Nordic Leaders

Immerse yourself on a journey of discovery in this conversation about Paradoxical Thinking and Leadership with author and philosopher, Ivo Brughmans. Get ready to challenge your own assumptions and self-perception.Ivo delivers an insightful message about embracing the ‘power of both sides’ of our personalities. Reaching out for the side of our personality that we don’t see or use, or even like that much is truly challenging.As a ‘very serious person at work’, Ivo describes how he managed to combine both professional and playful, in order to reach more people and be more effective. He also focuses on the paradoxical challenge for organisations who struggle to live up to their values and how to be more authentic and effective in that regard. For example, how can a company ‘double the profit and halve the footprint’ at the same time?Ivo introduces his 8 step approach to understanding our paradoxes more deeply and offers personal examples from his own life and career, including;🎙️The Courage to trust our intuition in difficult times. Using our fundamental beliefs and our mission as a ‘compass’.🎙️The Paradoxical Challenge. Using the power of both sides to reach more people with our message and our work.🎙️Accepting our shadow sides.For every characteristic, we also have the opposite in us. Despite their negative  appearance, what is their positive intention?🎙️Reshaping corporate values in terms of polaritiesHow to innovate and create stability? Double the profit, halve the footprint? Ivo identifies how companies can do both at the same time.🎙️AW & AI How to AW (Ancient Wisdom) to manage and master one of our current big question marks, AI ?Discover more about Paradoxical Leadership and about Ivo, here:https://paradoxical-leadership.com Enjoy the episode!

🗨️"Create habits that create a good life." In this episode we catch up with Taneli Rantala, CEO of Lifted, and dip in to highlights of Taneli's journey from a strategy consultant to a visionary entrepreneur.  Taneli´s philosophy emphasizes the importance of leadership style, organizational culture, personal development, and taking hard decisions to create successful, resilient leaders. Listen in to get insights into 🎧Enhancing organizational culture and productivity.🎧Creating a consistent, coherent leadership approach.🎧Developing team "coffee and success" practices for a positive growth culture.🎧Facing business challenges and adapting strategies.🎧Learning from failures🎧Balancing professional identity with personal life.🎧Being the architect of one's life and the power of habits in shaping a fulfilling life.🗨️"We have this habit in our company... We write two positive things about my actions and two feedbacks about how I could improve... It's so great. People share things that they don't necessarily have time or space to share in normal working life." 🗨️"I go through this practice [thinking about something I'm excited about today] and I become more excited about the day... I create habits that create a good life for me because those are pretty easy."🗨️"I realise that my life is in a good place. And I don't have to identify myself through this company... I have other things in my life as good cornerstones... understanding that yes I also have to keep them strong."

A warm and polished performance from Dutch organizational theorist Fons Trompenaars, recognized around the world for his work as a motivational speaker, consultant, and author of several books on culture and business.He spent over 30 years helping Fortune 500 leaders build meaningful connections to manage and solve business and cultural dilemmas to increase global effectiveness and performance.Recognized by Thinkers 50 as one of the most influential management thinkers in the world, Fons was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017 alongside Peter Drucker. Don’t miss this action, learning and wisdom -packed episode, we discuss; •Connecting opposite perspectives to understand and master cultural and political difference - ‘Integrity is creating wholeness through the integration of opposites.’•The four ‘R’ s of culture; a model for navigating the world of diversity gracefully. But how do you, 'Recognize, Respect, Reconcile, and Realize'?•‘Killed by our own values’, how companies can be their own worst enemies, and what they can do about it•'human beings all have the same dilemmas, but it's our culture that guides us one side or the other’. Fons describes exactly how this plays out in the ‘pedestrian dilemma’He talks candidly about humour, failure, learning moments and much more!

