Tomislav Vuić, CEO of HPB: Better any decision now than the smartest one too late

Tomislav Vuić, CEO of Hrvatska poštanska banka, has been in banking since 1996. The first bank he worked at was Trgovačka banka. We spoke with Vuić about how his career has developed.

• When and how did you enter management? What was your first work experience?

I entered management by chance when the Deputy CEO of Trgovačka banka, Damir Odak, was to go for a year of training in America, and the shareholders could not agree on who could replace him, so the job was offered to me, a lawyer who represented both the bank and the shareholders, for a year, and I stayed for 21 years.

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My first work experience was as a trainee lawyer in one of the best law firms of the former state, Žurić and Zadravec. I carried mail and obtained various documents from the land registry, cadastre, and other state institutions. However, I had work experiences during my studies before that, but they were mostly less sophisticated than the aforementioned.

• How did your business career in banking progress?

I was the CEO of Trgovačka banka for a year, and for the rest of the time, I was the executive director and a member of the management board. The bank was bought by Erste, and I became the president; when we merged with Bjelovarska and Čakovečka banks, Petar Radaković became the president, and I was his deputy. When we bought Riječka banka, Radaković went to be the CEO in Rijeka, and I was the CEO at Erste for a year, then again a deputy until 2014 when I became the CEO of the largest bank in Croatian ownership – HPB.

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I entered management in my early thirties, without wanting or planning it, and it was a big step. I was practically in all management bodies of Erste holding, which gave me the opportunity to see new things, as well as the position of president of the supervisory board of Diners Club through which I gained some experience working with Americans and Russians. However, the most important position for me is being the CEO of the largest bank in Croatian ownership.

• When you look back at managing Trgovačka banka, what was different in management at that time compared to today?

The principle of collecting deposits on one side and then approving loans with the aim of returning them is the same; everything else was different.

• What is your favorite saying in business?

The sayings I remembered from my presidents are “the road to hell is paved with good intentions,” “an apology is like a backside, everyone has one,” and “a pig rummages in the yard, but that is not work.” In Vienna, I used “the pursuit of perfection is the greatest enemy of practicality,” at the beginning of my career I liked “when it doesn’t work by force, take a bigger hammer,” which I abandoned through sophisticated management development programs, but I still think it is not so bad.

• Can you share an anecdote from your career?

One short Vienna anecdote; at the presentation of the new organization of the Group to the CEOs of local banks, I started my speech by saying that I should learn English because my English is probably not good enough to accurately express my opinion about the new organization, which is artificial, has nothing to do with reality, and it is clear that it was created by back-office directors who have no contact with the market and do not generate revenue, to which the president of Erste holding, Treichl, interrupted me and said: “Ok, ok, we understand, and I ask you to promise that you will not learn English.”

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And one Croatian anecdote where I am neither of the two mentioned. We were returning late at night from a business dinner in Čakovec where there was far too much consumption. The CEO was driving, and in the back seat lay a board member snoring loudly. The police stopped us, and the president said: “I’m sorry, I drank a little, I am the driver, and our president – look at him snoring drunk, he kept forcing me to drink, I refused several glasses, I am a driver – I live from that, but the boss is the boss, so I had to drink a few too.” They let us go without a breathalyzer.

• What are your management principles that guide you in business?

I believe one should be correct, and decisions should be made quickly – a quick decision (if it is not truly catastrophic) and efficient implementation is better than a super-smart decision too late.

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When I choose a person who will be responsible for a project, I try to ensure that it is always the one who has the most interest in its realization, or the one who will hurt the most if the project does not end successfully.

• Have you had older advisors or mentors on your career path, and can you name them? What have you learned from them?

Mentors are extremely important for development, and anyone who can have a good mentor is fortunate. Unfortunately, in the true formal sense – no, but I was lucky to work with people from whom I could learn a lot: lawyer Ratko Žurić – a doyen of our law, bankers Petar Radaković and Damir Odak, all interesting people, different characters, smart and intelligent with a lot of knowledge from whom I could and should have learned more, both good and bad, than I did.

• Do you have a hobby?

I have always listened to music, I engage in sports as much as time, and now age allows, I collect paintings by younger Croatian authors as much as my finances allow, I draw and paint much more in words than in action.