Paweł Janas, president of the foundation, teacher and social activist, a body administering educational institutions and supporting education. An activist for the benefit of children, family and social integration. An enthusiastic and passionate educator and motivator, a lover and protector of animals, a sports promoter and a popularizer of arts among children and adolescents. A developer of unique projects and new solutions becoming a model in Poland and in Europe. His day seems to last at least a week. His energy is contagious, he surprises with ideas and knows how to implement them. He has just received a nomination for the Lider z powołania title and the SportArt Arts and Sports Kindergarten founded by him was awarded
The Best & More distinction.
Paweł Janas does not spend much time in his office. He prefers being active, doing things himself, overseeing everything, and also “making do” and working with children, as this is his natural environment, as he speaks of his everyday challenges. Recently, after many years of teaching and training, he has been developing his skills as a professional coach. He noticed he is able to achieve outstanding results in that area, helping people who need it at the same time.
“Being a leader must run in your blood, but this is just half the battle”, he stresses. “The rest is, obviously, the upbringing, but mostly self-development, education and experience, meaning the practice.” “Can you count? Count on yourself, roll up your sleeves and get to work”, this is what he says mostly to himself, knowing it is impossible to become a renowned leader without self-improvement. Everybody leads thanks to something else, but for me this is mostly positive thinking. Even if there are any difficult things to do, the positive approach like that provides encouragement to the whole team and the success is at hand’s reach. This is what I teach, also as a coach and motivator, e.g. the Miss Poland candidates. (Paweł Janas has been responsible for the mental training and motivation of candidates for the Miss Śląska and Miss Poland contest for 3 years, being also a jury member).
Paweł Janas has a twin brother, but although they are very similar to one another physically, their careers departed after their graduation from the secondary school. He says this proves his theory concerning the birth of the leader’s identity. One half is derived from the family home, and the other filled with one’s own experience, decisions and actions.
Just like most future leaders, he was a member of the student government in the secondary school, directing some of energy he had always had in abundance there. And although both he and his brother were among the best students, he did not get good conduct grades. He was always all around and he always wanted to do something in his own way. Unlike most his friends, he selected a secondary technical school, a class with an extended programme in IT, and he followed this course during his university studies. He invented his school e-register when he was in his second year of studies thanks to which he won… the heart of a young Polish teacher who became his wife. Although he had already run his own company for a couple of years then, he knew the IT sector was not for him. There was too little humanism in it. This is why he graduated also from Special Needs Education and Resocialisation, Management in Education, Pedagogical Therapy, and even Preschool Education. He had an inborn vocation for those majors as his family is composed mostly of people “serving others”, including teachers, physicians and uniformed service members. He was young, capable and ambitious, but the home was not rich. Initially, he worked for various corporations. He was successful in several different sectors, where he e.g. implemented information and security systems in the IT sector, but he became also a licensed financial advisor. He had always been a gifted speaker, making him a splendid reseller which was recognised by his superiors, offering him fast promotion in the corporations. He claims that everything in life is based on selling anyway. It is important the transaction is fair and beneficial for both parties. Whoever has ethics, subject-matter expertise and experience, stands a chance to be successful in any sector. “For example, I have not changed my phone number for 20 years and I always say what I think and feel. Honesty and frankness do not always pay off, but they are always appreciated by valuable people.” His slogan #goodreturns proves itself perfectly here.
How to acquire such immense experience in such a short time? You need to start early and preferably in many areas. “I learned and worked at the same time, and I started my first business activity even before I entered the university, so today, when I am not forty, I can boast of a twenty-year business experience and successes in several absolutely different sectors.
He came to be a teacher from a socio-therapy centre where he learned to communicate with difficult young people on a daily basis for 5 years and after he graduated from Resocialisation, he even accepted the role of a guardian. He occupied that position for 7 years, though he considered it to be rather a mission as it was more of a community service. He believes those years taught him life and offered the best pedagogical practice.
