Page 25 - Finnish_leadership

Epilogue by the authors
This has been an interesting topic to explore. The massive scale of the assignment caused a lot of scepticism towards our task. Is it even possible
to define what Finnish leadership and management is in just a few months? Perhaps we have also lost touch with the tradition of storytelling, which eats away at our courage to eliminate some elements and emphasise others. Perhaps the engineer-like approach is also apparent here: in order to define the concept, we feel obliged to include every possible fact and find ourselves unable to make statements without solid grounds. However, this would result in a poor narrative.
In any case, our scepticism was constantly accompanied by immense enthusiasm. A large group of people wished to share their time and participate in this historical effort. The work for defining the concept also attracted a lot of interest on social media and there has been a constant flow of inquiries on the progress of the work. It might be that narratives are still considered attractive. It is also possible that there is currently a demand for such a national narrative. Finland’s centenary has granted the ”right” for us to consider national issues in a multicultural and international world. Working life is also undergoing a major transformation and we are in dire need of different tools in order to cope with it. Self-understanding provides tools for development and appealing narratives can be used as marketing material when we aim to attract experts from around the world to Finland.
Finland needs leadership more than it has in a long time. At the same
time, the structural change inspired by technological development requires bold decisions that support renewal as well as responsibility for taking care of everyone. In addition, climate change mitigation will also require firm decisions and genuine responsibility-taking in the long term. While Finland has a lot to give in all of this, it requires us to have the courage to share what we have.
The State and Future of Finnish Leadership 25