I see how thinking works. Then change happens fast.
I'm Ilkka Rajala from Finland. I listen to how people talk and watch what they do. From that I see what is really going on, and I choose the approach that works. I work with organisations: I speak, train and consult. I also do systemic analysis and build systems for it. I also coach executives and top performers one to one.
How I work
I see the structure. Then I choose the method.
Most people only see the end result of their thinking: a decision, a feeling, a conflict. I look at how it was produced. I notice what is left unsaid and how a person reacts. Thinking has a structure, and once I see it, I know where to start.
The method depends on the situation. In one-to-one coaching I show clients the structure if they want to see it. Then they see for themselves what to change. Sometimes changing the thinking is enough. Many people have already tried thinking differently, for example about their reactions, and want more. Then we work deeper, with the unconscious mind, using other methods. If someone already thinks too much, we step out of thinking. With organisations the approach is the same, but the tools are used differently. A leader's well-crafted speech, for example, can affect listeners more than they would believe.
In my training I teach the same skill to others: seeing the structure of your own thinking. In psychology it is called metacognition, the ability to watch your own mind from the side. John Flavell introduced the term in 1979, and research has linked it to better learning and emotion regulation, among other things.
In organisations I also use systemic analysis. Language, behaviour, structures and data show how an organisation thinks and acts.
The three topics I speak and train on most right now. Each comes as a keynote, a training day, a programme for managers, a format for the leadership team and a trainer licence. Results are measured.
When facts do not settle disagreements
Leaders learn to see their own interpretations, to hear how another person thinks, and to get people to see the same direction. First trained to over 300 managers.
Three levels
When the environment is not stable
The mind rehearses the worst in advance, and the body reacts as if the threat were already here. Five skills that release stress and bring judgment back under pressure.
Five skills
When the machine answers faster than you can think
AI is already on everyone's desk. Few notice when the machine starts thinking on their behalf. Five skills that keep thinking sharp and decisions in human hands.
Five skills
Formats and prices
Start small and grow when you see results. Prices exclude VAT. Every topic is available in English.
I work with organisations where the plan is ready but daily work does not follow it yet.
Interviews, observation and, if needed, a survey. Systemic analysis shows both the structures and the thinking, and how they affect each other. You get a report and a development plan.
Goals and metrics are agreed at the start. I coach the managers, build the communication and fix the practices that keep the old way alive.
An outside thinking partner while change is under way and decisions need to be made fast.
Clients include Accenture, Ilmarinen, Metsä Group, Nokia, the Finnish Defence Forces, S-Bank and DNA. If you are not happy with a talk or a training, I don't invoice it.
For executives, elite athletes and professionals who work in public and under heavy pressure. Many of my clients have no problem with their mind. They want to be the best in their field.
One big question and a whole day for it. For a decisive choice, a competition or a performance.
Regular sessions, messaging between them and a short call before an important situation. Most executives and athletes end up here.
A thinking partner who knows your situation and is there before big decisions.
Everything starts with a free 30-minute conversation where we see whether I am the right person for you. I work in English and Finnish, with clients in Finland and abroad. Nothing leaves the room: I don't name clients without permission.
About
I work in three worlds that rarely meet. In business I develop organisations, leadership, sales and change. In high performance I coach executives, athletes and special forces soldiers from several countries. And I have studied the inner world of the mind since I was 13, including more than fifteen years of meditation and journeys to learn from shamans and other teachers around the world.
The question is the same everywhere: how does thinking really work, and how can it be changed? I have completed well over a hundred trainings on the human mind, from psychotherapy methods and hypnosis to NLP, solution-focused work, somatic methods and systems thinking. I am loyal to results, not to methods.
Book
11 key abilities for success and peace of mind
The starting point of the book: success is a set of skills that can be learned. I wrote it in Finnish with Davide Floreno and Petri Matero.
Alma Talent 2020Your message comes straight to me, not to an assistant or a sales team. Tell me what it is about and what you hope for, and I'll suggest the next step: a short call, a meeting or a proposal.