Taneli Rantala
CEO, Founding Partner Leadership & Org. Development Advisor M.Sc. (Econ. & Bus. Adm.), Certified Business Coach
Taneli Rantala
- CEO, Founding Partner
- Leadership & Org. Development Advisor
- M.Sc. (Econ. & Bus. Adm.), Certified Business Coach
Lifted’s CEO, co-founder and expert Taneli makes sure the Lifted team moves towards a shared goal with laser-sharp focus.
A self-proclaimed lifelong learner and “recovering” perfectionist, our CEO is particularly passionate about systematically developing productivity and well-being in organisations. Taneli is known for his solution-focused approach and his goal-oriented work in building better company cultures that enable strategy.
Education
M.Sc. (Econ. & Bus. Adm.), University of Turku
Certified Business Coach (BCI)
Mindfulness Instructor (MBSR Level 2)
Several consulting and well-being trainings
Areas of expertise
Leadership and management
Teamwork, especially leadership team work
Ways of working and operating that enable strategy and a goal-oriented culture
Building impactful, customer-centric solutions
Developing processes that drive both performance and well-being
Sparring and coaching for management and HR
Experience
Taneli has coached and consulted organisations full-time since 2011 and has helped more than 300 organisations in Finland and internationally.
Taneli has extensive experience in coaching management teams, work communities and individuals.
Taneli has served as CEO and Board Member of Lifted Oy since 2014.
Taneli has appeared as an expert at major events and in leading media (MTV, Yle, Kauppalehti, etc.) and currently hosts the Liftcast podcast.
Before becoming an entrepreneur, Taneli worked at companies such as IBM and Nokia.
Get in touch:
Kirsti Kehusmaa
- Leadership coach and developer
- Management consultant
Kirsti is a coach and developer of leadership teams and leadership, with solid experience in leading strategic development projects and various change situations in everyday organizational life. She has worked in HR, communications, development and CEO roles in industry, technology and an expert organization, as well as a strategy and leadership team consultant.
Kirsti’s strength is her ability to gain a holistic understanding of the client’s situation. Together with the client, she designs and delivers tailored solutions that meet the organization’s needs. A strategic perspective combined with practical coaching and consulting ensures visible and lasting results.
As a coach, Kirsti believes strongly in participative leadership. This also shows in her workshop-style coaching, where she helps groups and individuals discover new ways of thinking and acting. Kirsti helps combine a people-centered approach with business leadership, and strategy with the organization’s day-to-day work.
Motto: As a leader and manager, every day and every encounter is an opportunity to learn about yourself and others. Growing as a leader requires a growth mindset, an understanding of your own limitations and a belief that you can always learn more.
Education
Master of Science (Engineering)
Licentiate of Technology, major in work psychology and leadership
Vocational teacher
Work supervisor (clinical supervision)
Degree in educational administration
Workplace Big Five and Eeca certifications
Areas of expertise
Leadership team coaching
Leadership and management coaching
Developing leadership and management systems
Strategic leadership
Developing organizational culture
Change leadership and developing change capability
Performance management
Coaching leadership
Experience
Kirsti has worked in industry, expert organizations and the technology sector in HR, communications, development and CEO roles.
Earlier in her career as a management consultant, she supported leadership teams in strategy processes, strategy implementation and in developing leadership team work and leadership.
She has served on several boards, both as CEO and as a board member. Strategic development projects, change situations and the development of leadership and work communities have been an essential part of Kirsti’s work at every stage of her career.
Get in touch:
Sonja Strömsholm
- Developer of leadership teams and managers
- Expert in change leadership and organizational culture
- Certified coach
Sonja is an experienced organizational development professional who has dedicated her career to developing leadership, organizational culture and meaningful work. Over the past 15 years, she has worked with hundreds of organizations as a coach, consultant, facilitator and change project lead, both as an external expert and internally as an expert, development manager, manager and director.
Sonja’s particular strength lies in designing leadership and interaction structures and practices in a way that supports meaningful work, psychological safety and sustainable performance. The ideas underpinning her work include intrinsic motivation, a growth mindset, people-centered change leadership and coaching leadership.
As a coach, Sonja is approachable, energetic and fully present with people. She is known for her ability to put things into words plainly, quickly turn ideas into concrete action and implement change in a way that gets people on board. Sonja’s emotionally powerful coaching style leaves no one cold.