Celine Pasula has over a decade of leadership experience in top mobile gaming companies including startups and bigger companies. Today, as the Managing Director of Ubisoft RedLynx, she's working with experiences on all platforms, mobile, PC, and console. Celine is not only an expert in leadership, finance, legal and business development but also in building a great company culture. She is a fast-thinking leader with a big heart for game development. When it comes to gaming itself, she is one of the most competitive players you are ever going to meet!This episode revolves around the need for organizations and individuals to be adaptable and forward-thinking in order to achieve and sustain high performance. Celine speaks about how Ubisoft RedLynx, as an organization, thrives through creating a supportive, flexible, and innovative work environment where individuals feel psychologically safe and motivated to perform at their best.Psychological Safety: Creating an environment where employees feel secure and unthreatened is crucial. This allows them to share ideas, question norms, and suggest improvements without fear of retribution. It cultivates a culture of innovation and performance.Time Management and Thoughtful Planning: Celine emphasizes the importance of deliberate time management, such as setting aside slots for thinking and having clear goals for meetings. These strategies ensure that employees are not overwhelmed and can focus on tasks effectively.Role Modelling and Leadership: Leaders play a vital role in high performance environments. They not only guide and inspire employees, but they also model the behaviours and values that lead to success.Alignment of Personal and Organizational Values: High performance is achieved when there is alignment between an individual's values and those of the organization. When employees believe in the mission of the organization and feel that their work contributes to that mission, their performance levels rise.Work-Life Balance: Finally, maintaining a balance between work and personal life is crucial for sustained high performance. By integrating games and other personal interests into their routines, individuals can stay motivated and avoid burnout.

"Music attracts luck" - Nitin SawhneyIn this episode we have a warm and uplifting chat with Nitin Sawhney, musician, producer and composer, known around the world for his  albums, film scores, DJ skills, and collaborations with Paul McCartney, Sting, Jeff Beck, Ellie Golding,  Annie Lennox, Will Young, Bob Geldof, Andy Serkis, Mira Nair, Anushka Shankar, Nora Jones, Herby Hancock and David Gilmore.  In a wide ranging conversation on music, intuition, collaboration, leadership and learning, Nitin references Beethoven, Pythagoras, Johannes Kepler, Einstein, Michelangelo and Nelson Mandela. This episode is fascinating, packed with positivity and downright good fun. We were thrilled to have such a lovely chap on our show, thank you Nitin! Below some tasters:  Changing your attitude to change your fortunesWhen I let go and stopped fighting, and stopped being angry and frustrated, and instead looked at what I could do to positively to change things, then everything shifted. And it shifted really fast. Within a matter of weeks, I got a new record deal and went from playing to 100 people at the Jazz Cafe, to filling the Royal Albert Hall and playing to 5,000 people, and then touring with Sting.It was a change of attitude. I focused on what I could positively do rather than what I could retain from the past. I just went what can I do? What are the things that I'm capable of? What are the things that I could do to change my situation? What do I have control of? Intuition If you follow your intuition, the universe has a habit of taking care of you. You have to train your intuition and work on it to the point where you feel able to trust it. The more you follow your intuition, the more you end up in a place where you are able to be a medium for possibility.Collaboration John Coltrane said that improvisation was like a bird that you catch in the air … that lends itself to the idea of discovering rather than creating music; it's what Michelangelo famously said, that the statues were hidden in the stone.Listening is a prerequisite of finding a collaborative voice with anyone.  It comes through discovering each other's thoughts and processes and of what goals we might have, or whether we want to just simply explore a possibility rather than focus on the specific goal. So, it's just kind it's about seeing how people want to work and being open to that.Leadership and learning You can always learn. There is always something that you can find. And so, the idea that you are thinking of leadership in the fluid way in your interactions, I think is also really important. Anyone can be a leader at any time. I've spent my whole life playing the guitar, but I might meet a guitarist who's actually only played for a short time, but they could teach me something. It's very important that you can give way to them and allow them to lead a situation so that you can learn from it. And here is a link to artists, musicians, composers, who have worked with Nitin talking about  how he has enabled them to be more than what they imagined themselves to be. To go a little bit further. To let go.   Nitin Sawhney

