As a youngster, I was interested in sports and music. After several severe sports injuries I concentrated in music and started playing bass guitar in a heavy metal band. The time was about long hair, a street-cred attitude, and passion. Both genres gave me many valuable teachings of teamwork, which has been my ideal throughout my career.
Our hard rock band was a garage band of young kids, and we had no sound system. Hence, my dream was to build one by myself! To be able to do that I decided to start learning about electronics – and ended up studying power engineering. After graduation, I worked two years within micro-SCADA and protection systems as a substation automation designer and thereafter, gained further knowledge in other, big, and international companies in the electrification industry.
It was in 2005 I started at Ensto. I was working elsewhere as one day I received a phone call from a headhunter. Somehow, the stars were in a good position as I decided to check the company – and have not regretted it. I already had a long experience in the industry in Czech and still, Ensto was able to convince me. The business seemed very interesting but most of all – to be honest: I just got the feeling: This is it! After 18 years in sales, I started as the Managing Director of Ensto Czech in summer 2022.
There are so many different styles of leadership. Mine is not through power but through discussing, trusting, and coaching. And above all: doing things together as a team. Titles are not important to me, and I love working as one of the colleagues, part of the team. Especially in a small team like Ensto’s Team Czech we need to work closely together towards common targets. We help and stand in for one another, be it a flu, a business trip or just a busy day. And I guess you know that we do it all for the customers. I love the word teamwork as it tells what is important: it’s all about us together.
We have done a huge job in earning our customers trust – and that work never ends: it is about keeping the promises every single day. Here we come to Ensto's values which are woven in everything we do. Our aim is to be a good supplier for the distribution system owners and even though there are 3000 suppliers on the market, we have become one of the trusted and best for our customers. We can offer them a very profitable, agile partnership with efficient processes and services and our mission is to become one of the strongest suppliers in our markets in a world where everything is changing constantly. That is why we all the time listen to the customers, study new markets, and implement our knowledge in the business.
Ensto has a strong role in tackling climate change with our smart products and solutions, and I think that is the way all companies should act. All our products must have certain added value for the customer. I have noticed that the Finnish and Czech people think alike: it is always possible to develop the way we do things – a bit cleverer. We are allowed to step out of the box and try new ways – as long as the direction is correct. This is the only way to always be able to serve the customers in the best possible way and offer them the best possible products that help in saving our environment.
I really like Ensto’s family business atmosphere. The colleagues are super nice, and ready to share their skills and knowhow. Not once during my Ensto years have I met someone who would not have been willing to give their effort for the common good.
Today, I am 49 years old and a father of two happy sons. I find it very inspiring to meet interesting new people, to discuss with them and to get new aspects and things into my life. To relax and rewind I still love doing sports and listening to music omnivorously but do not play bass anymore. My bass guitar is today in very good hands as I gave it to an ex-colleague who plays in a band consisting of members from the electricity industry. The free time is filled with my sons’ school duties and football couching, team sports (ice hockey, football), and listening to music and spending time with friends.
Michal Kostal
The writer of the blog works as the Managing Director of Ensto in Czech.