Page 27 - Ekonomija i Biznis_noemvri 2015.indd

INTERVIEW
The faster we develop the next generation of
leaders that are value-based, the more prog-
ress Macedonia can make
how long have you been doing this? I
actually started this when I was in
graduate school 35 years ago because
I had the opportunity to go to a silent
retreat. At the end of the retreat they
said this should not be a one- time oc-
currence. You should spend 15 minutes
in self-examination at the end of each
day. What happened to me was that
I so much enjoyed taking the time to
think about this once a year, so for the
last 35 years I go to this three day re-
treat in Minnesota. What usually hap-
pens on that annual retreat I ask my-
self the following questions: What are
my values, what do I stand for, what is
my purpose, what really matters as a
father, as a son, what kind of example
I want to send, what kind of a leader do
I want to be?
And then every night I just take 15
minutes. When I say self-reflection
this is not self-absorption, not spend-
ing hours contemplating, but what
are your values and what are you go-
ing to do about it. The questions that
I ask myself are the following: What
did I say I was going to do today? What
did I actually do? What am I proud of,
what am I not proud of? How do I lead
people, how do I follow people? If I live tion of leaders that are value-based,
today all over again, what would I have
done differently in all of the interac-
tions I have had with workers, col-
leagues, family, friends, anybody.
Let us take a wider look. How do
you assess the current condition of the
US economy? What strengths or weak-
nesses do you see now or in the fore-
seeable future?
H. Craemers: Number one, you have
to look on a relative basis how things
are going in the US. Given the chal-
lenges right now in Europe, in Latin
America and China slowing down,
the US looks good on a relative basis.
Growth is lower but pretty steady. The
dollar is strong, the unemployment
rate continues to fall, there is a rea-
sonable amount of stability which at-
tracts investment dollars. However,
you also have to look at the risks. I
think we have a lot of risks in the US
because we still, in my mind, have not
gotten our financial house in order. I
think the deficits that we are running
are high and we are still in a position
where we are spending more money
than we can afford.
Let us go back to your role in the
Macedonian Economic Summit 2015
in Skopje. What will you focus on as a
speaker at the Summit?
H. Craemers: I am very honored to
be able to participate in the Summit.
Mike Zafirovski has been a friend of
mine over the last 10 or 20 years and I
have much respect for what he and his
team are doing. Based on what I have
been reading, I believe Macedonia has
enormous opportunities in the future
as we build more and more leaders.
The faster we develop the next genera-
the more progress Macedonia can
make. My goal is to best as I can really
go through and explain the principles
that are necessary to develop value-
based leaders and how can we develop
value-based organizations based on
the five principles, that are world-
class that will have Macedonia move
forward in the future.
Zoran Jovanovski
November 2015 27