Thursday, April 27, 2006

Me and my LC

Now that my thesis is almost done and MC work is coming to an end after May full of transition, it's good time to run for the Wappu celebrations to Lappeenranta, my home town. There we will also celebrate the 30th anniversary of my LC, AIESEC Saimaa. Looking forward to that and Saimaa Summer 2006 in the early July before leaving the country.

posted by Tomi Astikainen @ Thursday, April 27, 2006 0 comments

Friday, April 14, 2006

Initial goals for the internship

I thought I'd share with you my initial thoughts about the traineeship in Sri Lanka as a learning experience: What to avoid, what to concentrate on and what could be the outcomes of the traineeship:

Outcomes of the traineeship
  1. Healthy relationships: friends, family, girl friend and business associates
  2. Spiritual, physical and mental balance in life
  3. Steady basis for entrepreneurship (skills, knowledge, network and characteristics)
  4. Theoretical understanding of how to understand new cultures and interpret yourself
  5. Options open for further development (JCI, AIESEC International etc.)
Avoid
  • Seeking comfort from AIESEC or justification for false thoughts from Finland
  • Taking things personally or acting arrogantly
  • Overbooking your calendar or postponing “the first things” that need to happen first
Concentrate on
  • Learning the language during the first six months of the traineeship
  • Having and keeping the hobbies from the very beginning (badminton, snorkeling & fishing)
  • Developing patience and detail-orientation through the job role and other available opportunities
  • Using AIESEC and other opportunities efficiently and based on long-term goals
  • Building a balance in life (spiritual, mental and physical)
  • Maintaining curiosity and keeping options open
  • A few most important relationships, keeping the future goals in mind
  • Remembering to roll the DIE (Describe, Interpret & Evaluate) in all situations

posted by Tomi Astikainen @ Friday, April 14, 2006 0 comments

What I have been reading?

Here are some of the books I have been reading during the past year:

- Covey, Stephen: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

- Hawking, Stephen: A Brief History of Time

- Kiyosaki, Robert & Lechter, Sharon: Rich Dad, Poor Dad

- Kiyosaki, Robert & Lechter, Sharon: Cashflow Quadrant

- Werther, William & Berman, Evan: Third Sector Management

- Leijon et al: Reflecting diversity – Viewpoints from Scandinavia

- Jackson & Ruderman: Diversity in Work Teams

- Chemers et al: Diversity in Organizations

- Lipman-Blumen & Leavitt: Hot Groups

- Katzenbach & Smith: The Wisdom of Teams

- Kouzes & Posner: The Leadership Challenge

- Charan et al: The Leadership Pipeline

- Collins, Jim: Built to Last

- Twain, Mark: What is Man?

If you'd like to talk about any of those I'm more than willing to share my thoughts.

posted by Tomi Astikainen @ Friday, April 14, 2006 2 comments