The FLT Podcast

Finnish Leadership Team

We are on a mission to explore and deeply understand Finnish leadership. We will sit down with Finnish leaders and experts to discuss the various aspects of Finnish leadership. Mark, Anneli and Alexei use their decades of academic and corporate experience to help our guests work through their philosophies and experiences with the goal of refining what it means to be a Finnish leader.

  1. JAN 6

    Completing the boss level - Risto Holmström

    We kick off 2026 with a discussion with Studio Lead and Game Design guru, Risto Holmstrom. In this episode we discuss    - Understanding your environment and finding the right direction.   - Building commercial success in creative industries.   - Choosing our words carefully…   … among excellent questions, habits, constraints leading to innovation and the role of leaders in providing meaning for their teams.   Give it a listen and let us know if enjoyed Risto’s thinking and dulcet tones as much as we did. Support the show... FLT LinkedIn: (1) Finnish Leadership Team – FLT podcast: Overview | LinkedIn (1) Finnish  FLT Website: https://the-flt.com/  FLT Support the show: https://the-flt.com/support-the-show/  Mark’s LinkedIn: (1) Mark Hayton | LinkedIn Anneli’s LinkedIn: (2) Anneli Karlstedt (she/her) | LinkedIn Alexei’s LinkedIn: (2) Alexei Koveshnikov | LinkedIn Bella’s LinkedIn: (1) Bella Kayumova | LinkedIn Kelly’s LinkedIn: (2) Kelly Keodara | LinkedIn A big thanks to... Bloom Finland: Bloom ry (bloomtogether.fi) Digital Fireworks: Home - Digital Fireworks Populum: Your People & Culture Experience platform – Populum Helsinki Think Company: https://www.thinkcompany.fi/   Our channels FLT YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@The-FLT  FLT Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Sj5YAyZ8AJGooVYLC8RA6  FLT Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/fi/podcast/the-flt-podcast/id1727605372  Podcast 24: https://podcast24.fi/podcastit/the-flt-podcast  PodBean channel: https://the-flt.podbean.com/

    50 min
  2. 12/05/2025

    To Incubate or Not to Incubate - A Slush side event (for Spotify users)

    What incredible energy! We recently hosted a fantastic debate at a Slush side event that truly filled the room with entrepreneurial spirit. Thank you to everyone who attended live!!! The debate covered: ⏱️ What entrepreneurs really need. 🫂 What incubators really provide ⛏️ Nuanced learning from those who have actually walked the path This was so much fun and massive thanks to Risto, Minna and Rashad for their thoughtful and insightful discussion, in what was a very Finnish debate.  A big thanks to... Bloom Finland: Bloom ry (bloomtogether.fi) Digital Fireworks: Home - Digital Fireworks Maria 01: https://maria.io/ Helsinki Think Company: https://www.thinkcompany.fi/   Support the show... FLT LinkedIn: (1) Finnish Leadership Team – FLT podcast: Overview | LinkedIn (1) Finnish  FLT Website: https://the-flt.com/  FLT Support the show: https://the-flt.com/support-the-show/  Mark’s LinkedIn: (1) Mark Hayton | LinkedIn Anneli’s LinkedIn: (2) Anneli Karlstedt (she/her) | LinkedIn Alexei’s LinkedIn: (2) Alexei Koveshnikov | LinkedIn Bella’s LinkedIn: (1) Bella Kayumova | LinkedIn Kelly’s LinkedIn: (2) Kelly Keodara | LinkedIn Our channels FLT YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@The-FLT  FLT Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Sj5YAyZ8AJGooVYLC8RA6  FLT Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/fi/podcast/the-flt-podcast/id1727605372  Podcast 24: https://podcast24.fi/podcastit/the-flt-podcast  PodBean channel: https://the-flt.podbean.com/