Now here’s a conversation we can all relate to, on the nature of working life today and how to navigate people, tech, and change, gracefully.  Johanna is co-founder of RELEX Solutions, a huge success story and the world's coolest provider of retail planning solutions! Johanna describes what it’s like navigating the ‘hard skills’ world of engineering, data and tech, and at the same time sharing her experiences of collaboration and leading people and teams through change.  In our experience it’s rare to talk to somebody who is equally skilled at both the so called ‘hard and soft’ side of working life. Enjoy a warm-hearted conversation from someone ‘on top of their game’. Topics include1.      How to work with humans, ‘the enigma for everyone’. You can never know other people fully and perhaps not even yourself completely’ 2.      How to: apply your Intuition to identify what’s urgent/ important, and ‘fake emergencies’think about things, (‘thinking is so underrated’)use notifications effectively 3.      Defining success for yourself, without peer pressure. When you get an impulse to do something, step back and ask, ‘Is this something I really want to do? & how is this gonna make me happier?’ 4.      In a world that’s never done, Johanna describes how she creates ‘progress’ everyday 5.      Competing is ‘kind of irrelevant’, ‘but I am ambitious’ 6.      On leading people, ‘you should never fall into that trap of assuming that you kind of understand things. It's better to be explicit and ask. That's one lesson I've learned.  7.      Confidence and public speaking, ‘A big change for me was finding an area where what I'm saying actually adds to the knowledge of the world.’ Enjoy this conversation with Johanna! J 

Tendayi Viki, Associate Partner at Strategyzer Fail Smart - Lessons in Leadership and Life: The new series from the Nordic Leaders. We couldn’t possibly imagine a better way to start our Fail Smart series than this sparkling conversation with Tendayi Viki.Tendayi advises leaders across the globe on strategy and innovation, helping companies to explore and create the future. He is a speaker, facilitator, advisor, and he’s written three books on innovation, his latest book is Pirates In The Navy: How Innovators Drive Transformation.Bringing great energy, humour and openness to this conversation, Tendayi shares with us:💡How failing smart kick-started his career💡Three principles of innovation including: You can't pick the winner on day 1Make multiple small bets earlyGo with evidence and ideas that deliver customer value💡The two questions every leader should ask their team if they want breakthrough innovation:Is that idea crazy enough? What would have to be true for that idea to work?💡And how he we should design like we’re right and test like we’re wrong. NORDIC LEADERS 2022 - FAIL SMART SERIESOur season 5 series theme is Fail Smart, Lessons in Leadership and Life. We help our clients with leadership development, coaching and communication skills. If you like what you hear,  connect with Nick, David and Stefano on LinkedIn to ask our help!

In this episode we welcome Dr Matt Offord, esteemed lecturer in Leadership and Management from the Adam Smith Business School, Glasgow University.Matt is a former Naval Officer with extensive experience leading agile 21st-century teams in high tech and data rich environments.Matt shares many fascinating insights which include;·      ‘Harnessing informal power is a very healthy thing; the idea that informal networks are not helpful, is not helpful’·      Leadership Lessons from the Royal Navy; you learn how to lead and be led, people are encouraged to challenge leaders as well, it's 'seen as a duty if something is not right'·      On the difference between military and private sector, 'people talk a lot about teamwork, but then you go into workplaces and you see that it's not  really happening so much'·      Leadership starts when you start. Leadership training is given to everyone from day one. ‘It was self evident why everyone was treated as a leader in the navy but in business it's different, you have to justify leadership training’·      On crisis communications and informal influencers, ‘I wanted to see whether they (the ship's company) were listened to, based on their rank or based on some sort of prestige.'·      Hierarchies– ’throughout most of human history, we've not really lived in hierarchies'– ’I wonder whether data and technology are changing the game and we're reverting back to what might be more natural perhaps.’·       How to be a data savvy leader and the importance of data-driven leadershipPlease enjoy the episode! You may also wish to give Matt a well-deserved Five Star rating!

