Value-based leadership

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They founded Člověk v tísni, and Pánek, as a “very young man, became the director of something we didn’t even know what it was – a non-governmental nonprofit organization,” he describes the uncertain beginnings. They thus built not only on the need for shared responsibility and help but also on the tradition of philanthropy, which had a good reputation in Czechoslovakia during the First Republic. This was damaged by the communist regime and, in some cases, still lingers within us today.

When Pánek reflects on the reasons that brought them to the position of one of the largest nonprofit organizations in Central Europe, he returns to the values that fascinated him since childhood. He himself strives to uphold values and value-based leadership in the nonprofit. “It has always paid off for me to explain why we do things the way we do and why we make the decisions we make,” he describes.

Although this path requires time and costs (“...if we want to decide based on values, values do not represent a win-win strategy, that is a big misconception.”), according to Pánek, it pays off not only because of building mutual trust but also in times when companies are struggling. “Value-based leadership is an investment for tougher times,” he adds.

Who is Šimon Pánek?

Šimon Pánek is the co-founder and executive director of Člověk v tísni, a humanitarian organization based in the Czech Republic. Člověk v tísni provides humanitarian aid and support in the areas of human rights and civil society, especially in countries with authoritarian regimes and conflict zones including Chechnya, the Balkans, Belarus, Ukraine, and Cuba. As a student activist during the Velvet Revolution in 1989, Šimon led several strikes against the regime. He worked as a foreign specialist on the Balkans and human rights in Václav Havel’s presidential administration. He is a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations (www.ecfr.eu) and a founding member of the European Partnership for Democracy Council (www.eupd.eu).

From 2004 to 2010, he was chairman of the Czech NGO development organization FoRS (www.fors.cz). From 2011 to 2013, he also served as chairman of the supervisory board of Alliance 2015, a European network of NGOs (www.alliance2015.org). Since last year, he has been chairman of a new institution operating in the countries of the former Soviet Union called the Prague Civil Society Centre (www.praguecivilsociety.org). Šimon Pánek is a recipient of the Medal of Merit of the Czech Republic in 2002 and the European of the Year Award in 2003.