Motto: Nothing improves by keeping up appearances. Development and growth happen in encounters where things are called by their real names. Without emotion, there is no change.
Education
Master of Education (adult education + psychology and leadership)
Certified Business Coach (BCI)
Certified Change Management Practitioner (Prosci)
Design Thinking training (Aalto EE)
Lean Change Management expertise
WorkPlace Big Five Profile™ certified
Areas of expertise
Coaching managers and leadership
People-centered change leadership
Developing organizational culture and culture change
Coaching and sparring leadership teams
Psychological safety and constructive interaction
Coaching leadership and a coaching mindset
Meaningful work, motivation and engagement
Experience
Over 15 years of experience developing organizations, leadership teams and managers.
Extensive experience in demanding change projects, especially in expert and IT organizations.
Experience both as a consultant and in internal leadership, managerial and HR roles.
Get in touch:
Jukka Joutsiniemi
Leadership & Org. Development Advisor Founding Partner M.Sc. (Econ.)
Jukka Joutsiniemi
- Leadership & Org. Development Advisor
- Founding Partner
- M.Sc. (Econ.)
Jukka is a co-founder of Lifted and an expert in leadership team work and leadership development. Over more than ten years as an entrepreneur and consultant, he has worked on these themes and supported hundreds of organizations in finding more effective ways to lead with both humanity and success.
Iina works at Lifted as Customer Success Manager, leading each collaboration and seeing it through together with the client and the coaching team. Her role is to make sure that all practical matters, such as schedules, responsibilities and coordination between coaches and the client, are handled in the background so the client doesn’t have to worry about them.
Education
Master of Science in Economics and Business Administration (University of Turku)
Areas of expertise
Developing leadership team work and leadership team dynamics
Strategic leadership development together with executives and leadership teams
Building effective, client-focused development solutions
Advising executives and HR on business-driven leadership development
Experience
More than ten years of experience as an entrepreneur and consultant in leadership team work and leadership development.
Has supported hundreds of organizations in Finland and internationally in finding more effective ways to lead with humanity and results.
His interest in people analytics in leadership and measurement began with his master’s thesis for Neste Oyj in 2013.
Member of the Board of Lifted Oy since 2014.
Get in touch:
Sami El-Bash
- Coach for executives and leadership teams
- Certified team and individual coach
- Facilitator and business developer
Sami is a coach for executives, leadership teams and teams, with more than 10 years of experience in developing people and organizations in multinational companies. More than 3,000 people, over 200 teams and over 100 organizations have taken part in his coaching. Sami’s work combines research-based tools with strong intuition. Personality, emotional intelligence, team and 360 assessments make visible what often goes unspoken: how we act, make decisions and handle conflict – and why the same challenges keep recurring. Once there is a shared language for the dynamics, they can be better understood and managed.
As a coach trained in the Co-Active method (CPCC), Sami works with the story a leader tells themselves: what they believe they can do, what they dare to say out loud and what they really want. Competence, courage and will are rarely all in place at the same time, and Sami’s task is to identify which of them is the real bottleneck at any given moment.
As a coach, Sami is direct, warm and curious. He says out loud what others in the room have noticed but left unsaid – and does so in a way that embarrasses no one. He is guided by courage, openness, curiosity and humanity.
Motto: Development begins with seeing yourself or the situation as it really is. And that, if anything, takes courage.
Education
M.Sc. (Econ.)
CPCC, Certified Professional Co-Active Coach
Trained executive coach
EQ-i 2.0 certified
Workplace Big Five Profile™ certified
Areas of expertise
Leadership team development and executive sparring
Team coaching and developing team dynamics
Individual coaching and developing managerial work
Personality and emotional intelligence assessments as a basis for development
Support in growth, change and conflict situations
Experience
Over 10 years of coaching experience (individual, team, leadership and change).
12 years of experience in business development in international companies, with responsibilities in sales, change and HR.
4 years of experience coaching leadership teams and acting as a partner to management.
Dozens of keynote speeches.
Has facilitated numerous large-scale events (over 200 people).
Has coached over 200 teams with a business-driven approach.
