ForTheDoers Blog Coaching, courage and caring – keys to successful leadership Eveliina Dahl · 25 November 2021 The pandemic has in many ways been a catapult for a new corporate way of working. It has also required us to lead ourselves and our teams in a different way, with a balancing act between accountability and freedom. We believe that people skills will grow in importance and that coaching, courage, and caring are all key components in our way of leading. We have learned several things during the past two years, both as individuals and as organisations. Self-leadership has grown stronger and the formal leadership role has also shifted focus, from operations and performance to coaching and creating engagement and motivation. The coaching approach is a foundation in our open leadership principles at Fortum, and during the past years we have seen the importance of the coaching approach in the internal dialogue. In the leadership trainings that we ran this autumn, more than 600 Fortum leaders discussed and reflected on Hybrid Leadership. Topics like how to create engaging hybrid meetings and the art of courageous leadership were discussed. Sharing best practices and reflecting together with other managers are fruitful ways to adjust to the new way of working. It takes courage to lead, but it takes even more courage to lead in times of insecurity. It can be uncomfortable to lead a team when the future or even the next day is uncertain, but those who are proactive, who reflect on their own strengths and weaknesses, who speak up when something is wrong, and who help others to flourish are all taking steps of courage. Leaders are essential in the internal dialogue Leaders have the power to create engagement and show direction, and they are crucial in any company’s internal communications. International research shows that, regardless of business or continent, employees see the closest manager as the most essential source of information. This conclusion is also mirrored in Fortum’s global survey on internal dialogue, which we conducted among our global workforce earlier this year. So, how are our line managers doing? The majority of our employees are pleased with their managers’ communication. 81% say that their line managers support a two-way dialogue, and 75% say that their managers make them feel engaged. Well done, Fortum managers! Not only do managers play an important role when it comes to performance and engagement, but our leaders are also important role models for our organisation when it comes to self-leadership and wellbeing. By allowing yourself to find ways to recharge and reload, through downtime and recovery, you lead by example. We should all remind ourselves that developing as a leader and fostering a successful team is not a sprint, but rather a marathon. Eveliina Dahl Senior Vice President, People Contact by email Subscribe to ForTheDoers newsletter Subscribe The latest blog posts and articles in a newsletter to your mailbox Blog Read more posts To the blog frontpage Local projects Authors Get to know our bloggers Related posts Heidi Backman-Husenius 13 July 2020 Open leadership enables a faster ability to respond Risto Penttinen 29 May 2020 Open leadership is taking us towards a cleaner future Load more Share this: email Created with Sketch. Back to top You are here: About Fortum Newsroom All news and releases About us This is Fortum Strategy Open positions Our energy production Fortum worldwide Covid-19 information Services Fortum Battery Solutions Turbines and generators Power plant O&M and performance Find charging stations Fortum Circo® Recycled Plastics Licensing and safety design Investors In focus Reports and presentations Share information Calendar and events Corporate governance Contact us Our offices Media contacts Investor Relations Supplier inquiries Sales contacts Give feedback Raise a concern Follow us on social media Legal information Data privacy and cookies Legal Notice © Fortum 2021. All rights reserved Improved content with cookies We use cookies to personalize service, content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyze site usage. We share information on onsite user behavior with our partners. You can manage and disable cookies via Cookie Settings. For further information please visit ourCookie Policy.