But where is the businessman? He does not like this word as he does not identify with it. However, he was taught the entrepreneurship by his… mother. In 1990s, right after Communism was overthrown, she run several different activities, teaching her children involuntarily. “How often do we forget today, when bringing up our own children, that money and success result usually from hard work?”, he asks rhetorically. The work is not everything, it is worth pursuing one’s own objectives and ideas in it. Having obtained a diploma and experience in the secondary and university education and also having won several awards and distinctions (the Award of the President and the Minister of Economy), he decided to change a lot here. Although in 2012 he had already had many years’ experience and his own company, he was successful in many areas, and his mother was approaching the retirement, he founded SportArt with her. The last member of this trio was his sister-in-law. This combination turned out an outstanding success which is confirmed by every reward and smiling child. This year, after 30 years of existence of Teraz Polska competition, his company was the first finalist in the educo sector of this most famous Polish plebiscite. He dedicated this success to his mum who died too early in 2019 (*).
The social mission he had always felt brought about other educational enterprises. He founded SportArt which operates seven kindergartens and 3 crèches with close to 550 children. He crushed the existing monopoly and started the avalanche of non-public facilities in Tychy. He is not afraid of the competitors, but he respects them. As he says, “I do not think we are perfect, but we try to be the best”. He likes to combine and create common solutions. Pursuant to the agreement with the Municipal Office of Tychy, the kindergartens operate as public facilities and do not get fees from children in their care.
Such a person attracts people equally ambitious and hard-working as himself. Particularly young people climb up their career stages and find fulfillment here. With them and other NGOs, he started the MultiIntegra Foundation dealing with the development of children and adolescents via different sports, artistic and integrative projects etc. The foundation offers many cost-free projects and cooperates with numerous partners and ambassadors. They include e.g. mime Ireneusz Krosny, Olympic multi-medal winner Karolina Naja, Broad Peak ascensionist Artur Małek and well-known representatives of Poland, Mariusz Czerkawski and Radosław Gilewicz. It was thanks to their support and, primarily, the projects of the Ministry of Sport and the City of Tychy, that it was possible to organize e.g. the Guinness record breaking in the Municipal Stadium in Tychy in 2018. The foundation knows how to return a favor. Its wards from the Młode Wilki project join the GKS Tychy club and thousands of schoolchildren in Tychy practice sport within the Sportlandia project. MultiIntegra grasped also the theatre in Tychy, called Belfegor, which has existed for many years, staging successful new plays for adults and preparing performances for children. It gets involved in versatile help for inhabitants on a daily basis.
“In this way, my TEAM combines the implementation of their own objectives and ambitions with the pro-social ones”, Paweł Janas stressed. “Activities for others is of particular importance today, in the times of pandemics. This is why our charity campaigns are so abundant now. We deliver free food to children and physicians in need, we offer masks, create educational platforms for children and teachers, organize virtual events and provide actual help.
He loves animals. At home, together with his daughters, he takes care of several wild educators, including chameleons, turtles, geckos, agamas, snakes, guinea pigs, chinchillas, degus, canary birds, mice, a large “Swiss” dog therapist Kazan (Young Champion of Poland) and a white-bellied hedgehog which has inhabited his home for some time! All that to teach not only biology, but also respect, responsibility, empathy and care.
He appeared on stage in various theaters, he sings, dances, writes scenarios, knows a lot about construction and speaks three languages. He is a true Renaissance man. It is probably easier to list what he does not know how to do. He admits he does not know too much about cars. This may be a bit of a pity as, knowing his enthusiasm, he could create the much-deserved Polish Tesla at last. In his free time, he goes yachting, scuba diving and plays football in the Oldboy team of GKS Tychy.
And although Paweł Janas is always busy, he plays also his role of a father of three, including the youngest one, a year and a half old, called “Johnny” diminutively (for Jan Paweł). His good organization skills and positive thinking help him embrace this busy world but it is probably easier when you are a born leader. What is more, Paweł Janas keeps reminding that #goodreturns which he is a proof of. •
Piotr Góralczyk
Beata Sekuła
