In the rapidly evolving energy landscape, Vår Energi, one of Norway’s leading oil and gas producers, knows that surviving change is not enough. After delivering record results in 2025 and more than doubling production over the last two years, the challenge was no longer just about growth; it was about building the organizational resilience and leadership depth required to sustain that momentum for decades to come.
The Challenge: Building a Strong Leadership Culture
With a strong portfolio and significant future opportunities, Vår Energi recognized the need to further invest in its people. A key priority has been to build a unified and strong internal leadership culture rooted in the company’s values and leadership principles.
The ambition was clear: the company needed a program that could build more than management skills. It needed a high-fidelity environment to evaluate leadership mobility, test mindset shifts, and prepare top-tier talent for the complexities of a capital-intensive, fast-moving operating environment.
The Solution: A "Living Laboratory" for Leadership
Vår Energi partnered with Berkeley Executive Education to co-create a bespoke program rooted in academic rigor and the shared entrepreneurial spirit of Silicon Valley and Vår Energi. This was not a standard off-the-shelf training course; it was a discovery-based curriculum designed specifically around Vår Energi’s core values: Proactive, Responsible, Collaborative, and Entrepreneurial.
The program brought leaders to the UC Berkeley campus and Silicon Valley for an immersive "living laboratory" experience. This included:
- Expert Instruction: Tapping into top university experts in energy, innovation, and high-performance team building.
- Field Visits: In-depth sessions with innovation-driven companies in the Bay Area to witness the entrepreneurial mindset in action.
- Strategic Playbooks: Translating classroom theory into practical tools that leaders could apply to their day jobs immediately upon their return.
By taking leaders out of their daily operational environments, the program provided space for reflection, collaboration, experience sharing, network building, and getting to know each other better. It allowed Vår Energi’s executive sponsors to connect the company’s strategy, values, and leadership principles with the need to build robust and resilient leadership in a volatile, uncertain, and complex environment driven by an entrepreneurial mindset. In addition, the sponsors could interact closely with the participants and help coach them in handling complex decision-making and collaborative challenges.
The Result: A Strengthened Leadership Pipeline
The 2026 graduation of the Vår Energi Executive Leadership Program marked a milestone for the organization. To date, 36 graduates have completed the program and are reshaping the company through increased engagement in strategic processes and increased high-level visibility.
Beyond individual development, the partnership has helped create a culture that challenges the status quo and fosters new ways of working. Moreover, Berkeley’s research-based approach and deep connections to the Silicon Valley innovation ecosystem enabled Vår Energi leaders to focus specifically on their core values of being proactive and entrepreneurial, and to cascade these values to front-line teams.
Graduates of the program returned with more than just new knowledge; they returned with a shift in attitude. They have become "translators" who can bridge the gap between high-level corporate strategy and the safe, disciplined execution required on the ground.
Perspectives on the Partnership
"The research-based approach that Berkeley brings to leadership development, combined with the anchoring in our company’s values and leadership principles, makes the program stand out. The program strengthened our leaders' mindset and attitude, making them more visionary and better equipped to help develop and implement long-term strategy." Torger Rød, COO, Vår Energi.
"Beyond individual development, the partnership has helped create a culture that challenges the status quo and fosters new ways of working. Moreover, Berkeley’s research-based approach and deep connections to the Silicon Valley innovation ecosystem enabled Vår Energi leaders to focus specifically on their core values of being proactive and entrepreneurial, and cascade it to front-line teams." Homa Bahrami, Executive Teaching Fellow and Senior Lecturer, Berkeley Executive Education.
Looking Ahead
The partnership between Vår Energi and Berkeley Executive Education continues to evolve. As the organization navigates the shifting energy landscape, the "One Vår" leadership team stands ready—not just to react to change, but to lead through it.
