Jiří Koleňák: Welcome to another episode of the Úspěšní (Successful) podcast, specifically a special edition created in partnership with the Czech Management Association, where we invite exceptional leaders who won the Manager of the Year awards. Joining me as co-host is Olga Girslová, President of the Czech Management Association. Welcome, Olga!
Olga Girslová: Thank you for the warm welcome, Jiří. Today, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Lukáš Rudy, CEO of UNIQO Modular. Lukáš’s story is fascinating because he worked his way through every corner of the company—starting on the shop floor, moving into financial management, and today leading the entire enterprise. UNIQO Modular is no longer just a traditional manufacturer; it is creating a modular platform for new, innovative solutions. Welcome to the show, Lukáš!
Lukáš Rudy: Good morning.
Jiří Koleňák: Lukáš, what brought you genuine joy in recent days as a person, rather than as a CEO?
Lukáš Rudy: My recent visit to Signal Space in Prague completely mesmerized me with its stunning light installation. For the past week, I’ve been constantly brainstorming how we could adapt that creative concept for our newly emerging facilities. I hope to share the final result with you soon!
Jiří Koleňák: We’d love to come see it. You often say you are "eternally dissatisfied." What do you mean by that?
Lukáš Rudy: I have an endless drive to improve things, both professionally and personally. For example, when I recently took back management of our company café, I was dissatisfied with the staff's training. My immediate response was spending the weekend on an intensive barista course to master latte art myself so I could train our team properly. Whenever I see something that isn't operating at its full potential, I automatically start analyzing how to make it better.
Jiří Koleňák: Is dissatisfaction always a helpful engine, or can it become counterproductive?
Lukáš Rudy: Everything in moderation, but the boundary can always be pushed. For me, it stays productive as long as driving improvements yields tangible utility. As a trained statistician, I consider 95% a solid success rate—leaving just enough room to keep refining.
Jiří Koleňák: You frequently state that the phrase "it's impossible" doesn't exist in your vocabulary. How so?
Lukáš Rudy: I refuse to accept "it's impossible" when something genuinely needs to happen. It simply becomes a challenge to find the right approach. I live by a piece of wisdom from my father: most limits exist solely in our own minds. The moment you step past those self-imposed mental barriers, solutions emerge that you previously couldn't imagine, making seemingly unsolvable problems manageable.
Jiří Koleňák: As the famous managerial adage goes: "May those who say it cannot be done get out of the way of those who are doing it." You grew up in the business from childhood. Was it harder to take over the company or to shift people's perception of you from "the founder's son" to an executive leader?
Lukáš Rudy: Shifting perception was the single hardest hurdle. I started around age 12, filing binders and handling basic administration, eventually working through nearly every trade in the factory. But breaking out of the job title "the son" took immense effort and time. For years, the workforce viewed my presence as family privilege rather than earned merit. The turning point came during a crisis that demanded extreme effort and dedication; suddenly, the team stopped seeing me as an automatic fixture and started recognizing me as a leader with a clear vision worth following.
Jiří Koleňák: Companies built by strong founders often lack structured management systems. When did you realize the business could no longer run like a garage startup?
Lukáš Rudy: When I stepped into my first C-level role as CFO, the lack of structure was obvious. We were facing severe financial strain, which required immediate standardization and process hierarchy to navigate the crisis. Later, when taking over as CEO, scaling to double the workforce and significantly higher turnover meant we couldn't operate informally anymore. Even today, while we maintain a lean structure without rigid traditional middle management layers, the underlying operational functions are rigorously covered.
Jiří Koleňák: Generational succession is a major focus area for us at Newton University. The primary friction rarely comes from the successor, but rather from the founder struggling to let go.
Lukáš Rudy: We struggled with succession for nearly a decade! My father officially announced his retirement in front of the entire company, naming me as his successor. It was a powerful moment—yet a month later, he was back in the office trying to micromanage decisions. For ten years, we essentially competed side-by-side for operational control, both terrified to go on vacation because the other would remake the facility in their absence!
Once, when I went on vacation, my father demolished the boiler room chimneys—which took seven years to retroactively permit! In response, when he took a two-week trip to Mexico, I relocated a 70-ton machine out of the factory and installed a new one without telling him, even though it was his favorite piece of equipment.
It was dramatic, even though both of us were acting in what we believed was the best interest of the company. The outgoing generation invests decades of their life into a business and naturally fears the next generation will ruin it. Successors lack experience initially and must make their own painful, costly mistakes to discover their own leadership style and vision. It is incredibly tough for founders to sit back and watch that process unfold.
Jiří Koleňák: Successors also need to help founders define their next chapter outside the business. You describe UNIQO Modular more as an innovation platform than a standard manufacturer. What inspired that shift?
Lukáš Rudy: It started from my dissatisfaction with an underperforming supplier who was causing us massive delays. I launched my first internal "hobby project," committing to replace that supplier within a year by building our own window production unit.
