteenth century, everybody according to their competence and abilities, and the result was an economically excellent country and national independence.

The time is running and requires courage.

It should be clear that an all-risk-averting strategy may be the worst risk averting strategy at all.

Emanuel Šíp Partner Allied Progress Consultants Association

P hoto © A rthur K off (P hotoreportage ) P hoto © O to P alán (V iew of the gallery )

MIRO

Miro Smolák, Director of the MIRO Gallery Prague during his opening speech

Barbora Kysilková, Artist

Opening Ceremony in the MIRO Gallery Prague on November 1, 2019

Barbora Kysilková aka BARBAR – The Painter & The Thief

Øystein Stene, Norwegian Writer during his speech; Barbora Kysilková, Artist

From left: Benjamín Szakál, Parliament of the Czech Republic; Benke Aikell, Your Publisher

Ivana Ryčlová, Literary Historian and Art Collector

From left: Wu Guang, Cultural Counsellor, Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Czech Republic with her friend

Alena Svobodová, Manager of the Prague Spring International Music Festival and her husband Michal Svoboda, Art Collector

Partners: KNAP HOLDING SE

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MIRO

During the Opening Ceremony at the MIRO Gallery Prague

Růžena Nechanská, Culture Manager

Martín Perino, Argentinian Pianist and Composer; Sergio Luciano Prá, Film Producer, Argentina

Roland Leisztner, Entrepreneur; Helena Leisztner, Artist

Hans Weber, Prague Forum

Barbora Kysilková, Artist; Libor Čeleda, Owner of the Brelex s.r.o. and Art Collector

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From left: Vladimír Skalský, President of World Association of Slovaks Living Abroad; Helena Gbelcová; Rudolf Tomašovič

MIRO

From left: Dominik Biľo, Graphic Designer, INstudioDB; Markéta Tisová, Pedagogue at the Medical School and the First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University; Petr Tiso, Doctor and Deputy Director of the Institute for the Care of Mother and Child

From left: Merete Mørken Andersen, Norwegian Writer; Barbora Kysilková, Artist; Reidun Torp, Associate Professor at Anatomy, Medical School, University of Oslo Petr Štěpán, Art Historian

From left: Alexander Hemala, TV Moderator with his wife Vlasta; Oldřich Lomecký, former Mayor of Prague 1

Pavel Fryml, Owner of the “Nová Večerní Praha” Newspaper with his wife Jana Kubašková

Marian de Riz, Artist

From left: Marián Hodoš, Art Collector; Jan Hadraba, Journalist

Miroslav Veselka, Czech Chamber of Commerce with his friend Lucie Benešová Jiří Weiss, Czech Israeli Mutual Chamber of Commerce

From left: Barbora Kysilková, Artist; Alois Buráň, Scenic Painter; Anna Marie Buráňová, Student

Martin Papáč, Doctor of Medicine with his wife Erika

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diplomatic event

Austrian

National Day

From left: H.E. Alexander Grubmayr, Austrian Ambassador, with his wife Bettina Fink, Petra Hanslik and her husband Dr Erwin Hanslik, President of the Association of Austrians

From left: H.E. Saiid Hindam, Ambassador of Egypt, Livie Klausovรก, former Ambassador to Slovakia and Vรกclav Klaus, former President of the Czech Republic

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From left: Visar Fetaj, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the Republic of Kosovo, H.E. Ilirian Kuka, Ambassador of Albania, and H.E. Arber Vllahiu, Ambassador of Kosovo

diplomatic event

From left: Vladimír Dlouhý, President, Hospodářská komora CR, Václav Klaus, former President of CR, Jan Koukal, former Czech Ambassador to Austria and former Mayor of Prague, and H.E. Dr. Ashot Hovakimian, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia

From left: Mrs. Rim Bitar Karrova, H.E. Rola Hamdan, Ambassador of Lebanon, H.E. Sundus Albayraqdar, Ambassador of Iraq, H.E. Khaled Alatrash, Ambassador of Palestine, MUDr. Jamal Karra, Senior Consultant , Betlemská Dental Center, and H.E. Saiid Hindam, Ambassador of Egypt

From left: H.E. Saiid Hindam, Ambassador of Egypt and H.E. Roland Galharague, Ambassador of France

From left: Bettina Fink, wife of Austrian Ambassador, H.E. Alexander Grubmayr, Austrian Ambassador, and H.E. Stephen B. King, US Ambassador

From left: Visar Fetaj, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the Republic of Kosovo, H.E. Valery Kurdyukov, Ambassador of Belarus, H.E. Arber Vllahiu, Ambassador of Kosovo, H.E. Dr. Ashot Hovakiian, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia, and H.E. Mariam Rakhviashvili, Ambassador of Georgia

From left: Martin Žáček, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Uniqa, Livia Klausová, former Ambassador to Bratislava, and Bettina Fink, wife of Austrian Ambassador

