Firesoul Leadership

An Entrepreneur’s Blueprint for Fueling Growth, Igniting Creativity, and Crafting a Culture of Compassion

by Ulla Sommerfelt

Firesoul Leadership is a practical and inspirational guide for designing work cultures that give more than they take. It is specifically aimed at entrepreneurs who want to scale their businesses and intrapreneurs who want to build an innovative culture within larger organizations.

As the cofounder and CEO of an award-winning design consultancy, Ulla Sommerfelt has seen firsthand the vital role culture plays in the success of an organization.

Starting with a small team, her company, EGGS, grew rapidly to more than 130 people of twenty-seven nationalities and became one of the most successful design houses in Norway by creating an antidote to the prevailing start-up culture of burnout, infighting, and power games that leaves both employees and founders feeling like they’re making huge sacrifices without receiving much in return.

Drawing inspiration from the concept of ildsjel, a Scandinavian word that describes a person filled with passion for serving others and translates into English roughly as “firesoul,” she created a new way for leaders to think about how to create an environment that brings the best out of their employees and themselves.

The key to fostering firesouls is building a net-positive culture—a unique blend of trust, autonomy, and compassion that creates a workplace community that gives more to its employees (and leaders) than it takes. When people feel safe, fulfilled, and inspired in this way, they also feel free to do their best work without limitations.

In this book, you will learn how to design cultural elements like purpose, values, rituals, behavior, employee experience, and leadership principles—valuable tools for scaling a business while keeping the innovative spirit and profitability.

Whether you’re a start-up founder entering a growth phase or an intrapreneur aiming to foster creativity and innovation within larger organizations, Firesoul Leadership provides a road map for creating a strong foundation for growth, a big-picture vision for igniting creativity, and practical strategies for every step of the process.