Sami also has extensive experience and expertise in facilitating events of all sizes. In his view, these moments bring out a coach’s full range of skills: how to lead the atmosphere, structure the pace, ensure people feel heard and guide a group towards meaningful conversation and insight.
Get in touch:
Iina Torppa
Customer Success Manager Project Manager Partner
Iina Torppa
- Customer Success Manager
- Project Manager
- Partner
Iina works at Lifted as Customer Success Manager, leading each collaboration and seeing it through together with the client and the coaching team. Her role is to make sure that all practical matters, such as schedules, responsibilities and coordination between coaches and the client, are handled in the background so the client doesn’t have to worry about them.
Iina is the client’s trusted partner throughout the program. She keeps things under control and resolves potential challenges before they can affect the schedule or goals. The insight she has gained from hundreds of delivered programs carries through the entire collaboration. Iina advises the client on themes and delivery options and brings proven practices from other Lifted programs to the table. This way the client can trust that the collaboration progresses smoothly from kickoff to final evaluation, and focus on what matters most: their own development.
She has extensive experience from more than 1,000 coaching programs with over 300 organizations, and the result is almost without exception highly satisfied clients.
Education
Bachelor of Business Administration / Oulu University of Applied Sciences
Training program in strategic leadership and organizational development
Areas of expertise
Coordinating and scheduling collaboration in multi-party programs
Managing practical arrangements between the client, coaches and other stakeholders
Ensuring smooth delivery
Advising management and HR on business-driven people development
Advising on themes and delivery options, best practices from other programs
Program design
Experience
Iina has coordinated a wide range of development programs, from leadership team coaching to manager training and change programs, across many industries in close partnership with clients.
Her role covers the entire collaboration from kickoff to follow-up: taking care of practical arrangements, managing schedules and responsibilities, and ensuring the program progresses as planned towards its goals without the client having to handle the background work.
Experience gained from more than 1,000 programs and 300 organizations gives Iina a strong view of what works, and she actively shares this insight with the client throughout the collaboration.
Get in touch:
Anne Nahkala
- Coach in leadership, management and workplace wellbeing
- Executive coach and consultant
- Team and individual coach
Anne combines people and business – an understanding of human psychology, organizational dynamics and business realities. She has more than 25 years of first-hand experience in leading business and people in expert organizations and in consulting numerous Finnish and international companies and leading change. She also has more than 15 years of experience in coaching and therapeutic methods.
Developing leadership, management and workplace wellbeing is Anne’s area of expertise. She combines the development of self-awareness and group dynamics with concrete insights, skills and actions. In her work she uses, among others, WorkPlace Big Five, Blind Spots and schema assessments. In workplace wellbeing, she combines coaching and therapeutic support for individuals and teams with developing the organization’s structures and its leadership and operating models.
As a coach, she is empathetically firm: she listens, sparks insight and challenges constructively. She pays attention to what happens in coaching situations, what the atmosphere is like and what may be left unsaid. Anne is able to adapt the content and focus of the coaching to the situation, as the important issues that could not be anticipated often emerge during coaching.
Motto: Know yourself, be well.
Education
M.Sc. (Econ.)
Coach (ICF)
Team coach
Cognitive brief therapist
Schema therapist
Ihminen tavattavissa mentor
Areas of expertise
Coaching leadership teams and leadership.
Coaching managers, especially in people leadership: interaction, feedback culture, a coaching approach, leading for success. Developing and strengthening change capability.
Developing sales leadership in expert organizations.
Coaching executives, managers and teams, also using therapeutic approaches, e.g. in burnout situations.
Developing workplace wellbeing: low-threshold therapeutic support, coaching managers in e.g. early intervention and raising difficult issues, and developing systemic factors.
Experience
Anne has worked full-time as a coach and practitioner of therapeutic approaches for five years. Before that, she spent 25 years in management consulting at EY, IBM and PwC. Her most recent role was Partner at EY, where she was responsible for developing and growing a new consulting area.
During her consulting years, Anne was also an entrepreneur on two occasions and used her coaching skills as an internal coach. She also trained junior and senior consultants in sales, client work and leadership.
Get in touch:
Staffan Kurtén
- Leadership and management coach
- Certified individual coach
- Facilitator, sparring partner and mentor
Throughout Staffan’s long career, the focus has always been on leading people (leadership), developing in it and supporting others’ development – from themes and challenges of self-leadership all the way to leading teams and business.
