Norway just knocked five-time champion Brazil out of the World Cup, 2-1, sending the team to its first quarterfinal in history. Erling Haaland scored both goals — a towering header and a curling left-footed strike — but the moment that stuck with me wasn’t either goal. It was what happened after.

Every time Haaland scored, he turned first to his teammates. Not to the cameras, not to the crowd — to the players who set him up, who ran the routes, who did the unglamorous work that made the finish possible. He pointed, he hugged, he shared the moment before he claimed it.

Then came the real story. When the final whistle blew, captain Martin Ødegaard handed the drumsticks to Haaland, and he led the entire stadium in Norway’s now-famous “Viking Row” — supporters seated shoulder to shoulder, rowing in unison to the beat of a drum, chanting “Ro!” in a tribute to Vikings rowing into battle. The chant started with one superfan’s idea and has since spread to Times Square, the Norwegian Parliament, and even a Royal Norwegian Air Force pilot performing it from the cockpit of an F-35. It’s a country rowing together, literally and figuratively.

Watching it, I couldn’t help but see a leadership case study playing out in real time. A few things stood out:

Leadership means sharing the spotlight. Haaland is the most dangerous striker in the world right now. He didn’t need to acknowledge anyone. He did it anyway, every time.

Creating a supportive environment shows up in small gestures. A point, a hug, a shared glance after the goal — these cost nothing and mean everything to the people who did the work behind the scenes.

Alignment in vision turns individuals into a team. Haaland was famously skeptical Norway could ever go far in a World Cup. Somewhere along the way, the whole squad — and the whole country — decided to believe it together.

Communicating that effort matters has to be consistent, not occasional. The Viking Row isn’t a one-time celebration. It happens after every win, in every setting, reinforcing the same message: we did this together.

The best leadershttps://jryanpartners.com/upcoming-events/ serve as the example, not just the source of instructions. Haaland didn’t tell people to celebrate together. He picked up the drumsticks and did it himself.

There’s something worth borrowing here for any team, on any pitch — literal or corporate. The scoreboard remembers the goals. The team remembers who turned around to share them.

Ro, Norway. Ro.

Here is the Viking Row in Action

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Julienne Ryan Humorist, Speaker, Trainer, Facilitator, Coach

Julienne B. Ryan began her professional career at age five when she did TV commercials and learned important things like “the teamsters always eat first,” her social security number and how to endorse checks for bank deposit.

Ryan studied psychology in college because she wanted to understand humans. She conducted her “field work” in a variety of roles, hearing the phrases “merger synergies, reorganizations, downsizing and rightsizing for change” more times than she cares to mention.

Later she enrolled in an Ivy League graduate school where she paid oodles of money to validate her prior on-the-job learning experiences. However, she did learn to name drop up-to-date theories and trendy psychologists with alarming ease.

Ryan evolved into working in “Talent Management,” a fancy way of saying “try to find people and keep them moderately happy.” With inadequate budgets and staff allocations, she had to find creative ways to encourage her staff to work effectively. These ranged from begging and borrowing resources, improvising childcare, telling stories and even giving snacks as rewards. She tried to convince herself that working a bazillion hours and “multi-tasking” equaled achievement.

Her work took place in cubicles, conference rooms or, with luck, in offices with a door. Occasionally she would make the time to emerge from her allotted real estate to really talk to people. Ryan learned something transformative in the process:

Yes, she was effective. But not because she used fancy theories – or gave great snacks. Ryan’s success, her staff believed, was a result of her uncanny knack for weaving storytelling with humor to motivate and encourage them. Crucially, they encouraged Ryan to de-emphasize “that normal HR stuff” and focus on bringing her unique storytelling skills to a broader stage.

Thanks to them, Ryan continues to collect, connect and tell stories in her work helping people find their “true selves in the world of work.

She is the author of the humorous, all true "The Learned It In Queens Communications Playbook - Winning Against Distraction!".that now includes a workbook and is available at booksellers across the globe..

She is a guest contributor to The Procurement Foundry, LifeBlood, and the global storytelling community.

Certifications include
Accumatch (BI) Behavior Intelligence
Narativ Applied Storytelling Methodologies
Collective Brains – Mentorship Methodologies