Last year when I gave a presentation in Finland about Social Media, little did I know that Alex was going to become the Prime Minister of Finland a year later.

I was invited to speak at the Innobrokers conference in May 2013 to inspire people. My talk was about my own journey in Social Media. How I had gotten started engaging with this “new” media, this “new” way of marketing and communication. And how I have learned to embrace it. We all have different needs. So how can we use Social Media to our own advantage? What should we be aware of?

I also showed a few successful examples both corporate and personal. And that one particular personal example was non other than Alexander Stubb. He had well established himself on Social Media – just by being himself. He is a very light-hearted, humoristic person in real life – so it wasn’t all that difficult to replicate his persona on Twitter. He was transparent. Not trying to keep two separate lives. One work life and one personal life. He was – and he is – one person. It is something that everyone whether you are a business developer or politician should take good note of. No one appreciates a double-faced person. And why should we be? Why should we separate our work and personal life? Plus, if you are one person you are more likely to be able to set your tone on Social Media. You’ll be able to manage conversations yourself on Social Media and not having a whole team of assistants doing it for you. However…staff will always be necessary as you grow and as you hire a communications director or a head of marketing along with their teams, you should also have a head of digital. This is nowadays becoming more and more common in fast adopting companies. They might have a Digital Communications Manager, a Social Media Chief or an Internet and New Media director. The title doesn’t really matter. What is important is that your organisation is aware that the web and interactive channels of communication like Social Media are here to stay and your customers or audience are expecting you to be there. This is nothing new so I won’t continue dwelling about it. I just wanted to make the point that it’s important to have a team who supports – not only the web but also – your Social Media activities. But more importantly, coming back to Alex Stubb, is that you must be able to use these media channels yourself. You no longer have to waste your time having expensive lunches with big newspaper editors. Just take your phone while grabbing a sandwich and tweet. Ok, don’t tweet your sandwich for the love of god. But engage with people who mention you. Or when queuing in the grocery store, check the news feed to see what’s going on around the world and in your field. Learn, retweet and engage. The time of knowledge sharing is at its prime. Get into the game.

Alexander Stubb is now the Prime Minister of Finland. For a while there he was a Member of the European Parliament and I was thrilled about the fact that I’d be working with him, making fun videos and other cool media initiatives. Of course I’m a bit bummed out about that not happening anymore, but I am truly happy for him and for Finland getting such a true-hearted Prime minister who has the capability to inspire people and make things happen.

I thought I leave you with.. Did his successful presence on Social Media help him become Prime Minister?