Matti Waitinen

Matti Waitinen has built his career around security and meeting people. As principal of the Helsinki Rescue School and as a specialist researcher in the university world, he has seen up close how essential seamless cooperation and mutual trust are to an organisation's success. He brings into business life lessons tested in environments where there is no room for error. Waitinen believes every workplace can learn the rescue services' ability to pull in the same direction.

Community and safety are themes Matti approaches both through research and in practical terms. His doctoral thesis on safety culture gives a solid basis for understanding the quiet signals that either strengthen or erode an organisation's spirit. He stresses that a safe workplace is one where everyone dares to fail, to ask and to be heard. That sense of safety is directly tied to productivity and the ability to innovate.

Matti challenges his audience to look at leadership from a new angle. Leading safety is not surveillance. It is showing direction and taking care of people. He teaches how small everyday acts and communication create a climate where people can thrive and want to give their best. In his view a strong safety culture is a company's most important competitive advantage in the labour market of the future.

In his talks Waitinen uses vivid examples from a long career as principal, trainer and rescue-service specialist. He does not leave the audience at the level of ideas. He offers clear steps towards a more durable and more united company culture. He is a speaker who convinces people that safety is above all a matter of the heart and a shared agreement.

When an organisation wants to move from words to deeds and build a genuinely caring and effective community, Matti Waitinen is the right guide for that journey. He combines firm authority with a warm presence, which makes his lectures affecting and memorable for everyone in the room.