Agnieszka Ciecwierz

The only thing that will stop you from fulfilling your dreams is you.- Tom Bradley

GENERAL QUESTIONS

1.What does AIESEC mean to you? What has changed in you since you joined AIESEC?

I joined AIESEC without any previous knowledge about the organization. Before joining in, I was already a leader (I worked as a tour leader), but I was considering myself a bad leader: always trying to get things done my way, never asking anybody for permission and never ever asking anybody for help, thinking I can do everything better myself. When I came back from my GCDPs, I decided to join AIESEC on a local level with two clear objectives: 1) to learn to work on my character traits to become an awesome leader in the future 2) to improve the EP reception, because during my GCDPs I found out that it doesn’t work as it should.

As soon as I got back to Poland, I got in touch with the LCVP ICX to ask what I shall do now.

They told me I could be anything, so I became an OC. As an experienced retournee (2 DTs), I was offered a position of the team leader but I rejected it. I wanted first to see if I am capable of giving others the benefit of the doubt and actually delegate tasks. In the meantime, I was learning to be a team member, to work as a team and to rely on others. Having observed a lot of mistakes that the leaders were making, I decided to apply for a position of the leader myself to prove, especially to myself, that I am now ready to change my attitude and have an influence on the changes in others. In other words, if I am able to change, everybody is able to change, and this is the message which I will always be passing to other people.

As an OCP I finally got to change a little my attitude. I learnt to delegate tasks (although I still have a need of constant tracking and giving/getting feedback), I found out that I can count on others and that asking someone for help is not the end of the world. Before, I was obsessed with the details, triple checking all my emails before sending, triple checking the punctuation on every facebook event I was making, triple checking if every poster I was making was 100% perfect. Now, I am no longer upset that there are spelling mistakes in the emails me or my OC send to others. I learnt to let it go.

2. What attitudes should leader in AIESEC present ? What would be the characteristics of a perfect leader? Which of them do you posses, and on which you still have to work?

There is no perfect leader, and everybody has their own leading style. In my opinion, a good leader is a person who has a clear objective of the project, has outstanding communication skills, who can manage many tasks at a time and who has a good time management skills. The leader should have a lot of empathy, and should always take into consideration other people’s feelings, fears, limits and weaknesses, in order to be able to boost others to work on them. The leaders should have at

least a little bit of charisma and should practise what they preach. I think they also should be fair, be able to confess that they have made a mistake, and be objective.

My leading style is based on good communication and organization of work. I believe everybody in the team should always be informed about the things going on, and should have clear deadlines and objectives to follow. I try to make sure that everybody knows the general timeline of the project, and I set manageable tasks in order not to overwhelm people with the amount of work. I think the best way of knowing what kind of leader one is, is to ask their team members in an anonymous survey.

I still need to learn to delegate tasks and not be in charge of everything. I have to learn to believe that other people can be responsible for their tasks, and stop doing other people’s job just in case they won’t do it themselves. I will also be working on being less of a perfectionist.

3.What is and what should be the role of EB? What will be Your role in LC life as a part of EB team?

The role of EB is to coordinate, manage and track the work of the LC and of the leaders. Each LCVP has also additional, specific role, related to OGX, ICX, Finance, Talent Management, Marketing etc. The EB as a whole is to set an example to the leaders and the OC, and is to plan the direction into which the LC is going. My role in the EB, I hope, will be to improve communication in the LC and try to engage all the members in the LC activities. I would also like to improve the image of the LC on the local market and amongst potential LC members.

4.Imagine, that you can make three changes in our Local Committee Łódż, what would it be and why? Draw main strategies of introducing those changes.

I will definitely want to improve communication, transition and coaching. I would start with regular skype meetings with all the leaders so that everybody knows what is going on in the projects of others. Every leader comes to a meeting prepared, with their week’s summary written down in points on a piece of paper. This way, a meeting can be done in 15 minutes, so it’s not too time consuming. I believe it is especially important for the leaders of projects, who are supposed to cooperate. A better use of the middle management platform is another solution. One of the most important things is a better transition process, ideally in the presence of the LCP or EB, so that the leaders know exactly what they need to do in the projects and how. Also, I think a coach should participate actively in the life of the team they are coaching, and should be a link between a leader and the EB.

5.What are your personal values (min.4) Give examples when you have behaved according to those values.

1) take every opportunity to learn and try new things. I’ve been learning new things every day, and I learn when I am inspired by people: I was taught Buddhism by Buddhist monks, I was taught to play the guitar by a famous Peruvian artist, I’ve been learning Chinese with the Chinese. I am willing to learn everything because I feel it enriches one’s personality and gives a good example to others. Especially to those, who say that they are too old to learn or who are demotivated because they feel they don’t possess certain skills to do something. With my example I try to show that everything is possible; 2) everything is possible, and I really mean it. I have a courage to dream brave dreams, and I’m not scared that they might come true. When I was a child, I was inspired by books about the Inkas and Peru, and I had this desperate need to go to their land one day. I was told the following things: it’s not possible because of the visa (Poland was not even part EU yet), because it costs a fortune, because you don’t know the language, because it’s dangerous, because it’s far away, because the place is full of weird people who walk around with bows and poisoned arrows. The more stuff I heard, the more reassured I was to go there one day.