From left: Eva Anderová, Vice President for PR, UNYP and President, Kafka Centre, Benke Aikell, your Publisher and Livie Klausová, former Ambassador to Slovakia

From left: H.E. Alexander Grubmayr, Austrian Ambassador and H. E. Christoph Israng, German Ambassador

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diplomatic event

From left: H.E. Dr. Ashot Hovakiian, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia, H.E. Dr. Alexander Grubmayr, LL.M. with his wife, H.E. Saiid Hindam, Ambassador of Egypt and H.E. Mariam Rakhviashvili, Ambassador of Georgia

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From left: H.E. Efthymios Efthymiades, Ambassador of Greece, H.E. Rosaura Leonora Rueda Gutiérrez, Ambassador of Mexico, and H.E. Christoph Israng, Ambassador of Germany

From left: H.E. Jukka Uolevi Pesola, Ambassador of Finland and H.E. Gérard Philipps, Ambassador of Luxembourg

Frm left: Jiří Drahoš, Senator, former 2nd round Presidential Candidate, with his wife Eva Drahošová, Vít Rakušan, Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Austrian-Czech Inter-Parliamentary Group

From left: Cardinal Dominik Duka, Prague Archbishop and H.E. Stephen B. King, US Ambassador

CZECH&SLOVAK LEADERS III/2019

James A. Cusumano, PhD Chairman, Chateau Mcely s.r.o.; Prague, Czech Republic

Universal Truth Dialogue I: Think Nothing1,2

“Silence is a sign of great strength.”

Lao Tzu

The boy’s name was Peter.

It was a stunning Saturday sunrise as he entered the edge of the forest, about a half kilometer from his home in the small village of Nebušice, a rural suburb of Prague. He and his parents have lived there as a convenience since he entered the International School of Prague (ISP) 10 years ago. One of the best private schools in the Czech Republic, it’s less than a five-minute bike ride from his home.

By most standards, 16-year old Peter is considered handsome. He’s thin, a bit lanky with longish, dark brown hair, a matching short beard, large penetrating brown eyes, and reasonably tall at 192 cm. He is considerate, but can be a bit precocious and tenacious when seeking answers to his challenging questions and concerns.

ISP has been good for Peter, especially in languages. In addition to his native Czech, he has become fluent in English and French – both with nearly no detectable foreign accent. He is a bright student and studies diligently for excellence, primarily driven by his passionate quest for knowledge – quit unusual for a 16-year old, but then again, Peter is not your usual 16-year old.

The school has prepared him well towards his long-time goal of admission to Harvard to study physics. He and his teachers

are optimistic. Peter has taken a number of Advanced Placement (AP) courses in the sciences and mathematics. He not only enjoys learning advanced concepts in these subjects, but also hopes good grades in his AP courses will help him land admission to Harvard.

Peter is not your typical myopically-focused science geek. He’s a bit of a natural philosopher, a kind of alchemist, and on his own has read writings by Plato, Socrates, Euclid, Copernicus, Paracelsus, Pythagoras and Archimedes. Some of his favorite words seem to be why, what, when, how, where and who.

His fellow students see him as somewhat of a nerd because of his passionate quests to answer what they think are unanswerable questions. But they all like and tolerate him, just the same.

But Peter isn’t a nerd in the conventional sense. He likes sports, admittedly a distant second to his interests in academic endeavors. He plays volleyball and soccer for ISP, something he feels keeps him physically fit and his life in balance. As far as girls are concerned, he has several close girl friends, but has never had a girlfriend. This doesn’t faze him. He has enough on his plate, already.

Girls can wait.

It’s late June and school let out just a few days ago. Peter walks slowly and thoughtfully on his favorite hiking path in the forest.

As usual, he’s lost in contemplation, thinking – Summer is such a great time of the year in this forest. It’s super to live so close and have a place to think clearly away from all distractions.

Figure 1: There are times during life that we come to a “fork in the road” and must decide which path to take. As the great American poet said in his famous poem, The Road Not Taken, “I took the one less traveled by, and it made all difference."

References: 1. EDITOR’S COMMENT – This is the first article in a new series by the author, based on his forthcoming book, “The Dialogue – A Journey To Universal Truth,” a conversation between a bright young boy and an Avatar, concerning the most challenging questions of all times. 2. The author may be reached at Jim@ChateauMcely.com.

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T hink N othing

Figure 2: Boda was a handsome man with an aura of kindness and wisdom

Peter had walked for nearly 30 minutes, thinking about questions he has thought about time and again – how did the universe really begin? Where does consciousness come from? What’s my purpose? He came across a fork in the path. He stopped and thought; I’ve seen this alternate route so many times before and always pass it by. It looks like everyone does.

There were huge tall weeds growing on the path. As he stood there gazing up the steep trail, smothered in overgrowth, he wondered – Nope, I better not. I’m not in the mood to be skirting high weeds and over-brush. It’ll take away from my relaxation and thoughts on things of interest to me. Who wants to be a weed dodger anyway?

