Maija Corinti Salvén resides in Munich, Germany, but recently she wanted to develop her leadership skills in Finland and at Aalto EE.
The studies gave her a chance to immerse herself in the Nordic mindset, a topic she has been fascinated by for a long time.
“I’ve been working for leading U.S. digital technology companies for nearly 15 years and have learned a lot from this experience. However, in order to further develop my leadership style, I wanted to explore a different approach.”
"Nordic countries consistently rank among the happiest in the world, and often lead in digital transformation, innovation, gender equality, and social opportunity. I wanted to dive into the Nordic mindset and understand why."
Corinti Salvén has built an international career at the crossroads of technology and regulatory strategy. She uses her extensive experience in digital policy, public affairs, and EU relations to drive responsible digital transformation.
Her interest in Nordic leadership is deeply rooted, stemming from her Finnish heritage and experiences studying and working across Europe.
“My mother is Finnish, and although I’ve never had the chance yet to live in Finland, I have both Finnish and German citizenship. I’ve always felt a certain pull toward the Nordics,” she explains.
“My interest has always been piqued by the Nordic model. Nordic countries consistently rank among the happiest in the world, and often lead in digital transformation, innovation, gender equality, and social opportunity. I wanted to dive into the Nordic mindset and understand why.”
“Soft” approaches yield hard results
Corinti Salvén believes that leaders around the world could benefit from Nordic leadership principles, especially the emphasis placed on collaboration and psychological safety.
“Adopting this essence from the Nordic leadership approach would be a win for both business and political leaders,” she remarks.
“In many cultures, the concepts embraced in the Nordics are often labeled as ‘soft’ approaches. However, they yield hard results.”
She remarks that traditional organizations tend to put too little emphasis on psychological safety.
"If I want to be effective as a leader, I need to maximize opportunities for the people I work with."
“Psychological safety drives learning, innovation and creativity, and ultimately strengthens organizational resilience. To put it in tech terms, it’s the software that enhances the hardware.”
Corinti Salvén adds that reflecting on psychological safety sharpened her entire leadership approach.
“If I want to be effective as a leader, I need to maximize opportunities for the people I work with. So, I need to provide them with not only the tools, and resources to succeed but also with a safe and productive space to use them,” she highlights.
“Aalto EE reinforced something I’ve intuitively felt for a long time: I want to nurture a culture where people can collaborate within a competitive environment – without being seen as less competitive.”
We need room for psychological safety in both business and politics
In her day-to-day work, Corinti Salvén is very close to European politics.
She also takes time to mentor emerging female leaders, among others as co-founder of de’ge’pol W – a German network supporting women in political consulting.
She notes that the political system is perhaps even more averse to soft concepts than corporations are.
"If we wish to ensure that our modern democracies do not fall back into pure patriarchy, we need to make sure that there is room for psychological safety, learning and leadership."
“Politics is to a large part about who’s winning. Everything centers on power, performance and strength. There is nothing wrong with being strong and powerful, but this should never be confused with aggression or actual results for the corporate or common good.”
“We see more and more politicians who step down, especially women, who have faced an onslaught of hate speech. If we wish to ensure that our modern democracies do not fall back into pure patriarchy, we need to make sure that there is room for psychological safety, learning and leadership, not just power management,” she concludes.
A refreshingly supportive learning environment
Corinti Salvén describes the learning environment at Aalto EE as refreshingly welcoming and supportive.
“The thing that struck me most was the marvelous atmosphere in class. There was no sense of status, performance pressure or aggressive competition.”
“We were a group of very different people, but we left the differences at the door and recognized each other as equals. Aalto EE created this very inclusive and trustful atmosphere in which everyone found the space to share their opinions and experiences. This allowed us to learn from each other rather than perform to impress each other.”
The welcoming atmosphere was fostered by an extensive range of collaborative teaching methods.
“In every case study and group work, we discussed issues actively and spent a lot of time reflecting and exploring how to apply insights to our own leadership. The teachers also managed to make the lecturing part of the course highly engaging and collaborative.”
Corinti Salvén affirms that she gained a wealth of practical models and tools from her studies at Aalto EE and is eager to start applying them in her work.
“I gained especially useful insights from case studies on leadership. They highlighted how leadership is never just an isolated skill; it’s always tied to context. What works brilliantly in one situation might be ineffective in another. This made me realize that as a leader, it’s less about what I say and do but about the context I manage to create.”
