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When the CEO Wants You to Work Out With Him

A lot of companies preach clean living and team building, but nobody leads by example quite like Henrik Bunge of Sweden’s Bjorn Borg.

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Henrik Bunge working out with his employees during a Sports Hour session at Bjorn Borg headquarters in Stockholm.

Henrik Bunge working out with his employees during a Sports Hour session at Bjorn Borg headquarters in Stockholm.

Photographer: Knut Egil Wang for Bloomberg Businessweek

In retrospect, it seems perfectly natural that one of the world’s fittest chief executive officers, a man who prefers the title Head Coach and requires that all able-bodied employees of the high-end underwear and fitness apparel company Bjorn Borg AB participate in a weekly training session known as Sports Hour, would ask that I come immediately to the office upon arrival in Stockholm from New York to join him for a workout. I hadn’t slept in 24 hours nor eaten breakfast when Henrik Bunge’s assistant called at 10:20 a.m., right as I was checking into a hotel with thoughts of a shower and a nap, to see if I could make it in by 10:50 for kayaking.

“He won’t wait for you,” she warned.