So Peter passed the alternate path, but some 100 meters later, he stopped and looked back. He wasn’t sure why. Suddenly and for no reason he could fathom, he recalled from last year’s literature class the concluding lines from Robert Frost’s famous poem, The Road Not Taken.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And it made all the difference.

Peter turned around and walked slowly back to the fork in the path. He looked up the hill and somewhat reluctantly started his trek on this new route (Figure 1). He didn’t know why. It wasn’t an easy hike, being much steeper and covered with high weeds which made progress slow and cumbersome. He had to walk carefully to avoid stinging nettles and his socks were increasingly covered with spiny grass burs that scratched unmercifully at his ankles. He stopped periodically to remove them. But, he persisted, wondering at times, was this really a good idea?

After 45 minutes or so, Peter stopped to catch his breath and rest. It was exhausting avoiding nettles and all of the higher weeds with thorns. He was nearly to the top of the incline. Wiping the sweat from his forehead with his right sleeve, he gazed towards the

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top. Suddenly, he saw through the bushes and trees what looked like an older man with a long silver beard, sitting on a red carpet. What in the world? Peter discontinued his rest and moved cautiously to the crest of the hill.

His eyes had not deceived him. There sat an elderly man on a bright red carpet placed neatly under an evergreen tree. Peter stopped some distance from him to assess the situation. The man was dressed in a flowing white robe with a gold-colored cape and matching cap. On his left side, there was a pair of sandals placed neatly next to the red carpet. They were very basic and appeared to have been hand-made– unprofessionally, for sure.

The gentleman had clear dark brown skin, wore his hair in a long ponytail, maintained in place by a gold ring. He had plump slightly-rosy cheeks and looked like a combination of a Middle Eastern Santa Claus and a character out of Lawrence of Arabia.

As he approached the man, Peter slowed his pace and noticed the gentleman was sitting in a lotus position, his eyes closed, hands folded in front of his chest as if in prayer and his mouth poised in a slight smile, kind of like a bust of Buddha. Peter stopped and stood directly in front of the man. The man did not move.

Old Man Suddenly, in a humorous, slow, rising, highpitched voice, “I see you.”

Peter “How can you see me? Your eyes are closed.”

Old Man In a rising cheerful tone, “Not my third eye.”

Peter “Huh?” Old Man “Only kidding,” as he opened his eyes – deep dark blue, a striking contrast to his ebonycolored skin.

Peter “What are you doing up here?”

Old Man “Oh, nothing really; I’m just sitting here not thinking or doing, just being.”

Peter “You’re just being. What does that mean?”

Old Man “Just what I said – being!”

Peter “How often do you come here to do your being?”

Old Man “Oh, every day that it doesn’t rain. And when it rains, I sit in one of those hunters’ blind platforms up over the hill in the farmer’s field.

They have nice overhangs so I don’t get wet.”

Peter “Why haven’t I run into you before?”

Old Man “Oh that’s easy; because like everyone else, you never take this path. It’s steep, overgrown and a much more cumbersome and uncomfortable hike than the other path.”

CZECH&SLOVAK LEADERS III/2019

Peter “I see.”

Old Man “And why have you taken this path today?”

Peter “I don’t know; curiosity, I guess. I’ve never taken it before. I always take the path down below because it’s flat, no rocks, no weeds and it’s well groomed for walking and thinking.”

Trying for a little humor, Peter quipped, “But I guess this is the ‘no thinking, just being’ path, right?”

Old Man “Well I guess you could call it that. You know the act of being is pretty important. After all, you are a ‘human being’ and not a ‘human doing.’ Oh, please don’t get me wrong. Doing is an important part of life. Ah, but being, that’s where great things happen.”

“Just take your very existence. Have you ever thought about your probability of being here at this exact moment in time?"

Peter “Not really; should I?” Old Man “Absolutely! It’s much more important and rewarding than you might think. Tell me, do you like math?”

Peter “Actually, I love math."

Old Man “Great! Then allow me to do a simple calculation for you – the probability of your being here at this very place and this very moment in time."

Peter “Sounds interesting, but how are you going to do that?”

Old Man “Okay; let’s see, in your life, you have had two parents, four grandparents, eight greatgrandparents – well, you get the idea, right?”

Peter “Sure.”

Old Man “Okay; this is a simple statistics and probability calculation. Suppose we go back just 30 generations to calculate your probability of being here. Then the total number of people responsible for your being here at this moment is 2 + 22 + 23 + 24 + ... 230, which gives 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + ..., etc., all the way up to 230. You’re good in math, so I’m sure you get the idea.

Guess what the answer is?”

Peter “Well, it’s a straightforward calculation, but I couldn’t do it without a calculator. It certainly must be a very big number.”

Old Man “Right you are. The answer is 2,147,482,646 or about 2.2 billion people!”

