Column | Let's create a braver space together

Together we are more. It means that the most important forces that move society forward – such as creativity, resilience, i.e. the ability to withstand difficulties and the desire to improve the world – are more community than individual qualities.

Success often requires courage. It's hard to be brave alone. In the long run it's heavy and it doesn't even help. It's about fighting windmills and banging your head against the wall. It's like trying to have fun all night alone on an empty nightclub dance floor.

In order to be able to tackle big challenges – that is, to solve such questions that are difficult and uncomfortable – we need space for common courage. Anyone who has tried to be the mouthpiece of the truth on their own knows how frustrating it is when no one else agrees to say what they think out loud.

Gallantry requires that you bear responsibility. As a young organization activist, I have already understood that there are those who do and those who complain.

I have chosen my side. That's why I've created the Principles of a Braver Space. With their help, you can take the bull by the horns, put the cat on the table and dare.

In a braver state, no one has to fear being alone. The principles of a braver state force complainers out of their holes. A complainer is not a personality type, but complaining is a way of doing things, and you can choose the way of doing things.

More daring in the state, it is decided to act as follows:

1. Be ready for leadership. It means that everyone bears responsibility not only for the process but also for the end result. You can't complain afterwards that but when the others.

2. Put yourself out there. It's brave to try your best, and you shouldn't give yourself any leeway to underperform. Only by giving your all will you see what it's enough for.

3. If there's something to say, say it. The most unbearable thing is to find yourself in a situation where you complain afterwards that “why didn't anyone say anything”.

4. Address wrongdoing regardless of the consequences. Fairness sometimes requires being ready to lose one's position.

5. Make claims that others can criticize. It is important to be vulnerable to criticism, because it moves the difficult conversation forward.

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It's hard to be brave alone.

6. Brainstorm out loud, even if you're not sure if your ideas are good. After all, everyone gets ideas, but only together do we recognize which ideas work.

7. Go into the discomfort zone. Sometimes you have to.

8. Don't be afraid of disagreement, endure being questioned. Of course, you have to accept criticism without spoiling it, so that others will continue to dare to tell you what they think.

9. Give face-to-face corrective feedback. The opposite of bravery is cowardice.

10. Afterward, discuss with a brave friend how it really went.

Braver space is of course no excuse for not bothering to respect safer spaces. What kind of leadership would it show if you scolded and insulted other people! Cherishing joy and fun, each of us is braver. There are already plenty of places in Finland for sulking, sulking and barking at others. You don't need any more of that.

When it comes to issues that can be solved together, in a more courageous state, everyone brings their cards to the deck. In an encouraging atmosphere, even the shy ones dare to participate.

We need braver spaces. Although in a braver state you have to be a better version of yourself, in the end it can be a wonderful experience of overcoming yourself, when the guys have supported each other with their looks and encouraging smiles.

Gallantry is not an innate quality of the individual but actions that the community helps to do. Sometimes you have to be braver than you really are in the group. Otherwise, it happens that once again the pain points are swept under the carpet, the gang suffers in a joyless general atmosphere and one brave person at a time gets exhausted, quits or gets fired.

A writer is a writer.