Interview with Niko

In my role as the Area Governor I was recently interviewed by the Croatian Toastmasters for their Newsletter. I thought to share this interview with you:

Q: Niko, as a short introduction please tell us something about you. Where are you born and how did you end up in Austria
A: I grew up in Southern Finland, in a small city by a big lake with 30.000 inhabitants. I finally ended up in Austria because I fell in love with an Austrian woman:-). I have been traveling and working in more than 50 countries in the world. I am a college graduate (hotel management) and currently finalizing my MBA Dissertation and should be done with it by 2008. I work as a project manager in a hotel investment fund and on my free-time I also have my own small company: Fizz Academy.

Q: When and why did you join a Toastmasters club?
A: I joined Toastmasters in about 5 years ago, to improve my public speaking skills.

Q: What are your achievements as a Toastmaster so far?
A: Up to now I have achieved the following awards: ACB (Advanced Communicator Bronze) and CL (Competent Leader).
My goals for 2008/2009: ACS (Advanced Communicator Silver) and AL (Advanced Leader)
My goals for 2009/2010: ACG (Advanced Communicator Gold) and DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster)

Q: What are some of the benefits that you experienced as a result of your activity in a Toastmasters club? How did the Toastmasters help you in your personal and private life?
A: Toastmasters has had an immeasurable effect on my life. I have not only improved my speaking and leadership skills but improved in every area of my life. Toastmasters gave me the tools to step out of my comfort zone and make great progress in my personal growth. I am very thankful that I took a chance and joined Toastmasters, it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Q: What are your responsibilities as an Area governor?
A: To keep it short: The main responsibility of the Area Governor is to ensure high quality and quantity of Toastmasters Clubs in the Area.

Q: Would you recommend other colleagues to candidate for such a role in the future and why?
A: Absolutely yes. In my opinion taking up on the various leadership roles in the Toastmasters Organization is a way of giving back to the great organization that helps so many people in their journey of becoming better speakers and leaders

Q: What are your goals as an Area governor?
A: To achieve at least the ‘Distinguished Area’ status goal (defined by TMI) and to increase the quality and quantity of Toastmasters Clubs in our Area. The main goal is to support our vision of making Vienna the Toastmasters centre to Europe. Our goal is to increase the clubs up to 10 clubs in the next 10 years. However, the quality is even more important. Therefore quality first; the quantity will follow!

Q: Many of us are stuck on one speech for months. Could you recommend us a way to prepare our speeches faster and more disciplined?
A: I know what you are talking about. I have been there myself. After my own Ice Breaker Speech I got kind of stuck. It took me another year before I did my second speech. However, after the second speech I realized the only way I can get better in speaking is to speak; and started to consistently prepare new speeches; I defined and committed to new goals, ultimately having the plan to achieve the DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster, Highest Recognition by Toastmasters International) in 2010. The thing is you have to take it one speech at a time. There are no shortcuts. The more you speak, the better you get. Naturally it is also important to keep your eyes open and learn from others and other resources at the same time. The learning speed is up to you. At Toastmasters we say: After finishing the first 10 speeches, you are 10 times better speaker than before.

Q: From where did you take your motivation to prepare speeches and take active roles in the meetings?
A: The motivation, in my opinion, is mostly intrinsic. Each one of us has a choice: We can choose to become better speakers and leaders, or we can choose not to go through that hassle (of getting uncomfortable) of becoming better speakers and leaders. It is ultimately up to each one of us what we do in our lives. If you want to become a better speaker, the best way to do that is to get stage time and practice wherever you can. This includes naturally also taking roles in the regular meetings

Q: I’ve read about an importance of finding your life purpose. What do you think about that?
A: I believe it is of crucial importance to each one of us, to stop and think of our live purpose. I would recommend you to write down your own vision statement. Where do you want to be in 10 years, or 20 years? What dreams do you have? What are your core values? What are your strengths and talents? As Stephen Covey puts it: Think of making a speech in your own funeral about your life: how would you describe your life achievements? What things would you have liked to achieve in your life? Sometimes it is good to start with the end in mind.

Q: Have you discovered your own life purpose?
A: In my opinion, life is like a journey. There are things that stay constant, and there are things that flow and change in life. As leaders and successful people we need to be fully aware of ourselves, our dreams, our strengths, our talents and our core values and at the same time, we need to be able to adapt to the changes life brings along. I do have my own vision statement in my wallet all the time with me. In this vision statement I have clearly defined my own life purpose including my dreams and goals that I want to achieve in my life, my talents, my core values , etc. and what I am and believe as an individual person in all aspects of my life.