Peter “Hey! Are you kidding me? You couldn’t do that calculation in your head.”

Old Man “Oh yes I can...”

The old man then pulled out a small hand calculator from his backpack and handed it to Peter, who immediately did the calculation.

T hink N othing

Figure 3: Peter was about to discover the incredible power of meditation to access the true power within.

Peter “Oh my God, it’s 2,147,482,646. That’s amazing! How did you do that?”

Old Man “Yes, it is amazing; not millions or hundreds of millions, but billions of people! And if one of them had been missing, died prematurely, or had not been in the ‘right mood,’ you would not be here at this moment in time! And that’s true for everyone else on the planet. All you have to do is go back 30 generations. So, Peter, is your life here on Earth at this point in time just an accident or a coincidence? Is it a total statistical improbability? Well if it is, that’s amazing! And if it’s not, then that’s amazing!

It’s amazing either way! Your existence should throw you into a state of sheer ecstasy. As Rabindranath Tagore, the famous Indian poet and Nobel laureate once said, ‘If you’re not perpetually surprised by the fact of your existence, then you don’t deserve to exist.’”

Peter “That is amazing – it’s a straight-forward calculation with an incredibly surprising perspective! Who would have guessed?”

Old Man “Let’s go back to our original discussion. Tell me, what do you do on your ‘thinking’ path?”

Peter “I think about questions concerning my life and life in general, sometimes even about the universe.”

Old Man “For example, what kinds of questions?”

Peter “You know – the ones that everybody thinks about at one time or another; like – Why am I here? Where did I come from? What’s my purpose? How did this universe come into existence? The really tough ones!”

Old Man “And have you gotten any answers?”

Peter In a somewhat dejected tone, “Honestly – no.”

Old Man “Well maybe you should try the ‘no thinking’ approach – you know, just being.”

Peter “Huh, that doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Peter could see the man was a foreigner, but he spoke perfect English, but with a kind of peculiar, though pleasant, accent. “Say, where do you come from anyway? Do you live here in Nebušice?”

Old Man “Oh no – I’m from Mesopotamia.”

Peter Stunned by his answer, but then smiling, “Mesopotamia; are you kidding me. It no longer exists.”

Old Man “Sure it does; it’s a big part of what today you call Syria and Iraq.”

Peter Trying not to be sarcastic, “Well that’s quite some travel every day. How in the world is that possible?”

Old Man “Oh, I have my ways.”

Peter Chuckling with disbelief, but then changing to a serious demeanor – “Iraq and Syria – terrible places! They’ve been overrun by war and all kinds of human atrocities and travesties.”

Old Man “Today, yes, and it’s most unfortunate, as they were the cradle of civilization. It’s in Mesopotamia where I learned how to answer the questions you ask of yourself. But I did it by not thinking, just by being.”

Peter “You must be kidding me.”

Old Man “No, I’m not.”

Peter “Can you share any of those answers with me?”

Old Man “Eventually, yes; but, first we should get to know each other.”

They both were quiet for several beats.

Old Man “Peter, would you like to learn about the power of being?”

Peter “Sure. Hey! How did you know my name?

I never mentioned it.”

Old Man Humorously, “Oh, a lucky guess, I suppose.”

Peter “Yeah, right. And your name is ... ?”

Old Man “My name is Huriya. In Czech it would translate as Svoboda, which as you know, in English means ‘freedom.’ But, please, as all my friends do, call me Boda (see Figure 2). ” Peter “Right ... now what is it you want me to do?”

Boda “Did you take any challenging courses last semester at ISP?” Peter “Sure ... Wait a minute, how did you know I attend ISP?” Boda “That’s easy. It’s the only school in this small village that could possibly teach you such excellent English.”

Peter “Right... I guess.” Continuing, “Yeah, I had a challenging math class, AP Math-501 in advanced calculus and linear algebra.”

Boda “Wow! That’s pretty hefty for a high school student. Do you think you could find in your textbook a problem that is so difficult, you are unable to solve it?”

Peter “Sure. That would be easy.”

Boda “Okay. Tonight, I want you to try one of those problems and be sure you cannot get the answer. Then, I want you to sit in a quiet place, close your eyes and relax your hands in your lap as you focus on your breath. Take ten slow deep breaths before returning to a natural pace of breathing. For those deep breaths, it’s best if you hold your breath for five seconds after inhalation and before exhaling. With each inhalation, please mentally say the word ‘So’ and with each deep exhalation, mentally says the word ‘Hum’.”

“These words are a mantra and you will be doing a brief meditation, called the So Hum Meditation. Try to push all thoughts from your mind, and every time one returns, don’t be disturbed by it, simply mentally repeat the mantra, So, Hum. After about 30 minutes or so, you can relax, and when you are ready, open your eyes. Then I would like you to again try to solve that same problem again and see what happens. Got it?”