This week we host Patricia Ryan Madson.Patricia is the author of "improv wisdom" and a professor emerita at Stanford university, where she started teaching in 1977.In 1996 she founded the creativity initiative at Stanford, an interdisciplinary Alliance of faculty who share the belief that creativity can be taught.Among other things she taught Design Improv for the School of Engineering and has been a guest lecturer for the renowned Stanford Technology Ventures Program and for the Mayfield Fellows Program.In the episode today we learn all her wisdom, not just about improvisation but about a lot more.We discussed with her1:57 - How can improvisation make us more innovative7:51 - What can leaders learn from improv techniques13:45 - How aiming for average can boost innovation20:43 - How to be comfortable with ambiguity24:10 - Why you should pay more attention to gratitudeTune in and have your weekly dose of insights in the world of leadership.Music by Shane Ivers - Spark of inspiration

Perttu Pölönen is a futurist, inventor and author. In 2018 MIT Tech Review honored him among the 35 Innovators Under 35 in Europe.He has written two books and his latest, “Future Skills”, is out just now.In this book he argues that the next revolution is a human revolution. To counterbalance the world we digitalized, we need to develop creativity, perseverance, compassion, and curiosity—those same soft skills that give our lives meaning and set us apart from machines.In this interesting interview we explore with him: - What does it mean to be the first generation being born digital - How to bridge generational differences and collaborative gap - The importance of cross-generational dialogue - and how to start having that - What grandpa Perttu will tell to his grandchildren - What are the things that won't change - What should we be studying - How to find inspiration in the irrelevantTune in!

“Everyone should do something to make the world a better place.”  Listen in to the inspiring tale of 17000+ vegetable boxes and recipes delivered to Finnish families.   The social economy in the EU comprises 2.8 million enterprises and organizations, 13.6 million jobs and 8% of GDP. It’s an important part of the economy, and the influence is increasing - so it was high time we invited Emilia Järvinen , co-founder of Venner, on to the pod to hear the story of rapid growth and social impact.  In just three years Venner has expanded from the original web-shop for grocery boxes that anyone can buy to also be a food education platform and has scaled up from local to national and now international.  Stefano declared himself “mesmerized” by Emilia’s food stories – and that’s something to impress an Italian with what you are doling with vegetables!  David found the story uplifting:  how Emilia and her sister Tuulia, and the Venner team, are making a difference on family dynamics and well-being, and at the same time boosting cooking skills.  Bonus: Venner Kitchen recipe service - one month for free! Check out Emilia's favourite Venner recipe: and get the Venner Kitchen recipe service one month for free, using the code:         NORDICLEADERS2021

We explore the world of meaningful values, story telling and The Inclusion Canvas with Essi Knuutila of Futurice.Essi is Global Head of Digital Marketing and discusses how Futurice's values of 'Care, Trust, Transparency and Continuous Improvement' shape this global digital innovation and engineering company. Essi also describes how the values came into being, 'We didn't invent our values — we found them on our journey'. She also describes the best leader she ever worked with and what she has learned about leading people and caring leadership.She also describes an innovative shared CMO role, there's mention of mushroom picking, learning Spanish, playing golf and a Jack Russell.Themes;The war on talent and 'Coming Home' with FuturiceThe story of how teenage girls temporarily took over the CEO role at Futurice and what they did with that responsibility!Diversity and Inclusion - not only words but action, and not only a HR responsibility but of key strategic importance; it's everyone's job in order to have better thinking, better products and better servicesThe Inclusion Canvas - check out Futurice's Inclusion CanvasValues that truly mean something and the importance of having a story behind your valuesCare, Trust, Transparency and Continuous Improvement - How to identify your core values and how they are applied everydayCaring leadership - the best leader Essi ever worked for and whyTrust is given not earned at Futurice and the question of, when do you stop trusting?