So I started the preparations. I saved money (6 years), I learnt Spanish (5 years), Poland joined the UE in the meantime, and then, finally, in 2007, I was standing on the mountain looking down at the Machu Picchu, knowing for sure that there is virtually nothing that could ever stop me from fulfilling my dreams; 3) try not to give up. I learned this in AIESEC; before, when something was going not as I planned, I would give it up. I gave up my first studies, which I regret till now, and which I will probably continue after I retire. I learnt to finish what I started, and finishing a task gives me a lot of satisfaction; 4) don’t do things which are against my beliefs, and always show integrity. I know that I don’t have to everything just to blend in, because the world is all about the diversity, and it’s the diversity that makes the world special. For example, I don’t dance AIESEC dances, and I don’t think it makes me any worse than those who do. I take photos in the meantime. I remember I was once almost dragged to the dancefloor by the LCP. The scene was certainly awkward: the LCP tells me - a newbie - that something is obligatory, and I say I won’t do it because it’s against my beliefs; 5) always help others. Whatever I know or learn, I pass it to others. If I could, I would be a volunteer for a living, and I’m inspired by people who devote their life to volunteer. I was hitchhiking in Asia, and I met on the way an AIESEC alumni. He was from Hungary and he was about 35. He was filthy rich, he was a boss of a prospering company, and had a beautiful, loving fiancée. One day he woke up and thought: hey, I don’t want to live like this. So he left everything (including his fiancée), closed his business, packed a backpack and set out to developing countries (Cambodga, Laos, Birma..) to help others. For example, he spent 6

months in an orphanage in Nepal, helping poor children and creating workplaces for them. His life and his job started to make sense, because it was bringing a lot of change to the life of these people. At the same time, he was aware of the fact that he won’t be able to help everybody, but he had this attitude: maybe your action will not make any difference to the collectivity, but it is still worth doing if it makes a difference to one person. I leant this attitude and I believe it makes sense.

6.Write at least 2 actions towards each ELD program that can be undertaken in LC Łódź to improve the quality of AIESEC experience.

Team Member: the most important factor in this experience is the leader, and it’s the leader who can make this experience fruitful or miserable. I think it is a good idea to track the leaders and ask the OC for feedback. A team member should be told from the start that their project is not only about the project but also to learn to be a team member and to develop leadership skills. That’s why there should be more focus on the team building activities, and there should be more time for analyzing the work of the team. Each team member should be aware of their strengths and weaknesses, and should be encouraged to work on their weaknesses using their strengths. Then, halfway through the project, they could already draw some conclusions to see if they made any progress, and by the end of the project they should become independent leaders. Each of the team member should have an opportunity to lead a sub-project: plan it, promote it, realize it, track it and analyze it. The team members should be given as much time as they need to find their way in the organization, and should not be forced to leave their comfort zone too soon.

Team Leader: definitely a better transition should be implemented. Each leader should be aware of all the tools and materials they can use for their project, they should be told explicitly what the potential threats are, which things to avoid, which things to focus on, and which things need improving. Another thing is that there should definitely be more trainings for the leaders, especially in the following areas: 1) how to lead a project 2) possible problems and solutions 3) sales and finances.

Each leader should get at least 3 team members, so that their experience is more fruitful. Based on my experience so far, I think the team leader experience is much better developed in the LC Lodz than the team member one. Maybe that was the point.

GIP: the TN forms should be written really carefully to avoid confusion and disappointment of the interns. We should select the companies carefully, and always make sure that they delegate a person who will be taking care of the intern in the company: who will present the intern to the employees, who would explain the exact tasks they have to do and who will keep a regular contact with the delegated person from the LC, so that we are aware of any possible problems. There should be one person who has an access to a database of all the interns who are in Lodz at a time, so that they can be integrated with the GCDP trainees. When I was seaching the database before going

abroad for an internship, I found a lot of TN forms which were written in a very incomprehensible English, which caused misunderstandings.

GCDP: what should definitely be improved is the reception. We have to raise the awareness of the OC of the ICX projects about the cultural differences. I have a feeling that these projects focus on finding schools and matching the EPs, and then when the project starts the EPs are abandoned. I experienced this kind of attitude in many countries, not just in Poland. We should focus on the quality of stay of the EPs in Poland, because they will go back to their countries and will either recommend us or discourage others to participate in the volunteer programmes. I believe that in some cases, and to some extent, the EP reception is even more important than the profile of the particular GCDP itself.

