Page 17 - Finnish_leadership

Finnish leaders lack the courage to immerse themselves in an extensive and profound dialogue that penetrates the entire organisation. A shared, strong value basis
is an important tool for Finnish leaders. To exaggerate somewhat, we can note that it is easy to avoid excessive discussions and only focus on the implementation when (one may assume that) everyone sees things the same way. Of course, this is a significant strength when it occurs. Cooperation between persons who share their values
and ways of thinking always goes easily and smoothly. Finnish leaders know they can trust the word of another Finn and know which threat to pull to be effective. Finnish leaders know how to lead others in the way they would personally like to be led.
However, the strong and cohesive value basis is also
a weakness. Differences and conflicts are what feed creativity and accelerate innovation. Finland also needs
Strengths
• low hierarchy
• trust
• expertise
• solution orientation
• a good shared value basis
experts from other parts of the world. Finnish leaders still have a lot to learn about managing people from different cultures.
Finnish leaders must also understand that even
the native population in Finland is an increasingly heterogeneous group of people as diversity is both recognised and drawn attention to in increasing amounts.
In the present work for defining the concept, Finnish leaders have been considered to resort to overly modest way of thinking. While it is naturally a good thing to be true to one’s word and deliver more rather than less than what is expected, we may ask whether this modesty puts the Finnish leader at a disadvantage in the global scale? Or, even worse, does this modesty set limitations to the personal thinking of Finnish leaders and the opportunities for their company’s success?
Weaknesses
• low level of ambition
• lack of dialogue
• poor leadership of people • a love of processes
Could we overcome these paradoxes?
Is Finnish leadership doomed to an eternal dilemma where the price of every advantage is a challenge in some other area or will it be possible to find solutions that undo the worst difficulties related to conflicts? The future direction of Finnish leadership should tackle the worst weaknesses and turn strengths into competitive advantages. What would this future of leadership look like?
The State and Future of Finnish Leadership 17