10Oct2024
What makes CEOs and executive teams succeed? Few people are better suited to answer this question than Sanna Suvanto-Harsaae, who has served on over 25 boards across various industries and currently chairs the boards of Finnair, Orthex, Posti Group, and BoConcept. Beyond her vast experience, she has some personal qualities that make her a valuable source of actionable advice for leaders: she is a generalist who excels in simplifying complex business challenges, and her insights are grounded in real-world practice, not theory. In her keynote at Nordic Business Forum 2024, Sanna discussed what makes leadership teams thrive and shared practical strategies to enhance leadership across organizations.
The Three Essentials for Successful Leadership
1. Self-Leadership
Sanna emphasized that leadership begins with leading oneself before leading others. This idea of self-leadership involves taking full ownership of one’s responsibilities and being proactive rather than simply following orders.
“You cannot lead others if you don’t first lead yourself.”
She provided an example of a manager who, instead of merely passing down a project from their superior, takes the time to reflect, improve, and suggest new approaches. This proactive mindset is something she has observed in the best CEOs, many of whom developed self-leadership skills through sports, the arts, or other personal disciplines during their youth.
An important part of spreading self-leadership throughout an organization is encouraging team members to offer their own solutions rather than jumping to provide answers for them. “If you have job descriptions, go home and scrap them,” she provocatively told the audience. “What you should have are responsibility descriptions.” By fostering a culture of responsibility, leaders can empower their teams and drive collective success.
2. Results-Oriented Focus
According to Sanna, top-performing leaders and teams are always focused on improving results. This focus is not just about financial performance but about fostering a winning mentality. She argued that no one wants to be part of a losing team, and the pursuit of better results naturally attracts more talented people to the organization.
She stressed that businesses are not just games with no stakes—there are winners and losers, and it is essential to maintain competitiveness. Successful leaders must ensure their teams are measured by clear metrics, which can range from financial data to timelines. Leaders who take ownership of their performance by tracking tangible results will always have a clearer understanding of their success and areas for improvement.
3. Continuous Development
The third essential is ongoing development—for both individuals and the team as a whole. Organizations are dynamic, not static, and the best leaders understand the importance of continuous learning and improvement.
“All good leadership training happens on the job. You have to make sure you frequently take time to go out to learn and challenge yourself.”
Additionally, she emphasized the importance of addressing underperformance head-on. “Being nice is being uncaring,” she said, urging leaders to have difficult conversations with those not suited for their roles. By helping people move on when they no longer fit the organization’s needs, leaders demonstrate true care for both the individual and the team.
The Three Fs: Secret Spices for High-Performing Teams
1. Forward Orientation
Sanna encouraged leaders to adopt a forward-looking mindset. Teams should focus on future goals rather than dwelling on past mistakes. “We spend too much time on fault-finding,” she observed, arguing that high-performing teams are those that learn from the past but keep their eyes on the future.
She recommended setting clear long-term goals and working backward from them to plan immediate actions. This method helps leaders and teams stay focused on what truly matters, avoiding the trap of reacting to day-to-day distractions.
2. Focus
The second “F” stands for focus, which Sanna identified as a critical factor separating high-performing teams from mediocre ones. “In almost every language there is a saying that small drops make a big river or a sea. That might be true in nature, but it does not work in business,” she pointed out. She argued that “fewer, bigger, better” should be the mantra for both business and personal life. Leaders must learn to say no and center on the most important tasks, rather than trying to do everything at once.
Prioritization, she explained, is about organizing 100 tasks by importance, but focus is about identifying the six or seven most important ones and putting everything else aside. In her view, a lack of focus leads to burnout and inefficiency, particularly among younger generations who feel pressure to do it all.
3. Fun
Finally, Sanna stressed the importance of having fun within teams. She defined fun not as constant laughter, but as a sense of humor and camaraderie that fosters trust. “The teams that honestly laugh at themselves trust each other,” she explained. Trust, built through shared humor and vulnerability, is a key element of successful teams.
Interestingly, she cited research showing that leaders with a sense of humor are more motivating and more likely to achieve high performance. Sanna also emphasized that humor becomes especially important when things go wrong. Instead of dwelling on mistakes or failures, teams should use humor to diffuse tension and move forward with renewed energy.
Key Points
- Leadership starts with self-leadership: Leaders must first learn to lead themselves by taking responsibility and acting proactively before they can effectively lead others.
- Results matter: High-performing teams are results-driven, and tracking performance through clear metrics is essential for improvement and success.
- Continuous development is key: Organizations and teams must continuously learn and evolve to stay competitive.
- Leaders must also be willing to make tough decisions about underperformance.
- Forward orientation, focus, and fun drive success: Successful teams look to the future, maintain sharp focus on priorities, and foster a positive environment through humor and trust.
Questions for Reflection
- How can you cultivate self-leadership within your team to foster a more proactive and responsible culture?
- In what ways can your organization improve its focus on results without sacrificing creativity or innovation?
- How often do you assess the development needs of your team? Are you providing enough opportunities for growth and learning?
- What strategies can you implement to ensure your team is forward-oriented and not bogged down by past mistakes?
- How can you introduce more fun and trust-building activities within your team to enhance collaboration and performance?
