E24 highlights promising Norwegian leaders 35 years old or younger who have responsibility for financial results, personnel and decision-making. The program is in cooperation with consultancy company Mercuri Urval and an external jury.

A profile on the E24 website portrays Nesteng as a 34-year-old native of Sarpsborg who has been in Hydro since 2008 in various leadership roles in the Energy business area. In April, she assumed her current position, which she describes as her dream job.

"Some of the best opportunities in the world in hydropower are right here in Western Norway. In addition, there is fantastic nature right out the front door," she said.

She is an enthusiastic mountain climber, hunter, paddler and sailor – with accomplishments like climbing the world's sixth-highest peak, Cho Oyo in Nepal, crossing Greenland on skis, and participating in several grueling competitions in Norway. Not to mention ice-climbing, downhill cycling and marathon running ...

"I like experiences that are more challenging than average, both at work and at play," she said in the E24 interview.

"Gets things done"

Her manager at Power Operations, Jan Helge Mårdalen, sees a lot of the extreme sports athlete and outdoors enthusiast in Anneli, but also appreciates her academic and analytical skills.

"The most prominent thing about Anneli as a leader is not energy, confidence and fearlessness – even if these are all pluses – but it is primarily her analytical and mental capacity. She has a great ability to get things done. To produce, he said to E24, pointing out that she also has insight into strategic issues from previous work with various power projects.

"This is precisely what makes her a huge leader talent. That she is fearless, and has high capacity both physically and mentally, using the experience she has from the past, in both work and leisure," Mårdalen said.

"I feel very at home in Hydro. In our company , there exists a unique culture, which suits me perfectly. In Hydro, you really pitch when you have to and are committed to delivering quality, not quantity. It isn't how long you sit at work juggling many tasks that matters, but the quality of what you actually do," she said.