The Method Behind Bodø/Glimt's Success Is Now Be Taught at BI

Gunn Elisabeth Håbjørg and Bjørn Mannsverk at BI. Photo: Media Department at BI.

Head Heart Body has entered into a one-year partnership with BI Norwegian Business School as part of the Master's-level course Performance and Development Leadership. Bjørn Mannsverk and Gunn Elisabeth Håbjørg will join the programme as key faculty contributors, sharing the principles and methods behind their approach to performance development, based on their work with organisations including Bodø/Glimt, the Norwegian Armed Forces and Norway's Government Pension Fund Global (the Oil Fund).

Building a Sustainable Performance Culture

Participants will gain practical insight into a proven performance philosophy developed over many years in some of Norway's most demanding performance environments. The programme explores how individuals, teams and organisations can develop their potential through systematic training, experiential learning, and the deliberate cultivation of habits and behavioural patterns—what we refer to as our autopilots.

"The best performance is always ahead of us. That mindset reminds us that there is always room for improvement. Our focus is on building a sustainable performance culture—one that enables both individuals and organisations to continue learning, developing and improving over time," says Bjørn.

Where Research Meets Practice

BI professors and course directors Christina Nerstad and Arne Carlsen look forward to integrating Mannsverk and Håbjørg's performance philosophy into the programme. They believe that combining research-based knowledge with practical experience from some of Norway's leading performance environments gives participants a rare opportunity to translate theory into practice.

"This partnership further strengthens our understanding of what drives performance across different arenas. We share a commitment to systematic experiential learning and to developing the whole person, and we expect to learn a great deal ourselves. By bringing Bjørn and Gunn Elisabeth into the programme, we combine our research-based knowledge with their unique practical experience. Putting people first is not a 'soft' value—it is a prerequisite for exceptional performance," says Carlsen.

The partnership represents an important meeting point between research and practice, bringing experience from defence, business and elite sport into an academic learning environment to help develop the next generation of leaders and build sustainable performance cultures.

Read the full article about the partnership with BI here.