Audley’s Unconventionally Wise Person of the Year
At Audley, we draw on our principle of ‘Unconventional Wisdom’ to find solutions to the challenges facing our clients. This inaugural award recognises a leader who over the past year thought or acted in a unique way to achieve their goals.
War in Europe, market meltdowns, a trio of Prime Ministers and more. Its been an unusual year, to say the least, and this has required leaders in business and politics to throw out the rule book and take a more creative, strategic approach.
Although there was plenty of unconventional behaviour in UK politics, the scarcity of wisdom meant we had to look further afield for inspiration.
Our search took us to Finland.
Yes: Finnish prime minister Sanna Marin is Audley’s Unconventionally Wise person of 2022.
Marin has had a remarkably successful year in increasing the stature of her country, breaking conventions in the process and heralding a new era in Finnish foreign policy. Sanna Marin has courted publicity with a ‘personal brand’ like no other Finnish leader before and made moves of international significance in the foreign and defence policy spheres.
The most consequential decision Marin has made is to seek NATO membership for Finland. This clashed with the received wisdom of the past decades, which was for Finland to maintain its neutrality. This choice marks the Finnish prime Minister as unconventional by the standards of Finnish foreign policy.
© Laura Kotila / Finnish Government
Although public opinion swung behind Finland joining NATO, it was not a light decision for Marin. But in so doing, she has made Finland a country of greater strategic importance. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shows just how unpredictable and aggressive it can be; some will have argued it would be better for Finland to not “poke the bear”.
The Finns could have just offered NATO warm words of solidarity. Instead, they took a robust and determined approach to Putin’s belligerence by throwing their weight four-square behind NATO. Nor has Sanna Marin been shy in criticising European countries’ lax defence capabilities and their overreliance on the US for protection.
This is a brave approach from the leader of a country that borders Russia – and has been invaded by it within living memory. You could argue it is much easier for British prime ministers to talk tough when they are so far from the front line. Marin is putting her personal safety on the line (we know what the Russians are capable of) and has shown more cojones than many male heads of government in Europe.
And it is not just her policies that are unconventionally wise. When it comes to her public profile, Sanna Marin has been strategic in the curation of her public profile. As Finnish academic Tuuli-Anna Saaria Huikuria pointed out, her popularity “stems from her embracing publicity, including social media, in a way that was previously unheard of in Finnish politics.” Between official images of her at the EU Council, or in Ukraine with President Zelensky, she has posted content on social media to connect with her voters on a personal level. This has included pictures of her breastfeeding (a move unheard of by world leaders) and wedding photos on Instagram and pasta sauce recipes on Facebook.
No doubt there is a considered communications strategy behind this, but you can hardly accuse Marin of trying to be something she’s not after videos and photos of her partying splashed across the papers and social media. The outrage reflects Finland’s conservative nature and demand for the utmost probity in politics.
This makes her gambit to appear more “human” and court celebrities all the more unconventional. Indeed, her actions triggered a swell of support, particularly among Finnish women who shared videos of themselves partying with the hashtag #solidaritywithsanna.
And let us not lose sight of the fact that all of this has been achieved by a woman who is in her thirties. Female political leadership is rare enough, but a 34-year-old woman as head of state leading an all-female coalition government, is virtually unheard of - and it is certainly unconventional. Nevertheless, despite her relative youth, Sanna Marin has demonstrated wisdom above and beyond leaders with twice the political experience, none of whom face the same sexist barbs that she does.
Politics is a fickle game and Marin may yet find her stock falling in 2023. However, at the time of writing, she is well-placed in the polls to retain the premiership after the next election in April. Even if she doesn’t win, Sanna Marin will leave a notable legacy.
By Rolf Merchant, Director at Audley.