Dr Oleg Konovalov is a Global Thought Leader, Author, Business Educator, Consultant, and C-Suite Coach with over 25 years of experience operating businesses and consulting Fortune 500 companies both in the UK and internationally. He has been named ‘the da Vinci of Visionary Leadership’ by many leading authorities of our time. Dr Konovalov empowers companies to create and execute their vision, maintain a strong, productive corporate culture and achieve superior business performance.
Dr Oleg Konovalov was born and raised in Murmansk, located in the northern part of Russia, just above the arctic circle surrounded by scenic beauty and wild nature that he thinks was a compelling experience. Dr Konovalov recalled, “I was brought up in the former Soviet Union, where all people were restricted in terms of freedom of their source of what they can do. These restrictions made me think, what I could do differently, or how we could do things differently. It’s like being caged, to be placed in a box in a box and expected to be happy. It wasn’t about happiness.”
He continued, “Kids those days just accepted to be happy. You know how much we understand about happiness when we are kids? Actually, only when we mature we try to find happiness. And then you realize that it’s not about happiness. It’s about freedom.”
Living in the Soviet Union taught Dr Konovalov an important lesson about freedom. Talking on the subject, he said, “There was no freedom there. When you shift to a different place, you realize there is a concept of freedom, freedom of your thoughts, that you can do something beyond your most limiting beliefs, something that has never been explored or done before. And you realize you are capable of it. That has been the main driving force for me, and inspired me to work for freedom and liberty, where no one could tell me you shouldn’t do this.”
In pursuit of more liberating prospects, Dr Konovalov shifted to the United Kingdom when he was 28. And he says that was when he realized the world is much greater than we perceive it to be. He explained, “When we live in one country, we don’t realize much of the greatness of this world. When we move to another country, we learn to think in a different language. So our mind is growing. Our understanding of the world is growing; we become more grateful for our lessons. Yes, we become stronger. And you immediately realize that everything that you have learned was relevant to one country and you must learn again so you can become relevant for a new country and the world at large. And that drove me to study again and again and again and again and again.” Dr Konovalov had previously obtained his Diploma from Russia. However, in his quest for continuous education, he started studying for a Diploma in the UK which led to a Master’s Degree and eventually to a Doctoral degree.
Dr Konavalov describes his work experience as colourful; his first job was at a deep-sea trawler engine room in the United Kingdom which pushed him to cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit, resilience to face challenges and agility to keep evolving. It was during this time that he stumbled upon a life-changing opportunity.
His company was looking for a resource to explore the international market in Eastern Europe. Dr Konovalov grabbed the opportunity by insisting that he had the business competence and the people skills to crack the market. Within no time, he was promoted as the Sales Manager followed by the Eastern Europe Sales Director.
Looking back, Dr Konovalov reflects that it wasn’t the case of merely an opportunity presenting itself. It was a classic case of an opportunity crossing the path of a prepared mind that allowed him to assess the opportunity and leverage it to its full capacity!
Dr Konovalov spent the next two decades holding top managerial positions at Icebrit Limited, SeaForce and Nord Fresh Limited, where he learnt a great deal about crafting effective business strategies and growing companies. During that time, he was also called to share his expertise as a Lecturer and Visiting Professor at various colleges in Russia that would later translate into his passion for consulting companies.
After accumulating tremendous work experience, he said, “I had learnt quite a lot and I was yearning to share my knowledge with others. I decided I will start consulting and help companies do better in their field. Soon my friends persuaded me to write my first book to share my experience with a much larger audience.”
After writing four best-sellers, Dr Konovalov has now written his fifth book, The Vision Code, published in 2021. Talking about the book, he says, “It will be important because we need visionary leadership. It was challenging to reveal the nature of vision, to turn it into a practical business tool, and share the mindset of visionaries with my readers. Because thinking about the concept of vision, and putting that into action are two very different things. This work impacted me more than anything else I have done in my life. And it will definitely help everyone else as well.”
He explained that each one of us has a great asset; that is life itself, but it is given to us, and it is then up to us to make it meaningful. But to do that, we must have a vision, a vision for our personal life and a vision for our businesses. Dr Konovalov said, “Vision is a field that was hardly explored, and I took a risk. And it was quite challenging. Because I think, for instance, when we talk about love, it is too big a concept to explain. I wouldn’t touch it. But most people can hardly explain what love is, it is the same with vision. People had huge difficulties expressing what vision is, how to apply it, how to create it and how to make it.”
Dr Konovalov had a demanding experience articulating the nature of vision but succeeded with an insightful book that has become a pragmatic business tool for managers and leaders all across the world.
In conclusion, Dr Konovalov shares his advice for all budding leaders; he says, “We are greater than we think. We all have visionary traits. And my advice is simple. Don’t allow anyone to silence your vision.”
