Roman Rubchenko, Board Member of Professional Government Initiative challenged common stereotypes about personal success and leadership. Roman shared his views on what it means to be successful in life and discussed with the audience such aspects like challenging the status quo, contrarian mentality, structured thinking, perseverance as well as courage and skills to exercise leadership. 

1. Manufacturing personal
success
September 3, 2016

2. Agenda
1. Introduce myself, provide context and set expectations
2. Define success
3. Measure success
4. Choose the right battles
5. Limits to you success
6. Bring it all together
7. O&A
1
2
3
6
4
5
7

3. It is the mark of an educated mind to be able
to entertain a thought without accepting it
- Aristotle

4. It is the mark of wise mind to be able
to entertain a thought without accepting it

5. Who am I
• I subscribe to a view that we are the sum of our experiences
projected onto the world through the prism of our values and
moods
• I am not a guru on success, I speak to you as a person who
likes
– to observe
– to ask questions
– to make things better
1

6. Consider the context for what I will be sharing with you
• I usually oppose – since the young age I remember myself
rebelling against myopic thinking, closedmindedness and
traditions
• I ask many questions
• My background is different
– I left home when I was 13, Ukraine 17, lived and worked in
10 different countries/cultures, visited 65 of them
– I have made a living in 4 professions
1
As a result, my views tend to differ from most views, so
please use Aristotle's advice for the next hour

7. What is your definition of success?
?
2

8. Dictionary definitions success
Merriam-Webster.com
• to do what you are trying to do : to achieve the correct or desired
result
• to happen in the planned or desired way
• to come after (something) in a series
Businessdictionary.com
• Achievement of an action within a specified period of time or
within a specified parameter
Google
• The accomplishment of an aim or purpose.
• The attainment of fame, wealth, or social status.
2

9. My definition of success (deduced from my life experience)
• Success is a victory
• If success is a victory, then successful life is a victorious life
• But life is not one game, battle or competition it’s a chain of
battles which you choose to take on in your life
• Then success in life is a string of victories in the battles, which
you choose in your life
2

10. Constructing a framework for measuring success
If we don’t measure outcomes of our actions why bother acting
Compared to herself the
data shows that she is
successful
Compared to herself I
think she is successful
Compared to others the
data shows that she is
successful
Compared to others I
think she is successful
Objective Subjective
Internal
External
3
Choosing the right KPIs and how to measure them is key for
getting measurable results

11. Unfortunately life is complicated, which does not allow apples
to apples comparison of ones success
• 2 participants doing the same thing at
the same time - the team that wins the
game is a success.
• Many participants doing the same at
the same time – marathon came 4th out
of 50,266 (NY 2013)
• Many participants doing similar theater
play – how do we know that a play was a
success, not so easy (reviews, ticket
sales, how long it has been playing)
• Many participants doing different – the
rest of life situations
More
objective
More
subjective
3
Game
Life

12. How do we compare success of many participants doing
different things
• Even if two people start in the
same place, the life will send
them in different directions
• It will be impossible to
compare them objectively in
order gauge success
• One should choose ones path
with purpose and measure
progress/success vs. their plan
3
Start
Finish

13. The only way to be sure is to measure yourself against yourself
Compared to herself the
data shows that she is
successful
Compared to herself I
think she is successful
Compared to others the
data shows that she is
successful
Compared to others I
think she is successful
Objective Subjective
Internal
External
3

14. Getting to victory Plan vs. Reality
4

15. 4

16. Wait, before we choose what challenges to tackle …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEhSk71gUCQ
4

17. You are where your thoughts are, so make sure your thoughts
are where you want to be
• Do not do what your friends & family tell you
to do
• Surround yourself with visionaries and
successful people
• Use their advice to populate your landscape
of possibilities
• Frame what you hear/read/think in a form of
possibilities not prescriptions
• Carefully analyze the landscape
• Make your own choices & plot your path
Landscape of possibilities How to choose your future challenges
Your goal
You are here
4

18. The Skill vs. Challenge by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
4

19. Its important that next challenge that you choose is more
complex & difficult than the previous one
Time
Difficulty
1
2
3
4
5 6
4

20. When choosing the next node in your life plan analyze inputs
against the Flow framework, then choose & act appropriately
Ask yourself
• How does this
challenge fit into my
long term plan?
• Do I want to take on
this challenge?
• Do I have the skills to
tackle this challenge?
• If yes take it
• If not, where and
how can I get them
• Can I afford to get
them
Go get them tiger
4

21. Skills essential to success
• Structured thinking
• Clear communication
• Problem solving
• Leadership & teamwork
• Courage & independence
• Flexibility
• Mental toughness
4

22. Developing new skills should be second nature to you
• Set goals, but aim for the sun
• Find a mentor
• Invest in yourself, it is the most stable currency available
• Learn new things, but focus on quality & what matters to you
• Knowledge is devalued today, understanding is the name of
the game
• Use your understanding to develop skills
• Build your networks
4

23. Limits to your success, what are they?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX4saxIfPYw
5

24. Limits to your success – there are none!
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--
you're right.” – Henry Ford
5

25. Victory at all costs – don’t do it
• 7 time consecutive Tour de France winner
• Head of a bank branch, to head of the bank, to head of the
National bank to Vice Prime Minister to Prime minister in 4
years
• President of a country vs. 2 time president vs. 3 times and
counting
ALWAYS, do the Wall Street Journal test
5

26. Resume
• Learn constantly to increase choices available to you and build
skills for future challenges
• Measure yourself to yourself
• Reach out for advice, but then set your own goals in life
• Choose your own path to get there
• Take on progressively more complex & difficult challenges
(but stay in the flow)
• Build your support network and use it
• Know it will be difficult and be ready to persevere
• NEVER compromise your integrity
6

27. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference
- Robert Frost
6

28. Q & A
My contacts:
roman.rubchenko@youkraine.org
7

29. • You can reach success in the box that you were born in or you
can choose your own box/boxes and strive for success there. I
like to control my life and early on in my life I opted for
choosing my own boxes.