Staffan’s particular strengths are personal coaching, training and supporting people in various growth and change situations in working life. He works naturally with all kinds of people, whether a young professional at the start of their career, an experienced manager or an executive.
Staffan is easy to approach and quickly finds common ground with all kinds of people. As a coach, he is a team player: solution-focused, pragmatic and with a positive outlook on life. For him, it is important to genuinely connect with the person and build the coaching so that it concretely supports their growth and development.
Motto: The Oracle of Delphi’s “Know thyself” is an important starting point for many things.
Education
Certified Business & Leadership Coach (ICF)
Numerous trainings and courses along the way in coaching, behavioral science, business management, change leadership and self-leadership
Leading Professional Service Firms (Harvard Business School)
Advisory Board training (HAB, Finland Chamber of Commerce)
Extensive continuing education in Finland and internationally
Master of Science (Economics), Hanken School of Economics
Areas of expertise
Coaching leadership and managerial work
Self-leadership
Business & Leadership Coaching
Developing leadership team work
Change leadership
People leadership
Experience
Over 20 years of coaching experience
Entrepreneurship: over 20 years as founder and Managing Partner of an expert firm. The company was sold in 2020. Board of the acquiring company 4.5 years. On the board of the acquiring company for 4 years.
Global collaboration in the Arbora network (European & Global Chairman)
Extensive outplacement and coaching experience in hundreds of companies
Nordic collaboration
Recruitment consultant for 7 years early in his career (hundreds of recruitments)
Get in touch:
Nick Vertigans
- Leadership and team developer
- PCC coach
- Mentor coach
- Facilitator & speaker Entrepreneur
Nick designs and facilitates learning experiences that create the conditions for meaningful insight, behavioral change and lasting impact.
He works with leaders and teams, helping them find their own voice and develop the clarity, confidence and capability to lead effectively in an increasingly complex and demanding world.
Nick has more than 20 years of experience in leadership development, coaching and facilitation, and has worked with hundreds of leaders and organizations, from fast-growing companies to world-leading global corporations. His work focuses particularly on leadership, high-performing teams, collaboration and organizational effectiveness.
Education
Professional Certified Coach (PCC)
Certified Practitioner in Systemic Team Coaching®
Everything DiSC & Extended DiSC
The Five Behaviours of a Cohesive Team™ certification
NLP Practitioner certification Global Leader – Graduate Diploma in Management, Aalto University Executive Education
WorkPlace Big Five Profile™ certified
Areas of expertise
Developing leadership and executive teams
Individual and group coaching
Experience
20 years of leadership and team development consulting
Founding member and Vice Chair, Nordic Leadership Network
Led teams across EMEA at both Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters – London, Geneva, Gdansk
Get in touch:
Heini Björn-Rantala
- Work and organizational psychologist
- Coach for work communities and leadership
- Certified executive and team coach
Heini is a versatile expert in developing work communities and organizations who, as a work and organizational psychologist, has helped IT and growth organizations in particular. Heini has coached work communities, teams and individuals. Her areas of expertise include interaction in work communities, front-line leadership and promoting workplace wellbeing.
Her strengths include connecting with people, putting working-life phenomena into words and building bridges between people. Heini is able to combine a broad understanding of working life with practical coaching.
As a coach, Heini is present, active and solution-focused. She encourages participants to take an active role and is energized by shared insights, ideas that can be put into practice and experiences of success.
Motto: Humanity is the superpower of worklife.
Education
Psychologist (M.Psych.)
Specialist psychologist in work and organizational psychology
Occupational health psychologist
Team and executive coach
Workplace mediator
Areas of expertise
Work ability management
Coaching managers and work communities on working-life themes, such as change capability, self-leadership, psychological safety, interaction in work communities, stress and recovery.
Experience
Heini has worked as a psychologist for almost 20 years, of which around 13 years specifically as a working-life expert. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Heini held managerial positions.
She has worked with organizations of different sizes and sectors, from large corporations to smaller companies, and has partnered with managers and HR professionals.
