In 1792, American founding father Thomas Paine wisely observed: "It is impossible to conquer a nation determined to be free."
Today, we see the same principle in action, as Vladimir Putin’s aggression continues to meet heavy resistance in Ukraine. In the classic “might vs. right,” Ukraine’s defense is mobilized by the will of a people to fight for freedom, defying odds that may otherwise be tipped by scale.
The freedom fighters include Ukrainians who have chosen to stay and fight. And the thousands living in other countries, who have eschewed safety and comfort to join the frontlines. One may be tempted to characterize them as selfless individuals willing to sacrifice their lives.
Instead, Ukraine’s defense highlights the power of purpose. John Allison, former CEO and Chairman of BB&T, now Truist, defines purpose as “making the world a better place, by doing something important to you.”
By exercising the freedom to do “something important to you,” each is upholding freedom in the world. Their actions exemplify the following principles of leadership, human enterprise, and markets in a fight against aggression, just as in business and trade.
Purposeful leadership elicits “Contagious Courage”
Putin may have counted upon pro-Russian sentiment within a deeply divided Ukraine and waning support for Volodymyr Zelensky for a swift victory.
What he encountered instead was Zelensky’s reliance on purpose to unify these divides.
Ranjay Gulati at the Harvard Business School notes that deep purpose leaders frame the question “what’s a business for?” as the ultimate basis for understanding the enterprise, its identity, and its activity. Purpose unifies people with different beliefs and skills, aligning incentives and coordinating specialized activities.
As a war leader standing up to an aggressive dictator, something the world has not witnessed in decades, Zelensky is relying on a moral defense of freedom as a deep purpose.
“You can mediate between countries, but not between good and evil,” he notes. Standing on the courage of his conviction, he rejected the US offer to evacuate him from Kyiv by famously stating: “The fight is here. I need ammunition, not a ride.”
Such courage is contagious. A recent poll finds that 70 percent of Ukrainians believe the country will defeat the Russian invasion. Says mayor, Igor Terekhov, a former member of a pro-Russian faction of Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine with a large Russian-speaking population that was supposed to fall quickly under heavy bombardment: “We will not give up.”
Purpose drives human enterprise
Much has been made of Zelenksy’s past career as an entertainer in his charismatic leadership. But charisma alone can only go so far.
Research by Jane Howell and Bruce Avolio shows that it is the underlying ethics that distinguishes charismatic leaders who create value rather than destroy it. Scholarly work by Ronit Kark, Boas Shamir and Gilad Chen emphasizes that when charismatic leaders tap into a larger sense of identification–to a group or to a cause–employees are more likely to be empowered, rather than be blindly obedient or dependent on the leader. Similarly, John Kotter and James Heskett find that purpose motivates employees and creates meaningful connections with customers.
Such motivation and meaning have driven many Ukrainian expatriates to rise in arms. Alexandr Dolgopolov, a wealthy, retired tennis player, took a crash artillery course and returned to Kyiv. He captioned a photo of a rifle, helmet, and flak jacket: "Used to be rackets and strings, now this." Other sports celebrities include fellow former tennis player Sergiy Stakhovsky and boxing champions Vasiliy Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk.
Approximately 3,000 everyday Americans have responded to Ukraine’s call for international freedom fighters. These warriors include Andriy Penchak, a Pennsylvanian truck driver who used his personal savings for airfare, and Kristofer Kalas, a New York pastry chef who traded his apron for body armor so his child has “a Ukraine to go back to when she's grown up." They also consist of American veterans such as Angelique Osmon and Lane Perkins. Ignoring warnings from the US administration, they are volunteering for the “noble cause,” and risk characterization by Russia as outsider mercenaries facing criminal prosecution.
In stark contrast are the compelled actions taken by Russian soldiers, many of whom have been conscripted for the invasion.
Even those who enlisted seem reluctant to fight, abandoning armored vehicles or surrendering themselves. Military officers’ threats of physical abuse and discipline enforcement are falling on deaf ears, absent a compelling reason for the war and low morale. While Putin’s effort is well-capitalized through heavy military spending, the billions of dollars cannot make up for a fundamental lack of purpose.
Human enterprise leverages the power of platforms in trade and in volunteer movements
Not all heroes wear Kevlar. Enterprising Ukrainians not engaged in direct military activities are critical to the war effort, and their actions demonstrate the power of platforms to facilitate voluntary relationships towards fortifying the nation’s defense.
Platforms enable trade between two parties, as in Uber for ridesharing, or Airbnb for vacation rentals. Platforms can also help solve the world’s grand challenges. For example, mobile money platforms have provided unprecedented financial access to the world’s unbanked poor. Here, my research with Audra Wormald, Serguey Braguinsky and Sonali Shah showcases the success of bottom-up efforts of small, developing country startups. These startups first focused locally on developing areas of expertise, and then leveraged this expertise globally through alliances with established mobile operators in other countries.
The same tenet is at work in Ukraine too, as illustrated by the efforts of Andrey Liscovich, a former Uber executive who returned to his Ukrainian hometown from San Francisco. He quickly realized that his expertise was best of service in providing essential supplies to the frontlines that were difficult to procure due to disrupted civilian logistical chains.
In addition to arms, the Ukrainian movement needed medical and protective gear, along with mundane items such as clothing and flashlights. Using skills honed at Uber to develop a procurement platform for the Ukrainian army, Liscovich has aligned efforts of Ukrainian volunteers and leveraged his US networks in the US to build a platform to match the supply and demand for essential supplies.
In personal communication with my colleague Serguey Braguinsky, Liscovich provides a powerful example of why voluntary trade through markets matters even in wartime efforts. “It was hard to find the right kind of supplies and a commercial facility had exactly what was needed.” There was a debate on whether to just commandeer the supplies, but they decided to pay the price. Two days later, they went to the same facility again–the owners had not only replenished the stock but were eagerly waiting for them. Said Liscovich, “Had they commandeered the supplies initially, that would probably not have happened.”
Human enterprise thrives through collaboration. And collaboration creates value by ensuring the right supplies are available at the right time and place.
In another communication, Liscovich noted the contrast of wasted top-down humanitarian effort. “In Lviv, there are thousands of boxes of humanitarian aid. Nobody has any clue what’s inside. Those boxes get randomly sent in all directions. My military base got baby food and Tampax. Some people from Europe just send random clothes that nobody can figure out what to do with besides mopping the floor.”
Freedom is both a critical driver and an overarching cause
Ukraine's resistance is the quest of a nation to be free from Russian control. And its ability to endure against significant odds rests on voluntary efforts of free individuals who expend expertise and creativity, even at risk of their own lives.
Diedre McCloskey links the great enrichment—a hockey-stick increase in measures of living standards that commenced in the 1800s— to “a new dignity and liberty for ordinary people.” Joel Mokyr additionally showcases how the creation of a market for ideas, wherein the absence of a single central authority and individual freedom enabled diversity of thought and a culture of growth and human flourishing.
Such power of freedom is a timeless principle and defending it as a high value is what purpose is about.
As Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon in The Martian puts it: “Tell my parents, I love what I do, and I am good at it. And I’m dying for something big and beautiful and greater than me. Tell them, I can live with that.”
Ukraine’s defense illustrates why and how exercising freedom in one’s own world is a key feature of human enterprise. Harnessing it through purposeful leadership and platforms that enable trade with other free individuals will be key to achieving the noble cause of ensuring freedom in the world.
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