Peter “I guess. But I can’t imagine that this meditation thing will make much of a difference (see Figure 3).”

Boda “Maybe not; we’ll see. Can you be back here tomorrow morning at about 8:00 a.m.?”

Peter “Sure, then we can talk about how to answer those challenging questions I mentioned to you?”

Boda “Peter – everything in the fullness of time. See you tomorrow.”

Peter “Yeah, right, okay.”

And with that, Peter continued on his way, a bit confused as to what had just happened, but certainly intrigued to see what would happen.

To be continued. Next: Peter discovers the immense power within.

Sat, Chit, Ananda!

Enjoy your journey, make a difference!

CZECH&SLOVAK LEADERS III/2019

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culture event

P hoto : J itka T omečková

Grand Opening

and

L ea T akaha

of PragArtworks Gallery

PragArtworks Gallery located in the artsy district of Vinohrady is tailored to meet the needs of sophisticated Art lovers looking for a curated and Czech experience.

We are offering a vast collection of glass, ceramics, sculptures and paintings by more than 50 Artists .

Come by and visit us at Vinohradská 39 , Prague 2.

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CZECH&SLOVAK LEADERS III/2019

culture event

The Artists from PragArtworks. From left: Lukáš Rais, David Strauzz, Dan Trantina, Pedja Djakovic, Vladimír Bachorík, Jiří Suhadek, Jakub Flejšar, Josef Flejšar, Jindra Viková, Alena Oniscenko, Louise Beer, Matěj Lipavský, Natálie Roučková, Anna Neborová, Pavel Roučka, and Václav Bláha

Rudolf Minka and Alyona Golovata , Gallery Attendants for PragArtworks

Prof . Vladimir Kopecký with his wife, world renowned Glass Artist and Louise Beer, Founder and Owner, PragArtworks Gallery

From left: Eva Anderová, Vice President for PR, UNYP and President, Franz Kafka Centre and H.E. Leonora Rueda Gutierrez, Ambassador of Mexico

From left: Alena Oniscenko, Director of Sales, PragArtworks , Benke Aikell, your Publisher, Louise Beer, Founder and Owner, PragArtworks Gallery and Marek Schovánek, Artist

Louise Beer, Founder and Owner, PragArtworks Gallery with her husband René Beauchamp, Consultant, Hôtelier

From left: René Beauchamp, Consultant, Hôtelier and Michael Hermann, Art Collector

From left: Louise Beer, Founder and Owner, PragArtworks Gallery with Mrs. Iva Petíčková, spouse of the Minister of Foreign Affairs

CZECH&SLOVAK LEADERS III/2019

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culture event

P hoto : J itka T omeฤ kovรก

and

L ea T akaha

Cutting of the ribbon at the Opening of PragArtworks Gallery

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CZECH&SLOVAK LEADERS III/2019

culture event

From left: Louise Beer, Founder and Owner, PragArtworks Gallery, Jimmy and Franci Hibbert, Art Collectors, and Anne Wright, Art Collector

From left: René Beauchamp, Consultant Hôtelier, Sarah Mucha, Mucha Foundation, Alena Oniscenko, Director of Sales, PragArtworks, and Louise Beer, Founder and Owner, PragArtworks Gallery

From left: Louise Beer, Founder and Owner, PragArtworks Gallery with Helena Leisztner Kroftová, Artist and Collector

From left: Jana Pilařová, Interior Designer, Verale and Louise Beer, Founder and Owner, PragArtworks Gallery

From left: Lenka Nováková, Consultant, Preciosa and Sheila Reindorf, spouse of the Ambassador of Luxembourg

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interview with mep alexandr vondra

I would recommend the government not to underestimate the Presidency Alexandr Vondra Vondra is a Czech right-wing politician, Member of the Civic Democratic Party and former dissident and signatory of Charter 77. In 2006, he worked for several months as a Minister of Foreign Affairs and then until May 2009 as a Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs. From July 2010 to December 2012, he served as a Minister of Defence. Since July 2019 he has been a Member of the European Parliament where he sits in the ENVI Committee and in the Delegation with the US. You have spent seven years outside politics. You say it "oxygenated" yourself. What brings you to the European Parliament? What are your priorities?

I decided to run for the European Parliament because I was worried about what was going on in Europe. I went into trying to prevent Europe from committing suicide. My priority in the European Parliament is to work in the ENVI Committee which has become the main battlefield of European politics during this parliamentary term.

I want to promote reasonable environmental policy over the next five years, one that does not ruin us. We must protect nature but not in the way envisaged by the new red-green European Commission of Ursula von der Leyen.

The new Commission is preparing the European Green Deal in order to become the world's first climateneutral continent. What will this mean for the businesses?

That’s a question! The European Green Deal has neither clear parameters nor any impact assessments at the moment but some groups in the European Parliament are trying to come forward with stricter 2030 and 2050 goals and set a separate budget line for the European Green Deal as soon as possible. I am much more cautious.

