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Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of working with two of the world’s top three elevator companies, KONE and Schindler, holding various leadership positions across six countries. These assignments ultimately led to my promotion to the global executive boards of both companies. 

Early on, I learned an invaluable lesson: every organization has people who truly understand its challenges and opportunities. By listening to these individuals, we can uncover the real problems, find better solutions, and improve on even the best ideas. Sometimes, it’s essential to encourage employees to challenge management, speak openly, and contribute their perspectives. This approach not only strengthens the decision-making process but also fosters a culture of collaboration and innovation.

This philosophy is at the heart of what I call the "People Know It Better" approach. It’s about cultivating critical thinking, empowering teams, and involving employees at all levels to solve problems creatively and effectively implement solutions.

The Journey to Embracing the Power of Teamwork

I was born in 1945 on a humble farm in Eastern Finland, near Kotka. My parents had relocated from Karelia after losing their farm in the war. Life in post-war Finland was tough, with few luxuries and limited opportunities. But amidst the hardships, there were libraries, and I found refuge in books. 

I realized early on that my future lay outside the confines of the farm. By working diligently in school, I was accepted into the inaugural class of the industrial engineering and management program at Aalto University in 1966. At university, we were encouraged to be active outside the classroom, and I joined the student guild Prodeko.

One of my first lessons in the power of teamwork came through the Finnfillare Project. What started as a rough idea of mine, blossomed into a successful initiative through collaboration with friends Hannes Kulvik and Petteri Walden. We bicycled from Stockholm to Copenhagen for the FindFinland trade week, presenting the theme of “Economic Cooperation for Nordic Countries.” 

Our efforts were well-received, earning significant media attention. The main sponsors Finnish Trade Association and Helkama with its Jopo bicycles, as well as clothing providers Marimekko and Reima were very pleased with our team.

That project taught me the value of teamwork, the importance of selling ideas, and the rewards of hard work—and we even managed to generate some sponsor donations along the way. 

Summers spent working in Germany, Sweden, and the UK further opened my eyes to the world of international career.

A Perfect Match: KONE Corporation

In 1971, KONE Corporation, a company with a total sales figure of less than $50 million, was an ideal match for my aspirations. At the time, KONE was a small company primarily operating in North Eastern Europe. Its visionary CEO, Pekka Herlin, believed that national elevator companies had no future in a rapidly globalizing market. 

Under his leadership, KONE pursued a strategy of acquisitions, and as the company grew, so did the need for management development. I was fortunate to be part of a top management program executed in collaboration with IMD and INSEAD, which helped instil the values of teamwork, innovation, and empowerment across the organization.

KONE had implemented a new expensive IT system in materials management. However inventories kept going up instead down as planned. My first task was to find out the reasons why and execute the plan. We created Japanese style Quality circle teams for each area of the stocks, consisting of a responsible purchaser, material planner, product developer and warehouseman. 

In one our first meetings the warehouseman told to the team, “I don’t understand at all why this new IT system forces us to keep large safety stocks for these items”. He went on to explain in very simple terms his better way. Other teams also came up with new insights. 

This experience encouraged me to seek the involvement of the doers at all organizational levels. This was a high visibility project as KONE needed cash due to the long metalworkers strike. We reported our progress to the top executive team every Friday. The inventories went down as targeted. 

Everybody was happy and I was identified as a young talent for KONE’s top leadership training. I was trusted with development projects in IT, Service and Modernizations including foreign assignments in Germany and Austria. In my work for developing new group strategies, one of the key findings was that in Central Europe we were losing money and market share in the volume elevator business and for the long term success fast turnaround was imperative. I was chosen to lead multidiscipline and multi country teams in developing new innovative low cost products with lean manufacturing and order processes. We soon achieved better profitability and market share. I had earned a big promotion.

Moving Up and Abroad

In my mid-30s, I was Senior VP at KONE, overseeing the global new elevator business. In 1985 KONE needed me to take on a new role: president of a joint venture in Canada with American owned Montgomery Elevators. I embraced the opportunity to lead a company for the first time. 

The start was difficult—the company was in trouble. It produced everything except money. However, by listening to both employees and customers at every level, I began to identify the real issues and address them. I was lucky to stay in Canada for eight years, to learn from my mistakes and correct them. Canada became KONE’s model company, known for its strong leadership team, customer satisfaction, and threefold growth.  As recognition of our success KONE’s first international meeting outside of Europe was held in Montreal.

At the same time KONE had acquired the profitable elevator company Armor in USA, but had failed to understand the USA market. Now Armor was losing money and market share. KONE convinced me to lead a turnaround which was still in progress when we acquired Montgomery. With this big acquisition KONE became a major player in the USA and the no 3 in the world. Montgomery had been successful in USA while KONE was losing money. They wanted to maintain their leadership style and just take advantage of KONE’s global product portfolio. To secure the acquisition, KONE withdrew my appointment as CEO of North America.

Start of a Truly International Career with Schindler

Soon after, Schindler, the world’s second-largest elevator company, recruited me to lead Millar, its large national service company in the USA. During the first 100 days I visited most of the 50 district offices. 

Most of the answers about what should be done were already known in the district offices. With that input we were able put in place a simple effective plan, a plan that people understood and backed. The plan was supported with changes in the incentive system budgeting process and performance evaluations. If coaching didn’t help the underperforming managers, they were replaced. I had learned the fine difference between the typical healthy boasting of USA managers based on facts and baseless grandstanding. 

In just a few years we turned Millar into a high-performing company. Customer satisfaction improved, employee morale soared, and profitability doubled. The service leader concept we developed to empower frontline employees became a global standard in the Schindler group.

My work was appreciated and I was nominated to the Schindler’s global executive committee in Switzerland, with responsibility for key regions such as Switzerland, Germany, the UK, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Later, I returned to the USA and was responsible for the North and South American operations. 

The Purpose of the “People Know It Better” Fund

Having worked across different countries, I’ve seen firsthand that one of the keys to national success and the happiness of its people is access to high-quality education—where merit, not wealth, gender, race or political influence, determines opportunity. My own success owes much to Finland’s education system, particularly Aalto University’s Industrial Engineering and Management program. With this in mind, I have made a named fund donation 91����� University. It is my contribution to keeping Finland competitive in a rapidly changing world.

This leadership style—where employees are empowered to speak up, think critically, and collaborate—has served me well across different countries and companies. Finland’s strong education system, coupled with its culture of critical thinking, remains a significant competitive advantage in creating high-value, innovative products. I believe that the Nordic management style and its emphasis on people’s potential is the best way to harness the power of education for the future.

For more information on named funds, please contact Helena Salminen / Donor relations, helena.salminen@aalto.fi, +358 50 475 7108