Q: Attendees of the last Area D1 conference found out that you really enjoy running. Do you also have some other hobbies?
A: Yes, I love to go to the playground with my three little kids. Its like creativity pure and it truly frees up my mind.

Q: What is your favorite quote?
A: It is my own quote: Success is a mindset® by Niko Viramo

Q: I thank you in advance and wish you even more success, in Toastmasters, and in your personal life as well.
A: Thank you very much. And I also would like to take this opportunity to wish you and all Toastmasters in Croatia lot of success in their lives, and please remember: Success is a mindset. Be the best you can, every day!

For more information about Toastmasters, please visit the website of the Toastmasters International in here.

Last Monday evening we organized together with the Finnish Ambassador: Kirsti Kauppi and Werner Merzeder, Head of Finpro; Finland Trade Center, Central and Southern-East Europe, an informative evening in the name of the JCI Vienna Project Group “International”. This was a perfect timing in the sense of the Europe Conference in Turku in June 2008. In total around thirty-five young entrepreneurs and people from the Chamber of Commerce showed up. The meeting took place at the beautiful residence of the Ambassador herself in the thrid district of Vienna and it was a joyful evening.

On the picture from left to right: Dietmar Gombotz (President JCI Vienna), Verena Schermann (Executive Director JCI Vienna and the Start-Up Service Center at the Chamber of Commerce), Werner Merzeder (Head of Finland Trade), Kirsti Kauppi (Ambassador of Finland in Austria), Me, Hannes Offenbacher (CEO Mehrblick Tink-Tank).

After the introductions, the Finnish Ambassador described vividly the history of Finland and the Finnish EU -and integration policy, after which we dived into the main theme of the evening: Why is Finland so successful? What makes this country in the North so successfull? There was a lot of good discussion in the air in the means of a constructive and fun dialog through Q&A. The main 2 success boosters of Finland were defined as 1) education and b) innovation;

1. EDUCATION

The excellent educational system: It is for example fairly difficult to enroll in the university to study just about anything. Therefore for excample those who would like to become school teachers in Finland are highly motivated and mostly very talented for this speciality. The university classes in Finland are not overly crowded, having enough place to sit down for everyone. Whereas in Austria the University classes are often overcrowded, because anyone can get to study anything, and therefore there is also a huge fluctuation of people, while only a fraction of these students are really motivated to study the subject,… and finally graduate. Waste of resources I would say…

On the picture: Finnish Ambassador Kirsti Kauppi explaining about the history of Finland.

One very nice thing from the school I can remember when I was a child, was that we got a lunch. Yes, we got a lunch everyday, and it was just healthy basic food, but it was mostly quite tasty, and it was everyday a different warm meal; and it was even for free! (well, of course the taxpayers money, but still). Whereas in Austria I recognize so many kids and teenagers hang around at places like McDonalds and Kebab Stations for lunch, and of course this type of junk food also lowers their concentration skills in the class rooms later on. I mean just think about how tired you get yourself when you eat a Big Mac Menu (although its good once in a while, say once per quartal).

In Finland kids start the school system when they are 7 years old, and each child does 6+3 years of basic education. This is the minimum standard and in the same high quality is provided for everyone; no hierarchies; no calss systems. Finland is a very flat hierarhcy country where people are empowered and encouraged to become independet at already early ages. And this seems to work very well… After the basic schooling teenagers are able to choose high-school (3 years) or other schools for special professions such as becoming a carpenter etc.

Whereas in Austria, children start at the age of six, do 4 years of basic education, and then must already make a decision what to do next: high school (7years) or something else. I find this system not very encouraging, because a child at the age of 10 is still a child, and I believe most are not capable or empowered to make the best decisions in regards to their own education. How should they at that age? In many cases I am sure the parents become the captains of their childrens ships and many crash them, because they dont always know what is best for their kids and yet make groundbreaking decisions about the course of the ship.

2.INNOVATION

The other importnat booster of the Finnish economy and success is the high volume investments in R&D. Finland is one of the top 3 countries in Europe to invest in R&D. The amount has been quite stagnant at around 3.5% of the GDP. In Austria it is 2.5% (2006) and has also increased in the past years, so the direction is okay. The EU average is only 1.8%. I believe it is more like a EU wide challenge to stay competitive and create strong synergies and clusters in order to compete among other high-rising economies such as China, India, CEE and Russia. In the future European cities will compete in attracting certain speciality of industries and companies and creating strong clusters around them.

You can also crasp a really nice 360° photograph of this event by Stefan Kuzmanov at his blog as well you can read the press article about the event right here (PDF/in German).