The European Green Deal will definitely be an opportunity for many businesses

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CZECH&SLOVAK LEADERS III/2019

F oto : A rchive

of

A lexandr V ondra

interview with mep alexandr vondra

resort solution, primarily to eliminate useless hurdles which block functioning of the EU Single Market.

You are a Member of the Parliamentary Delegation for relations with the U.S. How will the EU-US relationship evolve? Do you think there is a chance to negotiate a trade agreement similar to the unfinished Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)?

We would need to negotiate a trade agreement with the US. But what form it will take, and if it really happens, is a question. It takes two to tango. And both sides, including the EU, must be able to compromise. The trend that the EU is contaminating trade agreements negotiations with new conditionalities, such as compliance with the Paris Climate Agreement, is not conducive to any trade negotiation.

but we should carefully assess its possible disproportionate impacts, especially on SMEs. Moreover, structure of our economy as well as expectations of Czech citizens are different than those in Western part of Europe and we, as their representatives, should take it into account.

You consider global warming a hysteria.

Are you convinced it doesn't exist?

Climate has always changed and so will be the case in future too. I do not have a problem with a climate change, I have a problem with a hysteric reaction of the EU. I am afraid all the EU efforts to become a climate change avantgarde at global level, leading to regulations artificially increasing costs of living in Europe, will hamper our economic growth and let the others – China and USA, for instance – to take advantage of it.

In practice, can there be a legislation that promotes both sustainability and competitiveness?

I am convinced so. But, first of all, the EU should come up with a legislation which is not revised “instantly”and, on the other hand, gives the Member States enough room for manoeuvre. One size does not fit all. Greens in all groups, including very weak EPP representatives, are of a completely different opinion. And their respective steps are leading to a revolution of rich and for rich. We need to support a policy which avoids climate change as a new religion and, instead, considers protection of environment in a more contextual way. No one should be left behind and, for example, biodiversity issues or protection of water resources should not be neglected.

How do you assess the Commission's new portfolios? Is Ms. Jourová´s portfolio “Val-

ues and transparency” an opportunity for the Czech Republic?

The Commission as an institution is trapped inside The system “one Member State - one Commissioner”. That’s why some portfolios are, let’s say, questionable. On the other hand, this arrangement gives Ursula von der Leyen much leeway to set up her team in a way which suits her most. Věra Jourová's portfolio is not as significant as Andrej Babiš or Jourová herself presents it. It might seem that her task will be to assess the rule of law in, for example, Poland and Hungary. In fact, Jourová will only deal with the issue of European elections, fight against fake news, media pluralism, promotion of a "European identity" and dialogue with churches.

None of this can be considered an executive competence. The question of compliance with the rule of law falls under the Justice Commissioner. So Věra Jourová will only serve the Poles and Hungarians what the Belgian cooks. And a second-rank Vice-Chair? Věra Jourová only recognizes it on her payslip. This is Babiš's total bargaining defeat.

The Von der Leyen Commission will continue in regulating digital market. Do you think the same rules should work for online and offline world?

From consumers’ point of view, there is no difference between offline and online world.

We all expect high level of protection to fulfil our consumer rights anywhere in the EU. That’s why I am happy that geoblocking, for instance, has become a part of history. On the other hand, I am not a friend of regulating any aspect of life without assessing possible negative impacts on businesses and/or consumers, as was the case with mortgages. I am convinced EU should use legislation as a last

You have represented the Czech Republic during the first Czech Presidency. What do you recommend to politicians for the next Presidency in 2022?

The Czech presidency in 2022 will be significantly different from the 2009 presidency.

At the time of our first presidency, the Treaty of Lisbon was not yet in force and the role of Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs was much more prominent and stronger than today. On the other hand, the Presidency still presents an opportunity to pursue national priorities and to train new officials who will be able to work with European legislation even after the end of the Presidency. Therefore, I would recommend the government not to underestimate the Presidency.

We always hear that the EU should reform. What could the EU do in order to become more efficient and more appreciated by people?

The EU should stop complicating people´s lives.

The newly planned European Green Deal will bring price increase – housing, transport and food will become more expensive. This will certainly not help neither us, nor the EU. The EU should stop unifying things that simply cannot be unified. The key is simplifying and removing the barriers that still exist in the EU. If the EU applies this principle, perhaps much more people would trust it, even in the Czech Republic.

How do you imagine we will live in twenty years?

I hope that the free movement of the four freedoms will be preserved, because it is a great advantage for us, which leads to the development of wealth in all respects. I will pray and work to keep it that way.

Thank you for the interview!