    1h 18m
  3. 12/04/2025 · VIDEO

    To Incubate or Not to Incubate - A Slush side event

    What incredible energy! We recently hosted a fantastic debate at a Slush side event that truly filled the room with entrepreneurial spirit. Thank you to everyone who attended live!!! The debate covered: ⏱️ What entrepreneurs really need. 🫂 What incubators really provide ⛏️ Nuanced learning from those who have actually walked the path This was so much fun and massive thanks to Risto, Minna and Rashad for their thoughtful and insightful discussion, in what was a very Finnish debate.  A big thanks to... Bloom Finland: Bloom ry (bloomtogether.fi) Digital Fireworks: Home - Digital Fireworks Maria 01: https://maria.io/ Helsinki Think Company: https://www.thinkcompany.fi/   Support the show... FLT LinkedIn: (1) Finnish Leadership Team – FLT podcast: Overview | LinkedIn (1) Finnish  FLT Website: https://the-flt.com/  FLT Support the show: https://the-flt.com/support-the-show/  Mark’s LinkedIn: (1) Mark Hayton | LinkedIn Anneli’s LinkedIn: (2) Anneli Karlstedt (she/her) | LinkedIn Alexei’s LinkedIn: (2) Alexei Koveshnikov | LinkedIn Bella’s LinkedIn: (1) Bella Kayumova | LinkedIn Kelly’s LinkedIn: (2) Kelly Keodara | LinkedIn Our channels FLT YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@The-FLT  FLT Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Sj5YAyZ8AJGooVYLC8RA6  FLT Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/fi/podcast/the-flt-podcast/id1727605372  Podcast 24: https://podcast24.fi/podcastit/the-flt-podcast  PodBean channel: https://the-flt.podbean.com/

    1h 18m
  4. 10/12/2025

    Jaana Saramies - Digging into the data

    This month Finnish Leadership is digging into the data. This episode we sit down with the author, trainer and People Analytics evangelist Jaana Saramies. We discuss the role of data in leadership, data-driven decision-making, the stereotypes of Finnish leaders and how that measures up to the reality, building data literacy, the role of data in remote work, the hunger in people teams and much, much more.    You can find out more about Jaana's great work here at: https://www.saratiikka.fi/ Support the show... FLT LinkedIn: (1) Finnish Leadership Team – FLT podcast: Overview | LinkedIn (1) Finnish  FLT Website: https://the-flt.com/  FLT Support the show: https://the-flt.com/support-the-show/  Mark’s LinkedIn: (1) Mark Hayton | LinkedIn Anneli’s LinkedIn: (2) Anneli Karlstedt (she/her) | LinkedIn Alexei’s LinkedIn: (2) Alexei Koveshnikov | LinkedIn Bella’s LinkedIn: (1) Bella Kayumova | LinkedIn Kelly’s LinkedIn: (2) Kelly Keodara | LinkedIn A big thanks to... Bloom Finland: Bloom ry (bloomtogether.fi) Digital Fireworks: Home - Digital Fireworks Populum: Your People & Culture Experience platform – Populum Helsinki Think Company: https://www.thinkcompany.fi/   Our channels FLT YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@The-FLT  FLT Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Sj5YAyZ8AJGooVYLC8RA6  FLT Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/fi/podcast/the-flt-podcast/id1727605372  Podcast 24: https://podcast24.fi/podcastit/the-flt-podcast  PodBean channel: https://the-flt.podbean.com/

    25 min
  5. Christian Fredrikson - Learning From Mistakes

    08/19/2025

    Christian Fredrikson - Learning From Mistakes

    This week Finnish leadership is… Learning from its own mistakes. 🤭   This week we sit down with investor, board member and former CEO of F-Secure and FingerPrint Cards  Christian Fredrikson to discuss the lessons of leading global companies and learning from mistakes. Christian is delves into his journey from football and engineering to billion-dollar deals and karaoke.  Through the conversation we discuss working cultures, support networks, the hunger for growth, how promises become metrics, how everyone loves Turku and we even touch on the complexities of the Nokia saga and what we can learn from it all.    Enjoy! Support the show... FLT LinkedIn: (1) Finnish Leadership Team – FLT podcast: Overview | LinkedIn (1) Finnish  FLT Website: https://the-flt.com/  FLT Support the show: https://the-flt.com/support-the-show/  Mark’s LinkedIn: (1) Mark Hayton | LinkedIn Anneli’s LinkedIn: (2) Anneli Karlstedt (she/her) | LinkedIn Alexei’s LinkedIn: (2) Alexei Koveshnikov | LinkedIn Bella’s LinkedIn: (1) Bella Kayumova | LinkedIn Kelly’s LinkedIn: (2) Kelly Keodara | LinkedIn A big thanks to... Bloom Finland: Bloom ry (bloomtogether.fi) Digital Fireworks: www.digitalfireworks.fi Populum: Your People & Culture Experience platform – Populum Helsinki Think Company: https://www.thinkcompany.fi/ Our channels FLT YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@The-FLT  FLT Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Sj5YAyZ8AJGooVYLC8RA6  FLT Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/fi/podcast/the-flt-podcast/id1727605372  Podcast 24: https://podcast24.fi/podcastit/the-flt-podcast  PodBean channel: https://the-flt.podbean.com/

