Mirosław Kowalski
By : Greg Goodale
After spending four years in China, where his father worked at the Polish embassy in Beijing, Mirosław Kowalski, 44, went on to study Sinology at the department of economics at Moscow University.
He returned to Poland during the height of martial law, but was unable to make use of his degree. Kowalski then spent three years working at his mothers clothing store and his fathers farm before leaving Poland for Canada, and later, Australia. After working as a waiter for a year, Kowalski received immigrant status in Canada before moving to Nigeria. In Africa he worked as an economist on a World Bank feasibility study on road-construction investment.
To avoid losing his Canadian immigrant rights, Kowalski returned to Ontario in 1987, but found that his lack of work experience in Canada hindered his job prospects. He eventually became an agent with U.S. insurance firm Mutual of Omaha and after three years became the companys district manager for Ontario.
In 1992 he put his experience in North American insurance to work in Poland, a decision he now looks back on with satisfaction.
He returned to Warsaw to set up operations for U.K. insurance firm Commercial Union. By 1998 Kowalski had been promoted from managing director to vice chairman, but after being passed over for the chairmans job, he accepted an offer from Swiss insurer Zurich, becoming chairman of its life and property insurance firms and heading the supervisory council of its pension fund (OFE).
Past notes:
1981 Graduated in Sinology from Moscow University
1984 Emigrated to Canada
1986 Economist for the World Bank in Nigeria
1987 Insurance agent for Mutual of Omaha
1991 District manager for Mutual of Omaha
1992 Managing director of Commercial Union Polska
1998 Chairman of the board of Zurich
Word of advice:
A good manager and a good company needs more than just a mission, vision or strategy, but the ability to execute.