We dive into the world of influence with Mikko Alasaarela, but influence with an algorithmic twist.Mikko is an impact-focused AI entrepreneur. He has founded and invested in several tech startups that have raised over $30M and employed over 700 people in Finland, Germany, and the USA. He currently serves as CTO of Cuckoo Workout and consults companies about AI, blockchain and algorithms at inbot.He is an expert in algorithmic influence, ok but what is algorithmic influence? That is what we explore in our chat with him: starting from diversity we dive into algorithms.We talk about:How seeking diversity helps you in lifeHow algorithms create information bubbles that kill diversityHow to minimize algorithmic influence on our brainsHow to actively cultivate diversityWhat is algorithmic influence?How to create viral contentAnd last but not leastHow to create the "algorithmic nuclear bomb"Tune in for the usually funny and insightful chat of this week.If you want to engage with Mikko he is very active on Linkedin and Twitter

In today's episode we are delighted to welcome Matt  Abrahams, communication expert and lecturer at Stanford University. We will talk all things communication. The episode is packed with insights so please take a notepad and make sure to take notes.We are going to explore:How communication has changed during the pandemicHow to help our audience to be more engagedHow to make a great podcast even greaterThe most important skills of a podcasterThe importance of authenticity in communicationHow did Karate help Matt discover he was a great presenterHow to manage anxiety before a performanceWhat have learned from that pandemic that will stick with usHow to get diversity of thinking in a hybrid world At Stanford University Matt teaches two very popular classes in the strategic communication and effective virtual presentingHe's the host of the popular podcast "Think fast talk smart" where he explores tools and techniques to communicate more effectively. He's the co-founder of Bold Echo communications which is a firm specialized in communication consulting, and presentation  training. And also recently Matt published the third edition of his book "Speaking up without freaking out" a book written to help millions of people who wish to present in a more confident and compelling way.Podcast episodes we mentioned during this episode:Brains Love Stories: How Leveraging Neuroscience Can Capture People’s EmotionsHacking Your Speaking Anxiety: How Lessons from Neuroscience Can Help You Communicate ConfidentlyMake ’Em Laugh: How Humor Can Be the Secret Weapon in Your CommunicationPodcasts mentioned during this episode:Huberman LabHidden Brain

In this episode, recorded in June 2021 our guest is Kati Tammisto, (then Head of CX at Sympa and now) CMO at Precisely. Kati is a modern leader with an entrepreneurial background who puts people front and centre in everything she does. Kati shares her insights on working in 'extremely fast growth' environments and the adaptability and flexibility that one needs to operate therein. She also explains the importance of recruitment and how to lead excellent people in growth companies."What we all need is to be led as individuals""The game today? Everything is fast. You can fail fast, but you can also succeed quite fast.""We need to all be understanding the need to adapt and he need to change your own thinking and your attitude"Our conversation includes;how the 'adaptability mindset' works in extremely fast-growth companiesKati discusses how to treat and lead people at work, and how to build a team; 'an open puzzle', which requires 'filling the spaces with mouldable pieces'; great people can put the right skills on the table, at the right timeDiversity and understanding, 'there's so much in what other people can bring to the table, especially when they're coming from diverse environments'Kati offers some tools for hiring great people, plus a rather unique, 'crystal ball' recruitment ingredient at Sympa, as well as some wonderful interview questions to steal.... What questions reveal the most about a person? And what to look for in a candidate?