    1h 6m
  6. Minna Patosalmi - playing the d**k card

    07/08/2025

    Minna Patosalmi - playing the d**k card

    This week Finnish leadership is… playing the d**k card. 🃏   🚨Trigger warning: parental advisory, explicit content🚨   This week we sit down with the Chairperson at Ferroplan, experienced Board Member, coach and keynote speaker Minna Patosalmi to discuss one of the most important aspects of leadership, cutting through the bulls**t, having difficult conversations and empowering those in your team to do the same. Minna talks about her journey from a trainee to becoming the CEO, her challenges and successes in male dominated industry and how she became a “lovable d**k” to her staff and the leaders around her. Minna brings into focus how many businesses have infantilised their staff through ambiguous language and disconnected processes and what we can do to return to help focus and get things done.    Find out more about Minna and her work here: https://www.minnapatosalmi.fi/ Support the show... FLT LinkedIn: (1) Finnish Leadership Team – FLT podcast: Overview | LinkedIn (1) Finnish  FLT Website: https://the-flt.com/  FLT Support the show: https://the-flt.com/support-the-show/  Mark’s LinkedIn: (1) Mark Hayton | LinkedIn Anneli’s LinkedIn: (2) Anneli Karlstedt (she/her) | LinkedIn Alexei’s LinkedIn: (2) Alexei Koveshnikov | LinkedIn Bella’s LinkedIn: (1) Bella Kayumova | LinkedIn Kelly’s LinkedIn: (2) Kelly Keodara | LinkedIn A big thanks to... Bloom Finland: Bloom ry (bloomtogether.fi) Digital Fireworks: www.digitalfireworks.fi Populum: Your People & Culture Experience platform – Populum Helsinki Think Company: https://www.thinkcompany.fi/ Our channels FLT YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@The-FLT  FLT Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Sj5YAyZ8AJGooVYLC8RA6  FLT Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/fi/podcast/the-flt-podcast/id1727605372  Podcast 24: https://podcast24.fi/podcastit/the-flt-podcast  PodBean channel: https://the-flt.podbean.com/

    57 min
  7. Alexandra Pasternak-Jackson – Building Rational Optimism

    05/15/2025

    Alexandra Pasternak-Jackson – Building Rational Optimism

    This month Finnish Leadership is building its rational optimism. This episode we sit down with the CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce, Finland Alexandra Pasternak-Jackson. We discuss the role of optimism in leadership, authenticity, the importance of sparring, Finnish leaders’ international appeal, the changing nature of American-Finnish business relationships and much, much more.    You can find out more about Alexandra's great work here at: https://amcham.fi/ Support the show... FLT LinkedIn: (1) Finnish Leadership Team – FLT podcast: Overview | LinkedIn (1) Finnish  FLT Website: https://the-flt.com/  FLT Support the show: https://the-flt.com/support-the-show/  Mark’s LinkedIn: (1) Mark Hayton | LinkedIn Anneli’s LinkedIn: (2) Anneli Karlstedt (she/her) | LinkedIn Alexei’s LinkedIn: (2) Alexei Koveshnikov | LinkedIn Bella’s LinkedIn: (1) Bella Kayumova | LinkedIn Kelly’s LinkedIn: (2) Kelly Keodara | LinkedIn A big thanks to... Bloom Finland: Bloom ry (bloomtogether.fi) Digital Fireworks: Home - Digital Fireworks Populum: Your People & Culture Experience platform – Populum Helsinki Think Company: https://www.thinkcompany.fi/   Our channels FLT YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@The-FLT  FLT Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Sj5YAyZ8AJGooVYLC8RA6  FLT Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/fi/podcast/the-flt-podcast/id1727605372  Podcast 24: https://podcast24.fi/podcastit/the-flt-podcast  PodBean channel: https://the-flt.podbean.com/

    56 min

About

We are on a mission to explore and deeply understand Finnish leadership. We will sit down with Finnish leaders and experts to discuss the various aspects of Finnish leadership. Mark, Anneli and Alexei use their decades of academic and corporate experience to help our guests work through their philosophies and experiences with the goal of refining what it means to be a Finnish leader.