Mastering and managerial and leadership skills are what make MIM-Kyiv programs valuable in our alumni opinion. Vitaly Senchuk, CEO of the EKNIS-ENGINEERING company, and a graduate of the Pre-MBA “Business” proved that by his own experience. He started his career as a hard-core engineer and made his way to a top managerial position. He shared his experience.

On my career

I joined EKNIS when I was a student. In eight years I was promoted six times. In 2015 I was appointed the CEO. It was quite a twist for me. When I started my career I wanted to be an engineer. I even told my bosses that I did not care for their managerial shenanigans. Most engineers are not interested in processes. After my latest promotion, I had been more or less coping for a year and then understood that I need more managerial knowledge and skills.

On Over Achieving

People have various reasons for taking the Pre-MBA programs. Some are looking for networking opportunities, some are after emotions, and others are looking for knowledge. I was keen on acquiring new knowledge. However, when I understood that I have other needs as well. Like many engineers, I was not very much a people person. Due to my studies at MIM-Kyiv I advanced in dealing with people. I have applied at my work everything I learned.

On application of new knowledge and skills

MIM-Kyiv changed my mindset. We used Adizes’s corporate lifecycle approach to scaling and improvement of processes. Understanding our point of lifecycle helped us to identify which managerial competencies we lacked and started developing them. With only 64 people in the company, we ran business less smoothly than now when we have twice as many employees and well-established processes.

On crisis as a test

I understood that we are going to face the crisis in 2020 - 2021 when I was studying at MIM-Kyiv. COVID pandemic merely accelerated everything. It was a time when our investing in management showed returns. We were expecting the worst. However, in three months we were recruiting more people. We were expanding our customers’ base, recruiting better customers, improving our quality. We did our best to survive and try to thrive rather than sink.

On values

I have always been a company man. I am not 100% happy with myself as a manager. I am striving to do more and to do better. It is exciting for me because my values are similar to the values of my company. Understanding your values and drivers is critical. Currently, another segment is growing. That segment requires different approaches to managing people. Such situation challenges because I believe that keeping values is one of the most important tasks of managers.

On people and leadership

Companies’ performance much depends on the values of their managers. I thought it was true for Europe but not for us. But management principles turned out to work as the course of nature. If companies’ morale is high, the processes are right, and people fit they work much better than competitors. People, processes, innovations, and hard work make market leaders. Our market is growing and so do we.