Get in touch:
Joanna Asikainen
- Coach for leadership, leadership teams and experts
- Coach for teams and work communities
- Facilitator
Joanna is a business coach, Certified Executive Coach and Team Coach with more than 25 years of experience in developing people, teams and organizations. She helps executives, managers, experts and teams make changes that show in everyday work and collaboration.
Joanna’s strength is connecting the development of people and interaction with the organization’s goals and day-to-day work. She quickly builds an atmosphere of trust, challenges people to think and helps turn insights into practice.
As a coach, Joanna is energetic, approachable and gently firm. Her coaching is participative and practical. She believes that a good coach dares to challenge and helps people find concrete ways to act more effectively.
Motto: Trust enables growth – in people, in collaboration and in business.
Education
ICF Certified Coach, ACC (International Coaching Federation)
Certified Executive Coach (BCI)
Certified Team Coach (OK5 TC)
Advanced Solution Focused Practitioner of Coaching (LTI)
Peili™ behavioral profile
Fasilitoinnin Velho® (facilitation training)
The Five Behaviors®
Entrepreneurship
Numerous continuing education courses in leadership, coaching, interaction and training
WorkPlace Big Five Profile™ certified
Areas of expertise
Leadership, leadership culture and managerial work
Coaching and self-leadership
Leadership team work
Teamwork
Creating value from expertise
Internal collaboration and shared ground rules
Interaction skills and confident, convincing presentation
Coaching leadership
Experience
Joanna has more than 25 years of coaching experience and 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur. Over her career, she has worked with a wide variety of companies, industries and staff groups – from leadership teams to managers, experts, salespeople, teams and entire work communities.
Her previous experience in business and leadership, together with her long entrepreneurial background, shows in the way she coaches: she understands that development in organizations must ultimately be reflected in how people lead, collaborate, engage with customers and achieve results.
For Joanna, long experience does not mean ready-made answers. It means the ability to see what is essential, ask better questions and adapt the work to what the particular organization, group or person needs to move forward.
Get in touch:
Markus Katiska
- Occupational health and organizational psychologist
- Psychotherapist (cognitive analytic)
- Executive coach
Markus is an analytical, warm and solution-focused coach. He helps management and work communities build better collaboration, clearer leadership and lasting change.
Markus is particularly good at helping people and organizations understand what their situation is really about. He quickly identifies bottlenecks in collaboration, leadership and interaction, and helps build solutions that show both in people’s wellbeing and in performance.
As a coach, Markus combines an organizational psychology perspective, the realities of how organizations operate and genuine human connection. His way of working is analytical, insightful and solution-focused: he helps management and work communities identify what is essential and build lasting change at a practical level.
Motto: Genuine connection is the path to change.
Education
Master of Psychology (University of Helsinki), licensed psychologist Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) psychotherapist training (University of Helsinki) Coaching certificate, Brain-based coaching (NeuroLeadership Institute) Certificate in psychological assessment (Finnish Institute of Occupational Health) Everything DiSC Trainer (MLP) Leadership Judgement Indicator,
Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) psychotherapist training (University of Helsinki)
Coaching certificate, Brain-based coaching (NeuroLeadership Institute)
Certificate in psychological assessment (Finnish Institute of Occupational Health)
Everything DiSC Trainer (MLP)
Leadership Judgement Indicator, LJI (Hogrefe)
WOPI certificate (Competence Dimensions Oy)
Qualifying training in occupational health care (Finnish Institute of Occupational Health)
WorkPlace Big Five Profile™ certified
Experience
Partner to management and HR in building and developing organizational operations and collaboration, e.g. with startups and other growth companies, retail, service companies and industrial organizations
Has worked as an account consultant, coach and occupational health psychologist in the private, public and third sectors, coaching management, managers and work communities and lecturing widely on themes that bring people and organizations together.
Extensive background in identifying, utilizing and developing people’s strengths individually and together at different organizational levels, e.g. through individual and group coaching, work supervision and facilitation.
Previously a partner and leadership team member at a consulting firm.
Psychotherapeutic and systemic understanding of encounters and interaction, and how they can help organizations succeed.
Get in touch:
Jouni Eronen
- Coach in leadership, management, influencing and workplace skills
- Certified coach
As a coach, Jouni is inspiring and encouraging, while also challenging in just the right measure. He meets every client as an individual and seeks to find the ways to develop and succeed that suit them best.
