Joint Nordic Career Seminar

Martin Falch, Chairman of NBCC, presenting the three speakers

On 3 March 2009 the three Nordic chambers; the Danish-UK Chamber of Commerce, the Finnish-British Chamber of Commerce and the Norwegian-British Chamber of Commerce welcomed their members to a Joint Nordic Career Seminar held at Radisson SAS Portman Hotel.

The evening was hosted my Martin Falch, the chairman of NBCC, and the topics revolved around today’s challenges on the job market, how to advance in an already existing career, and how to achieve ones goals.

The first speaker was the Norwegian HR Vice President in Opera Software, Tove Selnes, who focused on the importance of enjoying your job and maintaining the motivation. Her advice was to go for the tasks – not the fancy title. Furthermore, you should look for good organizations and work your way into the perfect job. And importantly, do not brag about your achievements until they are actually achieved.

Kati Järvinen, professional coach Ashley Ward, chairman of the European Leadership Programme Tove Selnes, HR Vice President in Opera Software

Ashley Ward, the second speaker, is chairman of the European Leadership Programme (ELP), which is a personal and professional development programme for Founders and CEOs. Ashley Ward is passionate about helping leaders of entrepreneurial ventures maximize their chances and has developed a formula he calls ‘Thrive and survive in the hot seat’.

Throughout his presentation he gave various advice on how to cope with being a CEO when considering the fact that “it can be lonely at the top”. According to Ashley Ward, the failure made by those CEOs is that they do not involve their colleagues: “Almost every CEO describes their role as lonely in some ways with the main reason being that they feel they cannot share all their fears with their colleagues or their board members. But if that is the case, they may not have hired sufficient quality colleagues nor have the right board members. By involving colleagues in the decision-making process, decisions are of better quality and are implemented with greater commitment and passion.” Ashley Ward

Last speaker of the evening was Kati Järvinen, who has been working as HRD-professional in Finland for years and now runs a coaching company in the UK inspiring people towards personal and professional success. Kati Järvinen emphasized the importance of reaching a position you personally find satisfying and went through the steps of the “path to success”. Kati Järvinens interactive approach was an excellent way to make the audience participate, which lead to an interesting Q & A session in the end. The evening ended with a reception and the possibility to continue the discussion with the speakers, while enjoying delicious canapés and wine.