Why I Still Believe in Spring

I grew up in Norway, where winters are long and dark. As a child, they sometimes felt endless. Snow piled high. The light disappeared early. Sometimes we didn't see the sun for months.

And yet, I never really worried that spring wouldn’t come. It always did.

I remember the first signs: a bud daring to swell against the cold, a bird singing before the last snow had disappeared, the light slowly returning day by day, until suddenly something had shifted.

Spring never arrived all at once. It arrived through small signs first.

And maybe that is why I have always loved spring so much. Because of the promise it carries. And the joy it brings when we realise, year after year, that no matter how long the winter may have been, life will move again, the sun will return, and nature will come alive.

The promise of spring is what inspired me to create my company, Corporate Spring. Because I believe the world of work is going through a similar shift now. And perhaps what we need to be reminded of is that spring will come.

Or as the great poet Pablo Neruda wrote: “You can cut all the flowers, but you cannot stop the spring.”

Winter in the World of Work

For a long time, most organisations were built for efficiency, predictability and control. The systems served them well. They created structure, stability and the ability to scale. They helped build many extraordinary companies.

But in too many places, they've also created distance. People were often valued more for what they produced than for who they were. Efficiency became the priority, sometimes at the expense of humanity. People were referred to as human resources, not human beings.

And I believe that is still where many organisations find themselves today.

Every season has its purpose. Nature needs winter. It is a season of rest, reflection and preparation. The problem begins when we mistake winter for the destination. And I think that is what has happened in too many organisations.

What once created stability has slowly started to suffocate life. Too many people arrive at work with their bodies and minds while leaving their hearts, creativity and energy somewhere outside the office.

Too many leaders are trying to solve tomorrow’s challenges with yesterday’s assumptions. Another process. Another strategy. Another transformation programme. Another attempt to push harder, measure more and control better.

And then they get surprised when they don’t get the results they hoped for. Why engagement is low. Change is hard. Innovation stiffens. People leave, physically or mentally. And why performance drops.

What they tend to forget is that you cannot keep leading as though it is still winter when spring has already begun. That human beings were never designed to be managed like machines. And that what humans crave most, when spring arrives, is to feel alive again.

People are designed to grow

Both nature and human beings are designed to grow.

We want to contribute. We want to matter. We want to learn, create, belong and become. We want our work to mean something, not in a fluffy or idealistic way, but in a deeply practical human way.

And more and more people seem to be remembering this now.

Employees are asking different questions. Leaders are sensing that pushing harder no longer works. Teams are craving something more real. Many people are no longer only asking, “What job can I get?” They are also asking, “What kind of life do I want to live, and who do I want to become through my work?”

To me, this is not an organisational challenge or a “people problem.”

It is a sign that something is changing.

The old ways are being questioned. The old maps no longer explain the territory. And while that can feel uncomfortable, messy and even threatening to those who benefited from the old systems, I see a new sense of hope spreading inside organisations. A hope that there is a different way. A more human way of working and living. And that leaders will realise that success does not come from tightening their grip on winter, but from making room for spring.

Spring and the Power of Joy

One of the mistakes made in many organisations is that they try to manufacture what can only be cultivated. You cannot mandate trust. You cannot KPI your way to belonging. You cannot force engagement into existence. And you certainly cannot demand joy.

But you can create the conditions where these things are more likely to grow. Conditions where people can do their best work, enjoy themselves, and become more alive in the process.

Because just like spring, growth does not happen because someone demands it. It happens when the conditions are right.

Somewhere along the way, people started believing that seriousness was a prerequisite for performance. I have never found that to be true. Some of the most innovative, committed and high-performing teams I have worked with laugh more than average teams. They trust more. They dare more. They recover faster. They challenge each other more honestly because the relationships are strong enough to hold the tension.

Joy does not make people less ambitious. Quite the opposite. Joy creates energy. And energy is one of the most important, and most underestimated, drivers of performance.

As I am writing this, I find myself smiling as I watch my home country, Norway, inspire football fans around the world. Not only because of the results, but because of the way they play. There is a joy, playfulness and togetherness that people cannot help but be drawn to.

Perhaps that is why it touches something in us. Because we recognise aliveness when we see it. It makes us want to be part of it. And maybe even inspire us to recreate some of that energy in our own companies and lives.

The Corporate Spring

Corporate Spring is about a different way of understanding leadership. A different way of building organisations. A different way of seeing people.

Leadership is not about forcing growth. It is about creating the conditions where growth becomes inevitable.

That means moving from control to trust. From compliance to contribution. From numbness to aliveness. From managing people as resources to seeing them as human beings designed to grow.

The organisations that will thrive in the years ahead will not simply be the ones that adopt the newest technology, restructure the fastest or execute the most impressive transformation programmes.

They will be the ones that understand something nature has always known. Life flourishes under the right conditions. And so do people. Growth. Innovation. And yes, ultimately, business results.

No matter how long the winter has been, spring always comes.

The question is not whether spring is coming.

The question is whether you are ready for it.