Joakim Övermark seeks leadership model from Protect

Day as a Leader is a nationwide campaign that brings young people and leaders together for a day. The campaign takes place in November. In the Ostrobothnia Chamber of Commerce area, the event is organised by the Ostrobothnia Chamber of Commerce, the Vaasa and Kokkola Youth Chambers of Commerce and YES Ostrobothnia.

Business student Joakim Övermark was visited on Monday by the Managing Director of SK Protect Oy Pertti Salon to work. This unique opportunity was made possible by the national Day of Leadership campaign, which brings together leaders from different sectors to share their expertise with young people for a day of work. The aim is to show young people interested in leadership what today's leadership is like in practice and at the same time open up fresh perspectives on their career and training plans. I joined the campaign to get a closer look at what the job is really like," says Joakim Övermark. The NCO training I received in the army only strengthened my ideas. I am also very interested in sales, which is what I am already doing here alongside my studies. Pertti Salo, who runs Protect, a company specialising in corporate safety, says that even at the age of 22 he did not know he wanted to be a manager. "I started the company in 2001 and was appointed CEO in 2008. Before that I worked as a fireman, ambulance driver and shift supervisor. For me, the change in job description was triggered by the enormous annoyance of realising that so many accidents could have been prevented. I realised that my mission in life was to prevent accidents. So I have drifted into leadership rather than determinedly pursuing it.

Joakim Övermark's and Pertti Salo's day as managers included a weekly meeting, a contract signing ceremony, a customer visit and many discussions. Övermark, who is in his second year at Centria, was pleased with the day. The day has confirmed my own preconceptions of a manager's day," he smiles. But what is a manager's job really like these days? Pertti Salo sums up his own leadership in terms of service and teamwork. We all do the same tasks, of course, taking into account everyone's skills and time. I see modern leadership as leading by example. It is also the manager's task to create the best possible conditions and conditions for experts to do their work. Jan Herranen, Sales Director at Protect, adds that one of the most important qualities of today's leader is emotional intelligence. Even a leader doesn't know everything, and that is the essence of wisdom. If the young business student's thoughts were enriched by the new experiences and conversations he had during the day, the CEO was not without a catch. On the way to a customer in Pietarsaari, it was good to talk about, among other things, what today's young people think about work. What kind of workplace should a young person have to be ready to commit to? -The workplace should not be one where you have to rush to every morning. The job must be genuinely interesting. That's how it motivates you to move forward," concludes Joakim Övermark.