You have been in the elevator industry since 1986. How has the market evolved during your career?
A lot has changed since 1986, but I should start with one thing that hasn’t changed: the importance of people. We still work with architects, developers, and customers, and we depend upon our employees to succeed. At KONE, we strive to be a company where people are at the center of our business.
I didn’t intend to join the elevator business, but studied different fields like history, law, and psychology. Studying history has given me a good perspective on leadership, on what makes a leader successful, on different leadership styles, and how they inspire and motivate people. Studying psychology has provided me with a good understanding of how people think, their purpose and values, and how it feels to be part of a team.
Speaking of teams, you lead a big one: the KONE Americas. How would you describe this area?
We are a large area, comprising Canada, the United States, and Mexico. There is only one KONE, but there are some differences in our region. We have a different legal environment in the US, such as with liability laws, which has implications for how we operate. Most of our technicians are KONE employees, not contractors, which is also different from some other areas.
Canada is a stable market, while demand in Mexico often changes due to public spending programs, such as for low-cost housing or new high-rises. The US is diverse and there are different drivers in different parts of the country. While the Midwest is dominated by manufacturers and responded slowly after the COVID recession, the Southeast recovered the fastest, but of course COVID impacted our entire area, and we have since recovered across the Americas.
Where do you see the most growth opportunities?
In the early days of my career, customers considered the equipment to be most important. Now it is the service and customer experience. New construction is fairly stable in the Americas, but we have an aging population and aging buildings which make lifecycle assessments and modernization important. There is great growth potential in modernizations and services, and digitalization will be key to unlocking that.
What aspects of digitalization are you most excited about today?
I’m not interested in buzzwords, but rather in how digitalization can create value and enable our people. Our predictive maintenance and KONE 24/7 Connect real time monitoring provides instantaneous elevator data which we can use to build new services. It helps us to understand how people are moving in a building so we can provide better value for our customers.
The MyKONE digital customer portal improves the transparency of information, so customers can see everything related to their equipment in one place. MyKONE is also great for receiving feedback from customers.
Dynamic Maintenance Planning, DMP, allows us to do predictive maintenance, identifying potential issues before they become problems. This helps us allocate our service technicians’ time more efficiently, be more sustainable, and reduce downtime for the customer, but the best part about DMP is that it can improve safety. That is always our top priority.
What is your leadership philosophy?
I have worked in many fields and KONE has always surrounded me with great professionals. I have been blessed because people in this company have trusted me and put me in positions to succeed. That is what I try to do for others, too.
A leader needs to be oriented toward people. I identify our needs and obstacles, set expectations for the team, and help them to be successful. I offer them support and recognition. You can’t micromanage in an organization of our size. I want to empower people, let them go, and trust them to deliver.
How do you lead in an era of change?
Look in the mirror! I have made lots of mistakes in my career, but I have always tried to learn from them. When the world changes around us, we need to change first. We can acknowledge our past successes, but they will not lead us into the future. In the past we may have done something that made sense at the time, but it is good to learn and do something different now.
At KONE, we have a culture of resilience and innovation which takes precedence over perfection. We must have a willingness to take risks and lead, like in our Rise strategy. I want people to understand that they don’t need to be perfect. I want to give them more recognition and say “thank you” more often. And I want to have more empathy for people when they have personal challenges.
What keeps you passionate about your work?
I enjoy watching people engage with others, grow in their careers, and achieve their goals. At KONE, our employees know that we are part of one team, and we win together. I love it when people realize they can be more than they had ever imagined. That joy never goes away.
When you step into an elevator, what goes through your mind?
It depends on the ride! But seriously, the first thing I always think about is safety. Two billion people use KONE elevators and escalators every day, and the safety of our employees, customers, and end users is always number one.
I also think about our technicians. They are amazing people with specialized skills who keep these complex systems running. Finally, I think about all the rest of our employees, like those in offices, who help this company succeed. All of us have to keep in mind the importance, the gravity, of what KONE does. We help a building achieve its purpose and shape the future of cities; this is no small task.
