“Leadership is not about titles. It’s about who steps into the gap between what is and what could be.” – Leonard Mazur
On May 16, 2025, students of the master’s program MSc in Managing Impact-Driven Organizations of the UCU Business School took part in a special educational module devoted to the theme of values-based and innovative leadership in turbulent conditions. The CEO of the UCU Center for Leadership, Andrew Rozhdestvensky, led the second part of the module, but one of the speakers was Leonard Mazur, a Ukrainian-American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and Chairman of the Board of Citius Pharmaceuticals. And he is also someone whom the community of Ukrainian Catholic University considers a friend.
The online meeting with the special guest, held in the format of an open discussion with students, was one of the outstanding events of the module. It combined deep, lively wisdom, relevant management practices, and a sincere call to form a new generation of leaders in Ukraine, not only effective, but responsible, visionary, and resilient.
At the same time, it was far from an “ordinary” meeting. It sent a message to those who have taken on leadership in times of deep transformations. And today we want to share some of the keys ideas of Leonard Mazur, a person who does not teach leadership but himself in a direct incarnation of it.
A life rooted in values: Who is Leonard Mazur?
When the students of the master’s program MSc in Managing Impact-Driven Organizations of the UCU Business School heard Leonard Mazur online, they did not simply hear a successful business story. They became acquainted with a person for whom leadership is the continuation of a biography and not only a collection of instruments.
Born in a camp for displaced persons in Germany, he grew up in the USA and built a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry. At 50, he started his own business, which transformed into Citius Pharmaceuticals, an innovative public corporation in the area of oncology and critical care medicine. At the same time, he has supported Ukraine since 1991, at the start as an independent observer in a referendum and, eventually, as a philanthropist, donor, and strategic ally.
“It’s not politics. It’s morality.” He thus explained his participation in helping wounded Ukrainian soldiers whom he personally helped transport to the USA for prosthetics and rehabilitation.
Leadership not as a concept but an action: Five pillars of character
Leonard Mazur stated that he doesn’t believe in leadership as a collection of slogans. For him, it’s the daily practice of responsibility. His model is character-driven leadership, in the fullest sense.
Here are five qualities which he considers fundamental:
1.Empathy. You can’t lead a team without understanding its emotional state, especially in a time of changes, layoffs, and crises.
“Sometimes you don’t need to give people a prize but simply a week to recover,” he explained.
2.Resilience. Biotechnology is 90% failures, and each of them teaches more than any success.
“Failure is not simply a ‘possibility.’ You have to learn how to lose but not stop.”
- Decisiveness. It’s important to act, even when information is incomplete.
“There will never be an ideal moment. Make a decision. If you make a mistake, admit it, correct it, move forward.”
- Integrity. This is not simply ethics – it’s integrity in everything: words, actions, strategies.
“Reputation is social currency. If you lose it, everything else is pointless.”
- Adaptability. Companies that don’t change disappear. This relates not only to markets but also to leaders.
Leadership in Ukraine is now in the middle of trauma, transformation, and hope.
Part of Leonard Mazur’s talk was dedicated to what it means to be a leader in the Ukrainian context, in conditions of a full-scale war, trauma, loss, and hope.
“Leadership in Ukraine today is moral bravery. It’s a voice that says: ‘We are not simply surviving. We are building something better than we had.’ And this is its defining feature.”
The entrepreneur shared his view of competencies which should form the new wave of Ukrainian leaders:
A strategic view. Leaders must design long-term systems that look beyond the planning horizon, inaccessible to the majority, and not simply solve current problems.
“Vision is the courage to want something on a large scale before it becomes obvious. You always have to ‘peek around the corner.’ Whether you run a large organization or a small team, you need to show the direction. You need to see what others don’t.
“Emotional maturity is needed. War leaves invisible wounds. A leader needs to see this and not be afraid to work with sensitivity.
“And global awareness. Ukraine is not an isolated territory. You need to know how to dialogue with investors in Germany, regulators in Brussels, and clients in Odesa.
“A capacity for ethical acts. In critical situations, decisions should not be made by algorithm but by conscience.”
AI is not a substitute for a leader but a mirror of his values.
Artificial intelligence, in the words of Leonard Mazur, is not an answer but only an instrument which emphasizes the quality of a person’s decisions.
“AI can optimize but cannot determine a priority. It doesn’t know what is good,” he emphasized.
For young managers who are building organizations oriented to having influence this means: The future of technology does not depend on technical decisions but on the moral quality of the leader who introduces them.
From success to influence: Why true leadership is always about others.
One of the most powerful parts of the talk was Leonard Mazur’s response to a question about motivation. He shared a story: In his youth, when he couldn’t pay for his studies, the owner of the furniture store where he worked handed him a check and said: “Write down the amount you need. Pay it back when you can.”
“This action formed me. And I decided that I will always give to others. Because success is not the finish line. It’s the start of responsibility,” he replied.
He also answered a question about developing leaders in his company: not with training, but with trust and opportunities. He gives more autonomy to those in whom he sees potential, brings them into the Board of Directors, and challenges them.
“I don’t shape leaders according to a template. I give them the opportunity to grow into something bigger. You should try this.”
Ukraine as a place for a new type of leadership
In conclusion, the philanthropist gave the students a recommendation:
“Ukraine is now in the gap between what is and what could be. And it’s you, this generation, that will determine if the country will be resilient, moral, and competitive.
“And that’s not simply a metaphor. It’s a challenge. It’s trust in those who sit before the screen, leaders who are thinking not about status or influence or profit but about rebuilding the fabric of society.”