"I'm not a loser - the story I told myself for years" In this very frank episode Tommi Lähde - Founder and CEO of The Other Danish Guy brand - opens up with courage and radical candour.  Listen in to this most candid of interviews with the only CEO in the world to work just in his underwear for the first two weeks on the job.  What we cover:🎧 being honest with yourself and bouncing back (1,47) 🎧 facing failure and dealing with imposter syndrome (5,55)🎧 building trust in your team  (13,20)🎧 building a trusted brand with authenticity (19,31)Gems from Tommi:💥 "People deserve to be told the truth."💥 "Admit your mistakes, it’s o.k. to fail."💥"The answer to every question is inside me. I just need to find it, it's already there."💥 "Just as I was about to lose everything, then I was able to admit the truth." 💥 "Truth sets you free."Thank you Tommi for sharing your insights, with David Goddard, Nick Vertigans, and Stefano Mosconi.  Get in touch with us on LinkedIn by clicking any of our names and ask us how we can help you develop and coach the leaders in your company, or help you with communication and presentation skills. If you like us, please consider leaving a 5-star review for our podcast on Apple Podcasts. Just click the link, scroll a down a bit, and hit "Tap to Rate".

Welcome to Season 4 of the Nordic Leaders Podcast! In this episode we interview André Noël Chaker, speaker, entrepreneur, executive and lawyer that came from Canada to Finland 30 years ago.What we cover:André's beginnings and his move from Quebec to Finland(4:54) What Arnold Schwarzenegger taught him(6:09) How he turned a hobby into a profession (and got all these cool "gigs")(9:23) Trust as a key driver of value(14:06) The essence of great speaking (20:14) The secret of his success(22:05) His upcoming book "Speak or Die" and why he wrote it(25:14) GratitudeA fantastic and charismatic chat that blends wit, humour and wisdom with your favourite hosts David Goddard, Nick Vertigans, and Stefano Mosconi. Get in touch with us on LinkedIn by clicking any of our names and ask us how we can help you develop and coach the leaders in your company, or help you with communication and presentation skills. If you like us, please consider leaving a 5-star review for our podcast on Apple Podcasts. Just click the link, scroll a down a bit, and hit "Tap to Rate".

Building on 140 years of engineering innovation, Merja Ranta-aho, Executive VP of HR at Elisa, Finland’s leading telecom, shares her own learning with Stefano, Nick and David on •Daily experimentation and continuous improvement as a way of life•How a high trust culture leads to deep learning •Embedding coaching in the leadership culture•Anticipating well-being needs in teams•Lessons from a decade of hybrid workIf you want some inspiration on letting learning flourish to build a better a future, this is the pod for you! Thank you Merja.

In this bonus episode we share some more Joel Willans with you.  Joel describes how he works his magic online to build high value content which reaches more people, including pointers on:How to create more buzz, build a community onlineHow to get get heard with your podcastHow to lead your own creativityHow to lead other creativesJoel also ponders his next steps as an author, podcaster, and leader of a creative agency.Honest, open and amusing as ever with some important lessons  encoded in the conversation; are we grown-up enough to hear them? This was originally recorded as a bonus part of Episode 38 – it is every bit as insightful, and possibly more fun ! What do you think?

In this episode we explore with Elli Holappa, CEO of Jungle Juice Bar, values-based leadership during a crisis. Elli had spent just 12 days with her new management team in spring 2020 when the global pandemic struck.  Listen in to our fascinating conversation with Elli on how values-based leadership has helped her: recruit and lay-off staff in difficult times with the same kindness and thoughtfulness;manage a ‘High – Low role’, going from leadership meetings to peeling carrots in a bar; understand the importance of culture fit andhaving a bit of craziness in order to get in ‘the game’;find  the ‘silver lining’ to crisis moments;lead sustainably, achieve carbon neutrality and aim for carbon negative.All this plus some good news about bananas and will  David land an interview at Jungle Juice Bar? "This is who I am as a leader, and now I know that If the business is heading into the crisis, I know I can act on it. And I know that I can make quick decisions. I can make tough decisions. I can make difficult decisions. I don't paralyze. I don't freeze. I'm completely capable of acting in a crisis."