Alena Mastantuono české znění naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.czechleaders.com

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EU

Czech Business Representation to the EU

debate

SP CR delegation visits Brussels A delegation of members of the Board of Directors of the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic (SP CR) led by its President Jaroslav Hanák visited Brussels at the beginning of September. The delegation met Commissioner Věra Jourová and her team, discussed with Director General of BusinessEurope, The Confederation of European Business Markus J. Beyrer and participated at a dinner with Czech representatives in the European Parliament that was kindly hosted

by H.E. Jakub Dürr, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the EU. The discussions concentrated mainly on how to reduce administrative burden on companies and how to set targets in European policies that would be realistic and would support competitiveness and growth. Therefore, the SP CR stressed that the process of creating legislative proposals needs to be as transparent as possible and proper impact assessments of the prepared proposals need to be carried out.

Photo: © SP CR archive

From left: Jana Hartman Radová, Head of Brussels Office, Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, Radek Špicar, Vice-President, Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, Dagmar Kuchtová, Director General, Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, Milena Jabůrková, Vice-President, Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, and Markus J. Beyrer, Director General, BusinessEurope

From left: Eduard Hulicius, Member of Commissioner Jourová’s Cabinet, European Commission, Monika Ladmanová, Advisor to Commissioner Jourová, European Commission, Daniel Braun, Deputy Head of Commissioner Jourová’s Cabinet, European Commission, Věra Jourová, Commissioner, European Commission, Milena Jabůrková, Vice-President, Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, Dagmar Kuchtová, Director General, Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, and Radek Špicar, Vice-President, Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic

H.E. Jakub Dürr, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the EU (in the middle of the left hand side of the table) hosting dinner for Czech Members of the European Parliament and delegation of the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic

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CZECH&SLOVAK LEADERS III/2019

EU

Photo: © Martina Dlabajová archive

debate

Czech Members of the European Parliament held a discussion with Vladimír Dlouhý MEP Martina Dlabajová hosted the first business breakfast of the Czech delegation in the European Parliament. The first invitee was Vladimír Dlouhý, President of the Czech Chamber of Commerce who informed the MEPs about the economic outlook of the Czech Republic and EU priorities of the Czech Chamber of Commerce for the next five years.

From left: Alexandr Vondra, Tomáš Zdechovský, Luděk Niedermayer, Martin Hlaváček, Hyněk Blaško, and Ivan David, all Members of the European Parliament

Czech MEPs discussing with Vladimír Dlouhý, President of the Czech Chamber of Commerce

From left: Martina Dlabajová, MEP, Vladimír Dlouhý, President, Czech Chamber of Commerce, Alena Mastantuono, Director, Czech Business Representation to the EU, Marcel Kolaja, MEP, Ondřej Kovařík, MEP, Martin Liška, MEP Assistant, Radka Maxová, MEP, and Ondřej Knotek, MEP

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EU

matters business

Did you know that?

Safer internet payments On 14th September, the new Payment Services Directive which should ensure safer internet payments within the internal market came into effect. The directive introduces stronger customers’ identity verification as they will need to identify themselves by combining two identity verification options which include a password, a PIN, a mobile phone or a fingerprint. Such a procedure should lower the number of frauds caused in online payments.

10 million tons of recycled plastics to be used in new products by 2025 More than 100 public and private stakeholders covering the entire value chain signed the Circular Plastics Alliance on 20th September. It aims to use 10 million tonnes of recycled plastics in Europe by 2025 to produce new products. This is a voluntary initiative, but the Commission has already anchored the goal in its Plastics strategy last year. The declaration contains concrete activities that should lead to this goal. These include improving the design of plastic products to make them easily recyclable, finding untapped potential for better collection of plastic waste, or introducing a transparent EU plastic waste stream monitoring system.

Commission wants to bring transparency to food prices The European Commission confirmed that by 1st of January 2021 it would take measures to increase price transparency in the food supply chain. The aim is to gain an overview of the prices of agri-food products in the various stages of the supply chain, thus clarifying how prices are determined. The measures will cover meat, milk and dairy products, wines, cereals, oilseeds and protein crops, fruit and vegetables, olive oils and sugar.

Energy taxation rules are out of date In September, the European Commission published a study showing that the rules on energy taxation do not have the same positive benefits as when they were introduced in 2003.

The study specifically focuses on the Energy Taxation Directive and states that the EU energy policy framework and targets regarding the climate protection have changed significantly over the last 15 years. The Commission further notes that the different rates of energy taxation in the Member States are inconsistent with other EU instruments and contribute to market fragmentation. According to the study, the directive also does not reflect the current supply of energy products in the internal market.

More money for research and students’ mobility Members of the European Parliament approved an increase of 80 million EUR for this year's Horizon 2020 budget for research projects and 20 million EUR for the Erasmus+ Youth Mobility Programme.

In another vote, they agreed to return 1.8 billion EUR to Member States from the 2018 budget in the form of a reduction in the countries' contributions to the EU budget. The Commission reallocates

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the surpluses on a regular basis. They arise from interest on late payments or fines imposed by the Commission, as well as from insufficient use of EU programmes’ budgets.

Let´s talk numbers!

