Success Stories: Tomas Kolar

CEO, LINET s.r.o.

What post do you recently hold?

I am a Managing and an Executive Director of the company LINET.

What company do you work for? What is it preoccupied with?

I work in the company LINET predominantly active in two areas. We are specialized in the health care and furnishing of institutions such as retirement houses with special beds, nursing care, and health care furniture.

Can you briefly describe your professional career?

I started at the LINET right after my graduation. In my diploma work, I already wrote for the LINET company and my lecturer, Mr. Frolík, was a founder of the LINET. In my thesis, I focused on the development of incubators for children and phototherapy; a special method of treating the icterus neonatorum. Further, I started to work in that field at the LINET. For a first few years, I worked as a Product Manager; Developer; Trader and Service Worker. Our developed product turned out to be a success with excellent sales which started up my further career.

Later, I moved to the marketing where I worked as a Marketing Director. I also dealt with strategy and crisis management; afterward, I became an Executive Director of the whole company.

How long have you been working in the company?

I started right after my graduation, 22 years ago.

What are the most attractive posts you held during your career?

To summarize, every post seemed really interesting for me. For instance, the nineties – era of enormous enthusiasm and opportunities. People still didn’t realize any risks, they didn’t have any obligations, everything seemed easy and quick, without any obstacles.

As our company grew larger, it was new managerial skills. Recent times are, once again, absolutely different, we became a global company, we are for instance dealing with various mergers and acquisitions.

But each period seemed very interesting for me. Although having worked in the same company for years I still enjoy it, I meet new people, LINET is becoming recognized in the Czech Republic as well as abroad, we are dealing wit new fields – that is what really satisfies me. 

What is the greatest achievement in your career?

Definitely, it is an expansion and following success in the US market – I personally designed a project; promoted it and we established there a company; last year we earned over USD 50 million. Simply, it was a start-up with all that it entails. In summary, we earned over USD 100 million in the USA. Our success in the US market which I personally find the most demanding market in the world is the biggest professional achievement for me. We managed to successfully compete with powerful competitors with billion turnovers.

What is the most important project/task you are facing now?

We are planning new acquisitions; implementation to the management of the whole holding group (management of 15 companies). And other companies will join us soon. That’s the greatest challenge for me and I really look forward to.

What do education and personal development mean to you? Why is further education so important for you?

Definitely, I find it really important to educate and develop oneself, or, as it is said in a quote of Mr. Ján Cimrman: “Who stands a while, stands aside.“ I have always said to my children: education is an investment with the greatest return. Everything else has some kind of measurable value which is rising/falling in time, but education is unalienable and if you make use of it, it has the greatest value for you. I hold on this idea and keep on educating myself, for instance, I have got an access to the courses organized by the London Business School and many others and always put money into my personal development. I really enjoy it, it is not about the education itself, rather about the lifelong improvement and working hard on oneself.

“I really enjoyed studies, I also broadened my horizons. I have met interesting people, good lecturers and I am still in touch with some of 
them up to these days.”

Why did you decide for further studies? And why at the LIGS University?

I wanted to study for the foregoing reasons. I wanted to study in the Czech language since I wanted to learn something new, not just to develop my English and our staff manager recommended me to study at the LIGS University.

How do you find your studies at our university? How did it enhance your knowledge?

First of all, I really enjoyed studies, I also broadened my horizons. I have met interesting people, good lecturers and I am still in touch with some of them up to these days.

I am satisfied with studies and therefore my other colleagues followed me.

What subject/field do you find the most contributive/interesting? Simply put, what did you enjoy the most during your studies?

Most of all I enjoyed personal themes, it was something new for me and I really enjoyed it. Or Finance and other fields of studies.

What is your motto?

Life has three principal pillars for me. Business, family and me. All three parts must be in balance . If one pillar isn’t working properly, it also negatively affects others and that’s not good. Of course, it is not so easy and simple to keep all three pillars in balance under any circumstances, but the overall harmony is really important for me.

What is the aim in your life?

Aim in my life, in general, is to leave a good trace for the society as well as for my family.