Over 300 people attended Norway's largest conference on management and leadership development. This year's theme was leadership as a competitive advantage. We spoke to 8 people at Take Lead in the Munch Museum in Oslo.
Madelene Stolpe (40). Director (SVP) for business development in Altera Infrastructure.
"Take Lead was a really good event. I came there to get professional replenishment and inspiration. And I really got that. It was a great program, with good variety in the presentations. I really liked Tom Georg Olsen's approach to trust-based management in Miles. It was also impossible not to be inspired by the talks given by the young men; Fredrik Fornes and Kjetil Krogstad. They encouraged us to have a little more fun and let loose. We at Altera have also worked with FRONT Leadership on leadership development, which has worked very well for us. After all, improving leadership is a very important task.
Kristine Storaas (44). Director of competence and management development in Sopra Steria.
I think Take Lead has been inspiring and educational. With talented speakers who had good energy. I particularly enjoyed the presentations on trust-based management by Tom Georg Olsen and diversity and inclusion by Kimiya Sajjadi. The event has definitely given me professional replenishment and inspiration.
Read also: TAKE LEAD 2022 takes talent development seriously
Hans Petter Hundsnes (32). Senior Advisor (HR) for Norconsult.
"The lectures have been very good - and fun, with a lot of variety. The lecture on trust-based management was an eye-opener for me, also because Norconsult is a knowledge company with many academics. I found it incredibly interesting to hear about the importance of trusting your employees from Tom Georg Olsen of Miles. My mind started spinning around that theme afterwards. So I'm really looking forward to exploring this further. Evidence-based management development is something we're working on at our company, which is why we're here today. Both to see what we're doing right and what we can do better.
Christian Valentiner (58). Senior Advisor (HR) in Norconsult.
Servant leadership, as Robert Greenleaf described decades ago, is an incredibly interesting topic. Today it was brought up by speaker Tom Georg Olsen in Miles. But I also found the talk by Kimiya Sajjadi of Big Enough Global exciting: How inclusion and diversity depend on being put in context with each other. The combination of these two is what creates innovation, flexibility and agility. Diversity, as a unit measured in numbers alone, is not enough. It is the work of inclusion itself that adds value to diversity. I am a fan of skills training and experience-based management development as a principle. Because theory is not enough. We need to get our hands dirty and work practically as well.
Hege Solskinnsbakk (47). HR manager at Avinor.
"Take Lead this year has been really good and engaging, and I came here for professional refreshment - and to get inspiration. It's been exciting. I also enjoyed Take Lead last year, and I think the event this March was a great continuation. The range of presentations has been very good, both those about management and leadership in general - but also the talks about stepping out of your comfort zone: To dare to be a little playful. I liked the topics about raising awareness of working strategically with diversity in a company. Thinking about how you actually work with it, and why you need and want diversity. Personally, I really like the FRONT method, because it's research and evidence-based leadership development. They don't work with leadership training that just "feels" right.
Pia Wikström- Johansen (48). Responsible for leadership development in Gjensidige.
"Take Lead is exciting because it's a slightly different concept. With a different mix of elements than what you usually get at such conferences or events. Quite simply, Front Leadership has brought in other profiles and created a slightly different twist on lectures on leadership and leadership development. Such as kindergarten manager Kjetil Krogstad, who uses TikTok. "I really liked the first talk by Tom Georg Olsen from IT company Miles, and it was a favorite. I found it very inspiring to listen to. Tom Georg chose some different perspectives, and in a fun way he brought out some other dimensions of management and recruitment. Therefore, I got some food for thought during his lecture.
Aslak Fjeld Skorpen (29). Sales consultant for Solibo.
Take Lead is very good and has really lived up to my expectations. I was here last year too, and I know a couple of the leadership developers who work in FRONT, from the Armed Forces. There's a leadership sprout in me that made me go to the leadership conference, because I want to work with leadership myself. What I liked best was the message of speaker Kjetil Krogstad, about leadership outside the box. About stepping out of your comfort zone. From my time in the Armed Forces, I know that this is actually when you grow and develop the most. Tom Georg Olsen from the IT company Miles had an important message, which I heard earlier in a podcast interview with him. It's about using enough references when hiring. Miles always contacts 10 references. Because you need to find a person with "character", not just "grades".
Stian Østrem (47). Director of Operations (SVP) at Cflow Fish Handling.
The biggest eye-openers for me were the wide range of ages in the presentations. Then, perhaps especially, the contributions from what I would call some of the "youngest" speakers here: Like Fredrik Fornes on using LinkedIn in the right way, and kindergarten leader Kjetil Krogstad dancing on TikTok. The latter in particular is completely outside my comfort zone, but it was incredibly exciting to hear about the journey he has taken and the experiences he has had. The talk by Tom Georg Olsen from Miles was also very interesting. However, the themes there are more familiar, and with points I had heard before. "Good leadership is a real competitive advantage, and I have an appreciation for what FRONT Leadership is doing. Really good leadership is probably more important than ever, now that the competition is so tough. If you don't have good leaders, people will find another workplace.
