I recently finished reading a book about Pekka Herlin, the a Finnish industrial magnate who inherited the elevator company Kone. As you may know, Kone today is one of the largest elevator and escalator companies in the world, employing over 35000 people globally.
As I get older I am more and more interested in books about real people; there are so many amazing stories and so much to learn from many remarkable people. There is also something very comforting to know that people can achieve so much despite their flaws.
This book was written after Herlin's death; it was commissioned by his family to celebrate his life's work, which was creating the first truly global Finnish company, and in the process help tremendously advance and develop the Finnish economy and corporate landscape. He helped bring Finland into the modern competitive business environment, which was an amazing accomplishment, given the situation of the country after the second world war, and after the Finnish winter war with Russia. His success in business is astonishing, but what's even more remarkable, is that he was also a successful farmer, a successful competitive sailor who won many races, and a father to five children. It puts to shame my eternal complaint that I don't have enough time to do it all - and I only have one job and three kids.
What is surprising about the book is how candidly it describes Pekka Herlin's interesting and deeply divided personality. His strengths were keen intelligence and a powerful drive, but he also had many flaws and weaknesses that made him very difficult to live with; among the worst of which was his addiction to alcohol.
Unfortunately the book, Koneen Ruhtinas, is only available in Finnish.
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