I mainly knew Jonas Selen from work. Like many others, I experienced him as someone with great presence, calmness, and self-confidence - a person people naturally listen to when he speaks.
Once, many years ago, he described me as a bit “ängslig” as a person. In English, maybe something close to anxious or worried. And perhaps he was right.
That is one reason why I was so curious about this conversation. I had always looked at Jonas almost as the opposite of me: calm in the storm, grounded, self-confident. But where did that come from? Had he always been like that?
As a child, Jonas struggled with both dyslexia and dyscalculia. Dyslexia is much better understood today, but dyscalculia still remains surprisingly unknown - even among many math teachers. It affects the ability to understand numbers and mathematical concepts, and it has nothing to do with intelligence. Yet many children go through school feeling stupid, broken, or lazy, simply because no one around them has the tools to recognize what is actually going on. At this very moment, many children are fighting this battle - and even being bullied, sometimes by teachers who simply don’t know better. We need to raise awareness of dyscalculia.
What struck me most in this conversation is how Jonas gradually transformed those difficulties into strengths that later came to define him. And that is only the beginning of his story.
We both left Ericsson in 2023. Some time ago, when we met for coffee, I asked him if he missed work. His answer surprised me:
“Heraldo, I don’t miss work at all. I worked hard my whole life. If I had to work today just to fill my time, I think I would like to be a dishwasher. Just having water on my hands and not needing to think.”
I did not expect that answer from someone I had always seen as so strong and composed. So during the conversation I asked him why.
What he said next was not what I had imagined.
Because even when you appear strong, calm, and self-confident, it does not necessarily come naturally. Sometimes it is something you build consciously, every single day.
I think you will love this conversation.
