Today we bid farewell to an outstanding and good man, a friend to many of us, a father, a son, a brother and a husband to those closest to him; a demanding yet understanding leader, and a true mentor who did not manage people, but inspired them - inspired all of us at MakoLab.
When, 17 years ago, I invited Wojtek to take over the helm of the company, MakoLab was still a small and not fully well-organized organization. Over the years, he gave it structure and introduced principles that allowed it to grow and develop in a stable and predictable way.
Wojtek once described this beautifully himself:
“I feel like the conductor of an orchestra in which everyone works toward the perfection of the final sound. I want it to become a true concert.”
And so it was. From a small Łódź-based ensemble we were in 2008, we became a well-coordinated orchestra, playing in harmony. It is an unimaginable loss for us that the concerts to come will no longer have a conductor like Wojtek.
Today, Wojtek is bid farewell by the entire MakoLab team: the Management Board, the Supervisory Board, and the Company’s shareholders.
Yet let us listen once more, in one of his letters to us he once wrote:
“The boat continues its journey smoothly toward its destination; the helmsmen and sailors are doing their jobs, so the captain can allow himself a moment of broader reflection.”
The meaning of these words feels profoundly powerful today.
Wojtek taught us principles and values, and he was never afraid to do so. In his words, they were never empty slogans nor hollow pathos. He once expressed them to us like this:
“Allow me, at the threshold of the New Year, to recall the values of MakoPeople:
FREEDOM, responsibility,
HONESTY, integrity, sincerity, truthfulness,
GROWTH, fulfillment, knowledge,
FAMILY, health,
TRUST, respect, openness, dialogue, tolerance.”
Wojtek was a man of action, but also a man of words, a man of books.
Every year, he would gift books to several employees, carefully selected, most of which he had read himself.
Almost every week during the difficult time of the pandemic, he wrote to us “How things are, and what comes next” - reflections of the CEO at the close of the week. It is from those writings that the words I recall here today come.
Today, the book of Wojtek’s life and deeds comes to a close. But it does not cease to exist. not only in our memory, not only in digital spaces, but in some unspoken way that makes Wojtek remain with us forever.
In closing, let me recall one more extraordinary thought whose meaning we perhaps understand only now, standing here by Wojtek’s grave:
“Crises pass. But let us remember that what matters in life is not only whether we survive them, but also what we learn from them.”
We will not forget, Wojtek. You will remain with us always.
