The AmCham Mentorship Program’s second group gathering featured presentations and an interactive workshop hosted by Dale Carnegie. The session marked the half-way point of the program consisting of 78 participants representing 35 Patron member companies across 16 industries.
Rino Skarpnord
Ingrid Bygland
Sebastian Grupe
Netti Fuglesang
Rino Skarpnord, Director Learning and Development at Yara, kicked off the session by presenting how the company prioritizes agility, efficiency, equity, performance, future-readiness, and retention by identifying and matching specific employee skills to business needs.
Skarpnord, responsible for skills-first implementation across the 17 000-person organization, highlighted that job titles, educational background and tenure do not tell us enough about what employees do or can do. “The building blocks of a company are the skills of the people.” He explained that by utilizing the existing human capital within the company, you can “build something else, with the same blocks.” Leaders are essentially operating with blind spots when they aren’t fully aware of the capabilities of the organization’s human inventory.
In addition to providing business-critical data, the goal of implementing a skills-first approach has been to strengthen the connection between employee development and the company’s strategic needs – while making it easier for leaders to understand which skills exist and which are needed.
“The building blocks of a company are the skills of the people.”
Led by Ingrid Bygland, Business Partner & Certified Trainer, Sebastian Grupe Business Partner & Certified Trainer & Coach, and Netti Fuglesang, Business Partner, participants were thrust into an interactive discussion true to the Dale Carnegie ethos: real results through practical training!
Building on the previous group gathering, the session continued the theme of self-awareness for effective leadership, with mentors and mentees identifying key ambitions and challenges in their professions, before workshopping possible solutions and outcomes.
In concert with participants, Bygland, Grupe and Fuglesang explored traits and characteristics commonly associated with successful leaders, where the ‘triangle of success’ was constituted by skill, attitude and knowledge. Through the exercise, it became apparent that substantial weight can be applied to the first two attributes.
Mentors and mentees gained tools to more effectively drive growth and transformation, where emphasis was placed on actionable plans to reach respective goals. In conclusion, when participants were asked how they felt in response to the workshop, the word cloud spoke volumes – inspired!
Participating companies 2025-26:
With its unique cross-industry orientation, AmCham’s Mentorship Program offers a dynamic, internationally minded arena for leadership development.
The program pairs emerging corporate talent with seasoned executives from AmCham Patron-level member companies. The result: a collaborative arena that fosters improvement and reflection, prepares young leaders for the challenges of the international marketplace, and forges bonds between AmCham’s transatlantic member companies.
The Mentorship program is available to Patron-level members of AmCham Norway. For further information and interest in the program, please contact Margrethe Harboe at Margrethe.Harboe@amcham.no.
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