The leaders of the ICX projects should have experience in dealing with the foreigners, in order to set a behaviour pattern for the OC. At times, the newbies who suddenly meet someone from a different country, present all different kinds of behaviour: sometimes they step back, sometimes they don’t take into consideration the EPs feelings or religion. A good example of this is clubbing and drinking with the Chinese – the mayority of our EPs - , whose mentality doesn’t allow them to say ‘no’ without ‘losing face’. Most of them suffer in Poland. Maybe one day in the future they would want to invest abroad and create workplaces for people. I don’t think they would come back to invest in a country where people who are supposed to show patterns of behaviour do not show respect to their culture. We say ‘be the change you want to see in the world’, but do we really mean it?

I believe the role of the leader is crucial to change this: we should make sure that the EPs don’t feel left out or completely out of place. They are doing their best to blend in with our culture, and we do very little to blend in with theirs, and our excuse is ‘they came to Poland so they should behave as the Polish’. This isn’t a good reception. Instead of making them feel at home, we make them feel as if they were aliens. It has got to change, and it has got to change now. I wish LC Lodz would set global AIESEC patterns and standards for EP reception. This way more people will come back, more people will invest, they will create more workplaces, the economy will grow, thus we will make it a better place to live.

7.How do you as an AIESECer have an impact on the society? Give at least three examples of how you were an agent of positive changes.

1) I was an EP of a project called the Change Agent Project. I stay in touch with two Peruvian teenagers who, when we met for the first time, were stealing in the streets and smoking weed (which they were stealing, too). They are now university students, thinking of taking up a decent, honest job and helping others 2) I showed to many people that they have a lot of opportunities and how to take them. Like a friend of mine, whom I got to know in China. She had always wanted to travel, but was poor,

had poor English skills and no possibility to get a visa. Now, a year later, she is working as a cabin crew flight attendant and is in Europe at least twice a week 3) I know that I had an impact on at least some my students (I used to work as a teacher): I taught some of them about 5 years ago, and sometimes they still ask me for help. I receive a lot of positive feedback, and I hope as an alumni I would be known amongst LC members as an eccentric old lady who is always willing to help out 4) What I really hope is that I had some positive impact on my OCs

Finance

4. What would be 3 priorities for finance area in LC Łódź in the upcoming term? Describe why.

One of the priorities for finance area in LC Lodz in the forthcoming term should be a better cooperation with exterior partners in order to have some of our costs covered. One of the solution could be the continuation of a Host Family project, by which we would save a lot of money on accommodation of the GCDP EPs. Another solution is to look for a media patronage, in order to save money on promotion of our projects, such as Career Days or even the recruitment process.

The second priority in terms of finance should be to increase the number of the exchange forms realized (both incoming and outgoing). That is why we should work on the promotion of the organization, and the money that we save on the accommodation could be used to promote the GIP and GCDP. There should definitely be a globally available website where ex-EPs could post their experience and photos from their internship. It could have a high positioning on the web, so when someone looks for a job or an internship, they will find AIESEC on the first page on google or bing. If it is done on a global level, we could achieve a lot in this field, and I think we would get more applications for OGX.

The third priority, I believe, should be tracking the projects, in order to make sure that they stick to the budget plans and that they don’t have too many unexpected costs. I believe we could follow the pattern of the ESN when it comes to financing: they have external sponsors and partners, and they help each other with the promotion: for example, the ESN gets free SIM starters for the Erasmus, and the Erasmus promote the Heyah amongst the foreigners who come to Poland.

Talent Management

1.Suggest three solutions for keeping the highest retention rate from TMP to TLP. What retention rate would you suggest as our goal?

It depends on the project and on the people. I suggest keeping the team motivated from the start by celebrating each success and maintaining a team spirit. A summary of each week (things we did and they went well) is also a good idea. Sometimes a simple ‘you did a great job, thank you’ and a handshake can do wonders. If the team sees the point of doing each task, they will also see the more general sense of the project and the organization. Also, if they feel they develop and improve in AIESEC, they might be willing to stay. It is important to integrate the newbies with the LC from the start, especially within the first couple of days after the conference. When it comes to the retention rate, I think ‘hope for the best, prepare for the worst’, which means 75% would be okay and I aim at it, but I am also prepared for the 25% rate.

OGX

4. Please name three strategies in order to increase numbers on OG GIP.

The promotion is a key. If we work on the AIESEC brand, we will have a better recognition and as a result, more applications. We could look for external financial partners who would help us with the promotion. We should definitely promote more on the internet, which doesn’t require a lot of money.

We could look for media partners too.

ICX PREFERABLE AREA 1

3. In your opinion, what are the main benefits for companies who are cooperating with GIP program. Suggest at least 3 ideas how to improve positioning GIP program in external environment as First Choice Partner.

