What Military Leadership Gets Right About Unlocking Performance

What does it actually take to get people to show up, take initiative, and perform, especially when conditions are tough?

Hans-Christian Knevelsrud has been studying exactly this question, not in a corporate environment but in the field with Norwegian military cadets on demanding operational courses and at sea.

His research shows that the way leaders share autonomy day-to-day has a measurable impact on engagement, proactive behaviour, and real performance outcomes.

In this session, Hans-Christian unpacks what empowering leadership looks like in practice, why autonomy support is the critical lever, and what the military's mission command doctrine can teach any organisation serious about building high-performing teams.

About the speaker:

Hans-Christian Knevelsrud is a military officer and researcher at the Norwegian Defence Command and Staff College in Oslo, where his work sits at the intersection of military leadership doctrine and applied organisational psychology. Coming from a traditional operational background rather than a psychology one, his research focuses on how leaders can unlock motivation, initiative, and engagement in high-pressure environments, drawing on self-determination theory, empowerment theory, and proactivity research. His most recent research studied these questions in the field with Norwegian military cadets, producing findings with direct relevance to anyone leading teams where performance under pressure actually matters.

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