Czechia shows the highest number of vacancies again According to the European Statistical Office Eurostat, the highest number of job vacancies within the EU in the second quarter of 2019 was recorded in the Czech Republic (6.2%), Belgium and the Netherlands (3.4%). On the contrary, Greece (0.7%), Bulgaria and Spain (both 0.9%) showed the lowest numbers. The EU average was 2.3%.

Production in construction decreased in July The European Statistical Office Eurostat reported that in July this year production in construction fell by 0.7% in the euro area and 0.1% across the EU compared to the previous month. The largest decreases were recorded in France (-4.2%), Slovakia (-2.0%) and Poland (-0.6%). On the other hand, the production grew the most in Hungary (+9.6%), Romania (+4.1%) and Portugal (+2.3%).

Compared to July 2018, production increased by 1.1% in the euro area and 1.7% in the EU28.

Kočín electricity substation to receive 46 million EUR The European Commission announced that 46 million EUR will be allocated from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for the modernization and expansion of the Kočín electricity substation in South Bohemia.

The project should be completed in 2023 and its aim is to increase the energy security of the Czech Republic and improve the quality of supplies even in extreme conditions. In addition, the project will improve the capacity of the Czech Republic to draw energy produced from renewable sources from neighbouring countries.

Annual labour costs grew by 2.7% According to Eurostat, annual labour costs increased by 2.7% in the euro area and 3.1% across the EU in the second quarter of 2019 compared to the previous quarter. Costs increased the most in Romania (+12.4%), Bulgaria (+11.0%) and Slovakia (+10.6%), while the least in Portugal (+ 0.9%) and Malta (+1.1%).

VAT gap still huge in the EU The European Commission released a study showing that the difference between the expected VAT revenue and the amount actually collected in the EU in 2017 was 137 billion EUR. Although the so-called VAT gap has been reduced compared to the previous year, it is still very high.

According to the Commission, this figure shows the need to reform the EU VAT collection rules.

Romania (36%), Greece (34%) and Lithuania (25%) recorded the biggest VAT gap, while Sweden, Luxembourg and Cyprus (all 1%) had the smallest one. In absolute terms, the largest VAT gap was recorded in Italy, namely 33.5 billion EUR.

CZECH&SLOVAK LEADERS III/2019

In the world!

EU customs seized goods worth 740 million EUR in 2018 The European Commission released the results of a survey showing that last year the amount of counterfeit goods imported into the EU increased compared to 2017. This is mainly due to the increase in counterfeits in small parcels. While 57 433 of them were seized in 2017, last year their number increased to 69 354. In 2018, customs authorities managed to seize counterfeit goods worth 740 million EUR. The most often counterfeited goods included cigarettes (15%), toys (14%), packaging materials (9%) and clothing (8%).

EU is the biggest exporter of agro-food products A study released by the European Commission shows that EU remains to be the biggest exporter of agro-food products in the world.

These products represented 7% of the whole EU exports in 2018, making it the 4th largest export category. The exports mostly headed to the US, China, Switzerland, Japan and Russia, with a total of 40% of exported agro-food products.

EU ready to lead the world fight against climate change At the UN climate summit in New York, European Council President Donald Tusk reaffirmed the EU's commitment to tackle the climate change.

Tusk said the EU would exceed the carbon dioxide reduction targets and would produce 45% less emissions by 2030 compared to 1990. In addition, at least 25% of the long-term budget for 2021-2027 will be earmarked for climate protection activities. The EU's long-term goal is to go climate neutral until 2050, which is supported by most EU Member States.

2 years anniversary of CETA On the 20th of September, the EU and Canada marked the second anniversary of the provisional entry into force of the EUCanada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). During the first year of the provisional application, EU goods exports to Canada increased by 15%. The highest increases in exports were registered in the sectors like railway and tramway locomotives (up by 87 %), citrus fruits (up by 78 %), jewellery (up by 65 %) or toys, games and requisites (up by 30 %).

1 billion users of Galileo worldwide Europe's Galileo navigation system reached a significant target on 10th of September with 1 billion mobile users. Today, 95% of chip-makers use smartphones that enable Galileo signals. Only mobile phones sold worldwide account for the 1 billion users, but there are even more real Galileo users. For example, every new car made in Europe has a built-in eCall system that also uses the Galileo system.

Brought by CEBRE – Czech Business Representation to the EU

LAUERATE OF THE PRESTIGIOUS FRANZ KAFKA PRIZE

P hoto : K ristýna S vobodová

Czech & Slovak Leaders III/2019

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019

We Are All Europeans Vazil Hudák, Vice President of European Investment Bank

available worldwide online P hoto : V ojtěch V lk

www.czechleaders.com incl. electronic version Praha I Bratislava I Brno I Ostrava I Plzeň I Liberec I Olomouc I Hradec Králové I České Budějovice I Pardubice I Zlín I Jihlava I Karlovy Vary I Mladá Boleslav