In September 2022, Proakatemia provided an incredible possibility for the teampreneurs to digitally be a part of the Nordic Business Forum event. The primary theme of the two-day event was Future-focused Leadership and hosted a wide range of professionals with thought-provoking topics, such as Amy Edmonson’s discussion on psychological safety within a team or a workplace.

The first keynote was a discussion by Kristel Kruustük and Mikko ‘Miki’ Kuusi. Kristel Kruustük is an influential Estonian businesswoman and the co-founder of Testlio, a software testing platform aiming to connect software testers around the world to effectively provide fast and effective high-quality solutions while also creating new workplaces and improving communities globally.

Miki Kuusi is the co-founder and CEO of Wolt and Head of International for DoorDash. Prior to Wolt, which is a technology company providing a solution for restaurants and shops to deliver goods to homes and offices, Miki worked in a famous mobile gaming company Supercell and was the co-founder and CEO of the technology conference Slush.

Together, Kristel and Miki provided a high-quality discussion on the future of work.

The key takeaways of the discussion were following:
* People need meaningful work: set values and clear mission that connects people
* People choose companies, not vice versa
* Leadership is a skill among others
* Leadership largely determines if workers stay or leave
* Talent is globally evenly distributed, the opportunity is not.

The discussion between the two globally recognized tech industry powerhouses had two primary themes, the change of power dynamic between the employers and employees as well as the role of leadership in the change of the job market. An interesting point was outlined in the discussion, which theorized that the advantage of technology provides us a possibility of fast and efficient global connections, meaning that as opposed to the work ethics and practices about 20 years ago, the employees can now also consider more jobs. This means that while the talent pool has grown bigger, so has the demand for talents, giving more power to the job candidates.
People are adding more meaning and importance to their work, meaning that the key factors that are being sought out in addition to an encouraging work environment are the mission and the values of the company, creating a strong foundation within the company.  A lot of emphasis has also been placed onto leadership, which contributes to the mission, values and the work environment. This movement should be seen as an incredible opportunity from where a caring workforce motivated to drive the company’s mission forward is created.

With current and emerging companies placing more focus on social sustainability, change is created and the future of work is looking more proactive and caring of the work collective. It is up to the entrepreneurs to be inspired and carry the same vision with us to our work and companies.

The Nordic Business Forum is a globally-known forum, which brings together like-minded professionals interested in business management, leadership and other current phenomena in business life around the world. The first forum was organized in 2011 in Jyväskylä and has since grown to welcome over 7500 seminar guests in Helsinki with over 25 000 virtual guests attending in 2022.

Nordic Business Forum 2023 will take place in Helsingin Messukeskus on the 27^th and 28^th of September with the theme of the event being Be:Change. The event discussions will focus on creating change through the prism of leadership, innovation and resilience. Currently, the announced key speakers include a Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, an entrepreneur known for his published works of the 4-hour Work Week and Tools of Titans Tim Ferriss and Patrick Lencioni, the author of the famous works of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and the Motive.

References:

Article. ENEWSWIRE. Malala Yousafzai and Tim Ferriss to Speak at Nordic Business Forum 2023 in Helsinki. https://www.enewswire.co.uk/2022/09/21/alala-yousafzai-and-tim-ferriss-to-speak-at-nordic-business-forum-2023-in-helsinki/

Digital presentation. Messukeskus. CASE: Nordic Business Forum. https://messukeskus.com/organise-an-event/case-nordic-business-forum/?lang=en

Testlio: about us. https://testlio.com/about-us/
Nordic Business Forum 2022: Speaker lineup. https://www.nbforum.com/nbf2022/miki-kuusi/

Article. Butcher, A. The Future Is Impactful Work. Nordic Business Forum 2022 Executive Summary.
Accessed online via https://www.nbforum.com/event-summaries/