His broad experience enriches the coaching process with diverse perspectives and expertise. He helps clients gain new insights, develop their capabilities and translate learning into practice.
Motto: Things are rarely either-or; most often they are both-and.
Education
Master of Business Administration (UAS), Degree Program in Entrepreneurship and Business Competence (Laurea 2016)
Certified coach (Finnish Coaching Association)
Peili coach (Peili Consulting Oy)
Resilience coach (Resilience Factory)
Denison Organization Culture Model Certification (Denison Consulting, US)
Hofstede Organization Culture Model Certification (Hofstede, NL)
Areas of expertise
Driving change projects and supporting leadership
Developing organizational culture and ways of working sustainably and in ways that improve financial results
Understanding diversity and strengthening diversity competence
Developing sales, sales leadership and customer experience
Experience
Over 20 years in the role of coach, consultant and business coach.
Extensive experience in change projects at Finnish companies across industries.
Experience also in international projects and coaching groups.
Get in touch:
Carola Hjelt
- Business Coach
- Leadership and coaching skills trainer
- Facilitator
Carola is an experienced leadership developer, coach, facilitator and certified coach. She works especially with executives, managers and leadership teams, combining leadership development, collaboration and coaching.
She helps clarify what is essential, make the complex clearer and challenge thinking. A strong understanding of people and leadership is combined with practical action and turning insights into deeds.
As a coach, she is warm, clear and approachable. Her approach is participative and reflective, and she quickly creates an atmosphere of trust. She believes that meaningful change begins with clarity of thought
Motto: Good leadership helps people succeed, strengthens collaboration and creates the conditions for excellent results..
Education
MBA, Henley Management College
Professional Certified Coach, PCC (ICF)
Senior Practitioner (EMCC)
Coaching Supervision Programme
Oxford Brookes University. Certified Business Coach Master Business Coaching Institute
Certificate of Coaching Skills, NeuroLeadership Group
NLP Master
WorkPlace Big Five Profile™ certified
Areas of expertise
Developing leadership and managerial work
Developing leadership teams and teams
Coaching leadership and coaching skills
Individual, group and team coaching
Facilitation and co-creation
Supporting change and leadership transitions
Coaching supervision and mentor coaching
Experience
Carola has worked for more than 20 years in leadership and leader development in Finnish and international organizations. Her career has progressed from leadership and HR roles to leadership development, coaching and facilitation, and she has worked across many industries in both the private and public sectors.
Over the years, Carola has had the opportunity to work with thousands of leaders and experts at different organizational levels. This has given her a broad perspective on what leadership requires in different situations – and above all, on the actions through which a leader can have the greatest impact: on people’s success, on working together and on results.
Get in touch:
Viivi Viljakainen
- Marketing Specialist
Viivi is responsible for Lifted’s overall marketing and for building brand awareness. Her work focuses on making sure Lifted’s messages reach the right audiences and that the brand is built over the long term, grounded in values and impact.
Her strengths include a goal-oriented approach, clear communication and the ability to combine creativity with business goals.
Viivi makes sure marketing supports Lifted’s broader mission: helping organizations and individuals develop holistically.
Education
Bachelor of Hospitality Management / South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (XAMK)
Areas of expertise
Planning and executing marketing campaigns
Developing brand awareness and reputation
Collaboration and building partnerships
Experience
Viivi has broad experience in marketing roles across different organizations. She has worked in both B2B and B2C settings, responsible for planning and executing marketing campaigns.
Alongside her work, Viivi has served on the Representative Council of OP Central Finland, where she has taken part in decision-making and represented the interests of owner-customers.
She has also served as a deputy occupational safety and health representative, which reflects her strong commitment to workplace wellbeing and responsible practices.
Get in touch:
All Lifted team members share these characteristics and capabilities:
Lifted is a trusted development partner for organisations navigating growth and change. We are known for our results-driven leadership and team development and coaching services.
Through tailored, strategy- and culture-led development initiatives, helping your organisation succeed.
Lifted Oy is a Finnish company, founded in 2014.
Reach us at
+358 (0) 44 2711 487
lifted@lifted.fi
Sofiankatu 4 C, 00170 Helsinki, Finland
Business ID: 2603736-2
