Name: Jussi Tommola

Title: CEO & Co-founder

Organisation: YellowMay

Insurance expert and executive leader for more than 15 years. Working on a global scale with teams.

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

We’ve gone through the interviews and asked the best of the best to come back and answer 7 MORE Questions on Leadership.

I hope Jussi's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. As a leader, how do you build trust with employees, customers and other stakeholders?

Transparency on actions is essential as there are, of course business business-critical areas that cannot be discussed in detail, but the aspect of how you and your organisation work has to deliver the culture of openness.

2. What do 'VISION' and 'MISSION' mean to you? And what does it actually look like to use them in real-world business?

Definitely, the vision is for me the next threshold to be achieved, and then you can and should realign. Mission does remind me of the grounding of why we do things.

3. How can a leader empower the people they're leading?

By guiding them in the right direction with a dialogue to find the best solution to any given circumstances. A good leader also knows how to set goals mutually so that they support the people, not only the "surroundings".

4. Who are some of the coaches or mentors in your life who have had a positive influence on your leadership? Can you please tell a meaningful story about one of them?

I pick up in various circumstances the hints, thoughts, and inspirations for my leadership style. It´s a holistic mindset to pick the areas in question. As a brief story comes to my mind, the following event. I was at a customer event in Hong Kong, and the CEO of the company was holding the speech to open the evening cocktail event, and he was surprised by his employees who were given the freedom to design a program for the evening to engage people to learn something new.

It had resulted in a game of social skills combined with martial arts. He was engaged in a match with a shadow warrior, and he was so engaged that he attempted a jump kick that tore his pants, so he used a tablecloth instead of the pants for the rest of the evening. This is what leadership is: adapting.

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5. Leadership is often more about what you DON'T do. How do you maintain focus in your role?

Having a clear vision and being able to adjust when needed. Then don´ts of your doing become do´s for your organisation.

6. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Everyone plans differently. How do you plan for the week, month and years ahead in your role?

I always look at the bigger picture, so I align annually but plan for several years. Short term, prioritise heavily.

7. What advice would you give to a young leader who is struggling to delegate effectively?

Ask yourself, what are you willing to give, and if that bucket falls short, adjust your ask to help that you can look at topics that / you can give to others, so that you have the time for them.