I think everything depends on a particular GIP partner’s current needs, and it should be approached this way. Probably the biggest mistake that can be done is trying to sell blindly our products without basing it on a research of the needs of each company. I believe the common benefit for every company participating in the GIP programme is a company promotion. They will automatically be more attractive as a potential partner or employer if they offer an internship and if they offer it to the foreigners too. Also, they could promote themselves as an international company, which supports cross-cultural work experience.

The second important benefit is that by taking an intern, a company gets a wider perspective in the field, learns new solutions and gets fresh ideas. Also, a company doesn’t have to devote a lot of time to search for an ideal intern, so they save a lot of money and time on a recruitment process – it’s AIESEC that does the work for them, and a company only gives their requirements. The key to improve positioning of GIP programmes is a long term cooperation. When a company is satisfied with

the cooperation, they will want more trainees. That is why the selection of LC members who contact the companies, as well as their training, is crucial.

In order to establish cooperation, I think it is necessary to visit a company and sell our products in such a way, that they think that they lose a lot of opportunities if they don’t cooperate. We could also offer extra bonuses to our partners, such as position their logo on our posters or stands during the recruitment. They will know they are special for us, because we are giving them additional things for free.

4.How would you ensure iGCDP projects high realization rate? Suggest three solutions that should be implemented.

I think the most important factor is to have a clear strategy and timeline for each of the projects. If we track it regularly, we will know how intense should the promotion be. I believe it’s a good idea to keep contacting potential EPs via mail or via myaiesec in order to let them know about the projects. The TN forms should maybe have less JDs, and have less requirements, so that more people can apply for each project. If we are interested in a high realization rate (high in numbers, not necessarily high in quality or diversity) we can target our projects to Asia. Let’s face it, Lodz (and Poland) is not the most wanted country for an internship, so we have to find something outstanding, which no other LC has. A good example is, again, the reception – the trainees will recommend us for excellent reception and will send to us their friends. We can also try to be more flexible: if the internship doesn’t meet a trainee’s expectations, we can find them some additional job here, for example ask them to help in our local projects and teams.

External relations

2.What should be the focus of the ER area for the term 13/14 to ensure financial stability of the Local Committee?

The focus of the ER should be brand development and better recognition. Based on my experience of working in AIESEC in other countries (China, Peru), there is a lot to be done in this field in Poland. In these countries, being a member of AIESEC and cooperating with the organization as a company is a sign of prestige. In Poland, we are still underestimated, that is why the external relations are not that well developed here yet. We should select more carefully the LC members who contact the companies and we should probably offer more sales trainings for them. I suggest contacting the ALUMNI, who work in sales or who run a company to conduct a professional training for them, and then we should track the transition process so that the knowledge which is passed to the next ‘generation’ is not lost or distorted. I think we should maybe open less project and have less coordinators, and focus more on the quality of offered products and choose more carefully the

members of the LC – maybe it’s better to have less people but at least be sure that all of them have the same vision of the organization.

Communication/Marketing PREFERABLE AREA 2

3. How would you improve cooperation with student organizations. Please point specific steps that have to be undertaken highlighting the sequence of the actions.

I suggest meeting with the presidents of student societies in order to find common goals.

There are a lot of student societies interested in foreign cultures and literature (British, Asian or Latin American), we could organize together some workshops with our trainees from these regions.

Everybody will benefit from this: an EP will get to know more locals and will be able to present their culture on the academic level, a student society will meet with a real person from the country they are interested in and will get to hear the first hand stories, and us – we could show that we are cool and this way we might get new members.

This would lead to further recognition of the AIESEC brand, and would help to integrate the members of both student societies. Meanwhile, I also suggest cooperating with the ESN, whose profile in certain areas is similar to AIESEC. If we manage to arrange the first meeting and first workshops, I suggest keeping a regular email contact with them, informing each other about the events and participate in them. We can delegate one person who will be responsible for contacts with the student societies, and who will inform everybody about these events.

4.How do you think AIESEC in Lodz could benefit from the cooperation with local government of Lodz (The City of Lodz Office, Marshal's Office of the lodzkie region). How would you improve the relations with them and start constant cooperation? Please specify at least 3 actions.

I believe the cooperation with the local government is crucial for promotion of the projects of the organization. We could promote our initiatives better in the media with the support of the local government, we could get promotional materials, or easier access to the media, or presents for the trainees. I think the most important thing is to establish a long term cooperation with the local government – ideally, one person should be responsible for the contact for at least one year. If this is not possible, we should rely on a very good transition between the people who will continue the communication with them. Another solution is to contact them regularly, as we have projects which repeat every year. This way they will be aware of the continuity of our initiatives and might be more willing to engage in what we are doing. It would be great if the local governments could delegate one person who would be responsible for contacts with AIESEC – this way we wouldn’t have to explain every time who we are.