Unveiling Corporate Culture in Helsinki

My Behind-the-Scenes Adventures While Conducting Executive Programs Throughout the World

In this series of articles, I will take you behind the scenes of my global adventures conducting executive programs and delivering keynote presentations. Join me as I share my most entertaining and often humorous stories from my decades on the road. You can subscribe to ensure you never miss an article.

In late September 1985, I delivered a keynote address to the Board of Directors and the major stockholders of a large company that’s headquartered in Helsinki, Finland. This annual meeting took place in the company’s building in the downtown area of the city. There were about 500 people in attendance.

The topic for my keynote presentation was “Managing Corporate Culture,” which had become a very hot topic for organizations throughout the 1980s. First deciphering and then improving a company’s culture was initially inspired by three bestselling management books that were all published around the same time in the early part of that decade: Ouchi’s Theory Y (1981), Peters and Waterman’s In Search of Excellence (1982), and Deal and Kennedy’s Corporate Cultures (1982). I had examined corporate culture throughout my recent book: Beyond the Quick Fix (1984): In that book, I proposed five tracks (pathways) to long-term organizational success, the first one being the Culture Track, which established a safe and conducive environment for addressing and then improving all other aspects of an organization: management skills, teamwork, strategy-structures, reward systems, etc.

For this annual meeting, I wore a dark gray business suit. Everyone else was also appropriately dressed for the occasion. Besides my keynote presentation, various members of the company’s Board of Directors summarized the key events and achievements of the past year and also suggested what events and projects were being planned for the following year. Everyone seemed to enjoy the company’s annual stockholder’s meeting.

When all the formal presentations and follow-up discussions had concluded by about 4:00 pm in the afternoon, I assumed that was the official end of the meeting and that it was now time for me to return to my hotel and perhaps enjoy a late afternoon run through the streets of Helsinki. But when I went to thank the board members for having invited me to contribute to their annual meeting, I was surprised that they invited me to continue meeting with them (just the 15 members of the board) in another room in their corporate building.

This is how the board members presented their latest invitation to me: “We have an activity in Finland that we do almost every day and we’d like you to join us so we can continue our discussions. It would mean a lot to us if you joined us on the top floor of our corporate building.” This invitation was extended in such a genuine and heart-felt manner that it seemed the only thing I could say was something like this: “It would be a great honor for me to join you! Thank you for inviting me to continue our dialog after the formal meeting.”

With my acceptance to their latest invitation, I followed that group of directors to an elevator, which took us up to the top floor of the building. Naturally, I still had no idea about what this mysterious event would be like, but everything had been going so well that I think I automatically assumed that the top floor of the building would include a very comfortable space—perhaps filled with soft sofas and cushioned chairs for enjoying the beautiful views of the city. I thought we might also indulge in sipping on some wine or other beverages/cocktails while we chatted about the day’s events and anything else that came to mind. From what I remember, I anticipated that the top floor of the corporate building would provide a very relaxed setting to continue our discussions.

When the elevator door opened, we entered one large room that seemed to occupy the entire floor. There weren’t any comfortable chairs or sofas in view; there was only a row of folded metal seats lined up along one of the walls. But that wide-open room included several buffet tables that offered a great variety of delicious delicacies. Three of the walls on that top floor had very large windows that showcased a beautiful cityscape for all to see.

On the fourth wall in the room, I noticed a large glass door on a long glass wall. But what was inside that all-glass room? It was a very large sauna that was used by the company’s executives and board members during the week, almost daily in fact. Indeed, as it turns out, saunas are very popular in Finland: Perhaps as much as 90% of the population takes at least 1 sauna every week. That activity is said to produce the happiest country in the world! As such, taking a sauna in Finland is a core component of the country’s culture, which had, not surprisingly, been assimilated into their company’s culture, all of which was totally in sync with the theme of my keynote presentation on corporate culture. ?

At first, I thought it was very nice that the board of directors of this large company wanted to show me where they regularly (sometimes daily) would take a sauna during their workday, which was expected to enhance their performance, health, and happiness. But in just a few minutes, it became quite apparent that the board members went to the top floor not just to show me where they enjoy their saunas, but to actually take a sauna in real time. And to top it all off, they expected me to join them in this sauna experience!

It took me a few moments to grasp what they expected of me and what was about to happen: Next to the glass door, there was a small table that had a stack of towels on it. It was now obvious that we would use those towels for the sauna. Thus, we were now about to disrobe in mass and then enter the large group sauna with only a bath towel to cover the private parts of each person’s body.

Truth be told: I had NEVER before been in a situation where a professional client, let alone a group of clients, would disrobe and then enter a sauna together. Whenever I had entered a sauna in the U.S., I either had a private room all to myself or I was in a larger sauna in a gym with total strangers. But the idea of taking a sauna with a group of people who had just heard my keynote presentation seemed VERY strange and weird to me.

But I then remembered the old saying: “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” I took that saying to heart, as all of us took off our clothes, put them on a folding chair, grabbed a towel from that table by the door, and then entered the large sauna room. After we were sitting and sweating for a while, I must admit it: I got more and more comfortable. Taking a sauna with this group became quite natural. Conversations about all kinds of topics just flowed from one moment to the next. For about 45 minutes, we all sat there and enjoyed a casual conversation among friends and colleagues.

By the way, all the members on the Board of Directors were men, which might have made this experience a little easier to experience. I’m not sure what this sauna would have felt like if there had been women there as well. I did not see a separate sauna for women only; there was only this one large sauna on the top floor of the corporate building. I actually considered asking one of the directors what would have taken place if they had one or more women on the Board of Directors, but I decided not to bother. I didn’t want to stir up an issue that might go against the grain of their country or company culture, which I was just beginning to grasp in my short visit to Helsinki.

Let it be known: That was the first (and only) time I ever felt that I had to disrobe in front of my clients as part of a corporate event, let alone to do so in front of the entire Board of Directors at their annual stockholder meeting. I will never forget what happened behind the scenes of my keynote presentation in Helsinki.

Also in this series:

Lady Di and a Well-Meaning Lie

Caught in the Star Wars Crossfire Inside Russia

Running in Circles in Phoenix

Unveiling Corporate Culture in Helsinki

Thank You So Much for Making My First Car

My Precarious Journey to Barcelona

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