Since then, I launch roughly one major internal project every year—incubating independent production units that solve internal supply chain bottlenecks before scaling into standalone commercial entities with external clients.
Jiří Koleňák: In your Manager of the Year application, you detailed how your company responded to the COVID-19 pandemic far faster than market peers. What was the formula?
Lukáš Rudy: Proactive foresight—we don't wait for crises to arrive; we anticipate global signals. Paradoxically, we implemented workplace testing and mask mandates a month before the government officially acknowledged the situation, importing masks directly from China. We follow the German principle of agieren und reagieren: anticipating shifts and preparing operational responses before challenges hit your desk, rather than waiting to react passively.
Jiří Koleňák: When making strategic decisions, do you rely more on data or experience?
Lukáš Rudy: Experience, because forward-looking data often doesn't exist yet. When venturing into uncharted territory, reliable historical data is unavailable. You must evaluate macro-trends, picture the future state you want to build, and pave the path forward through intuitive execution rather than waiting for non-existent statistics.
Jiří Koleňák: You manage these internal spin-off projects like startups. What are the benefits and drawbacks?
Lukáš Rudy: It keeps us agile and prevents over-reliance on our core product. My goal is to take a raw concept and turn it into a self-sustaining business unit with an appointed lead within 12 months. Each spin-off must prove its commercial viability—if an internal venture cannot attract external paying clients or justify an immense strategic benefit to the group within a year, it gets shut down.
Jiří Koleňák: How do you recruit leaders willing to head these new spin-offs?
Lukáš Rudy: Our culture naturally attracts autonomous self-starters. Because we lack rigid corporate hand-holding and formal weekly KPI micromanagement, individuals who thrive on personal agency excel here. Existing team members frequently approach me proposing to turn internal micro-processes into standalone business divisions.
Jiří Koleňák: You noted that innovations stem from dissatisfaction. What are recent examples?
Lukáš Rudy: Our internal electrical division grew out of frustration with external suppliers, leading our engineers to develop a proprietary modular transformer that didn't exist on the market. On a regional level, we built a restaurant in Zlín because top-tier dining options were lacking for client visits, and we are currently constructing an regional innovation hub to connect local agencies, universities, high schools, and businesses to foster future talent in the Zlín region.
Jiří Koleňák: You believe managers carry a responsibility to develop their local region. How does that translate into action?
Lukáš Rudy: Beyond industrial projects, we researched and published a regional Vizovice cookbook to preserve local culinary heritage. We also launch an annual family music festival to rebuild community engagement post-COVID and address regional youth "brain drain." Many young talents leave regions outside Prague due to a perceived lack of culture, lifestyle amenities, and career growth. We are even launching a test-run music venue in Vizovice to give the younger generation local recreational spaces.
On a personal level, neither of my two adult children chose to stay in the region—one moved to Ostrava, and the other is moving to the US. If leaders cannot create an environment that keeps their own children in the region, who will? I feel a deep personal responsibility to drive regional renewal.
Jiří Koleňák: You transitioned company ownership into a family trust structure. What drove that decision?
Lukáš Rudy: Following my father's passing, my brother and I placed the business into a family trust to eliminate potential inheritance disputes and preserve long-term continuity. The trust structure includes unique governance rules: beneficiaries must have children by age 40 to remain eligible, ensuring generational stewardship rather than passive entitlement, and executive management mandates end strictly at age 65. Knowing my executive window is time-limited creates healthy urgency to achieve maximum impact.
Jiří Koleňák: In a world where change is the only constant, how do you manage?
Lukáš Rudy: By avoiding rigid attachment to specific products or legacy processes. If a viable commercial opportunity arose tomorrow to manufacture airships and we could source the talent, we would manufacture airships! As long as we create high-value, useful solutions, we welcome change. We are currently integrating AI tools across all internal operational processes to expand our capabilities further.
Jiří Koleňák: If you had to summarize your business philosophy in a single sentence, what would it be?
Lukáš Rudy: An initiative must be capable of generating invoices through uncompromising quality, exceptional customer service, and premium value-add.
Olga Girslová: Lukáš, what did participating in the Manager of the Year awards bring you personally?
Lukáš Rudy: It forced essential self-reflection. In a fast-paced executive routine, you rarely stop to evaluate 13 years of leadership achievements. Receiving the award validated that our unconventional path was right. Crucially, it opened valuable doors across academia, regional government, and executive peer networks—connecting me with like-minded leaders like Petr Střelec to collaborate on regional development initiatives.
Olga Girslová: What advice would you offer newly nominated executives?
Lukáš Rudy: Embrace the opportunity! Feeling that your leadership journey is incomplete is no reason to hesitate. Joining this executive community provides powerful verification of your direction and connects you with exceptional peers who share your drive to transform the business landscape.
Jiří Koleňák: Lukáš, thank you very much for joining us and sharing your journey and insights.
Lukáš Rudy: Thank you very much for the opportunity!
Jiří Koleňák: To our viewers, thank you for watching. Please like, comment, and share, and see you next time with more inspiring guests!
