Jan Petrus Hagberg and SGL
SGL stands for Samspill, Gruppevekst og Ledelse: interaction, group growth and leadership. The model is Jan Petrus Hagberg's life's work.
SGL starts with you
One way to think about self-leadership is to notice how you influence your own situation and what happens around you.
You don’t need a title, a team or a formal leadership role to exercise leadership. The moment you influence what happens around you, you are part of the leadership process. That means most of us exercise leadership every day.
The real challenge is not simply to have influence. It is to understand how your influence affects communication, relationships, decisions, culture and the quality of everyday life.
Jan Petrus
Jan Petrus Hagberg was born in 1939. He holds a degree in theology from the University of Oslo and was ordained to the Lutheran ministry, with a background as a journalist, editor, author and researcher. Among other things, he has written books on death and grief reactions («Død og sorgreaksjoner»), on being in the same boat («I Samme Båt»), on group development – and on personal development: «Godtatt av bare Nåde» (accepted by grace alone). In 1998 came the book on SGL: Samspill, Gruppevekst og Ledelse (interaction, group growth and leadership). In the decades that followed, Jan Petrus coached leaders and teams in Norwegian organisations in both the public and the private sector.
As a young man, Jan Petrus worked for many years as a Gestalt-oriented hospital chaplain with people in grief and loss. That is where one of the most important discoveries came – the common thread from people in grief to organisations in change. – We do not resist the changes. We resist the loss they entail.
Today Jan Petrus is 87 and still active as a leadership coach and a source of inspiration, through short films that explain his particular approach and illustrative models.
SGL is about making the obvious visible
Through simple ideas, symbols, colours and practical questions, SGL helps you see what is already happening, understand why it happens, and discover what you can do differently.
The starting point is simple: better communication starts with better awareness.
SGL is therefore not only about becoming a better leader. It is about becoming more conscious of the leadership you already exercise, in your work, in your relationships and in the situations you influence every day.
That is where SGL begins.
SGL in practice
SGL was put to work where a lot was at stake: in the oil industry after the oil crisis, in one of the large public IT transformations and in growing technology companies. The organisations Jan Petrus coached did well. Beside each case is what others wrote about them.
Norsk Hydro
From the research project, SGL went on as an HR project in Norsk Hydro’s oil division after the oil crisis of 1986–87. Geologists and engineers had to learn to think in new ways, and a director of exploration and development asked Jan Petrus for help to «unlearn». Jan Petrus coached in Hydro for many years, among them the project team for the Grane field from start to finish. In 2004, the Norwegian Association of Project Management, together with the Norwegian Computer Association and the Norwegian Center for Project Management, voted Hydro’s development project for the Grane field «Project of the Year».
Equinor 2004 Skatteetaten
When the Norwegian Tax Administration built the IT system SOFIE, one of the large public IT transformations, SGL was brought into the start-up team in 2004–05. The system replaced the old systems across the country in 2007–08. The Tax Administration has gone from a bureaucracy of paper forms to a digital pioneer.
E24 SPT Group
SPT Group, which made the OLGA flow simulator for the oil and gas industry, grew by around 30 per cent a year in staff and revenue over a long period. According to CEO Dag Terje Rian, SGL gave the whole organisation a common understanding and a common language, and that made growth easier, with almost no conflicts. Schlumberger bought SPT Group in 2012.
Offshore 2012 Prediktor
At the technology company Prediktor, founded in 1995, SGL was an important part of developing both the people and the company for nearly ten years, with Jan Petrus as coach. TGS bought Prediktor in 2022.
Yahoo Finance 2022
SGL
SGL is fifteen themes about how people understand themselves, work together and lead. Each theme has its models, drawn so they are easy to remember. The colour language is one of them: four languages we all speak and move between.
SGL is not a personality test. A test gives you a label once. SGL is a skill you keep using.
SGL your way
People learn in different ways. That is why you can meet SGL in several forms. Choose what suits you.
Do you prefer to watch and listen? Watch the films where Jan Petrus introduces the themes and shows you the exercises. Talk to JP2 in your own voice. JP2 answers you out loud. You do not need to read or write much.
Would you rather read? On SGL Secrets, Jan Petrus writes briefly and engagingly about all the themes. The site is free. If you want the full depth, read The SGL Handbook in the app. The handbook is Jan Petrus’s specialist text, and it goes through each theme thoroughly.
You can fill in your answer to an exercise in its form in the app. You can also write it to JP2 in the conversation.
You can switch between all of these whenever you like. JP2 knows which exercises you have done and remembers what you have talked about. You send your answers to JP2 with one tap. JP2 helps you put it all together, so you understand yourself and the team around you better.
You find the films, the handbook and JP2 in the SGL Coach app. You can try it free for 14 days.