Читать книгу Power Teams Beyond Borders - Peter Ivanov - Страница 15

In the office, time seems to stand still as Adam waits for his 10.30 a.m. call with Kaito. Eventually, it's time to connect. He dials into the Zoom meeting and waits for Kaito to join him. ‘Adam, hi! It's so good to see you. How are you?’ Adam breaks into a broad grin. ‘I'm great thanks. It's great to see you too. Look, Kaito, things have changed for me recently and I've decided I want to make a go of it in the renewable energy space.’ He pauses, waiting for a reaction. Kaito smiles, then laughs. ‘That's fantastic! What are you thinking about?’ ‘Well, for a start I'd really love you to be involved…’

The half hour whizzes past as Adam and Kaito talk back and forth about all the options in the sector. A plan is beginning to fall into place, although Adam is in favour of wind energy following his talk with Georgia and given what he's seen happening off the Norfolk coast, while Kaito prefers the idea of solar. Both of them are very passionate about their preferred options, and neither is prepared to back down.

After half an hour of going round in what feels like circles, with Adam and Kaito reiterating their respective preferences for wind or solar, Adam is getting tired and frustrated. He knows he needs to put a stop to the conversation.

He interjects, ‘Kaito, look, I hear what you're saying but I really think that wind is the direction we should go in. I'll do some research on the solar projects you're talking about, but I want to start with wind energy and build from there.’

Kaito's expression changes ever so slightly. Adam thinks he looks slightly crestfallen. What Adam can't see is that Kaito, who has been making notes on a pad next to his laptop, is scribbling hard on the pad, scoring deep, dark lines into the crisp white paper.

‘Right, well, I guess I'll wait to hear from you then,’ Kaito says abruptly.

Adam seems unaware of the note of frustration running through Kaito's voice. ‘Great,’ he says, ‘I'll be in touch later this week.’

They say their goodbyes and log off. Adam sits back and exhales. He hadn't been aware that he was holding his breath. I'm doing the right thing. I know more about the wind sector than solar. Kaito will come around. He continues with his day but there's a niggling sense of unease settling into his thoughts.

**************

When Adam returns home that evening, he's still mulling over his call with Kaito. He's been thinking about it on and off all day. As he enters the house, he can hear Rose in the kitchen. He slips off his shoes, loosens his tie and walks down the hall. As he enters the kitchen, he's visibly preoccupied.

Rose is dipping a herbal tea bag in a mug of hot water. As she swirls it around trails of deep purple stain the water. Adam looks at what she's making and pulls a face. ‘You don't fancy one of these then?’ Rose asks with a smile and a twinkle in her eye. ‘I honestly don't know how you can drink that stuff,’ Adam replies. He gets himself a glass of water and sits down at the table, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he does so and allowing it to drop onto the table in front of him.

‘How was your day?’ Rose asks, ‘Did you speak to your Japanese colleague?’ Adam looks up at her and pauses. ‘I did,’ he says. Rose eyes him somewhat suspiciously. ‘Do I take it from your tone that the meeting didn't go well?’

‘Well, it wasn't exactly what I'd expected,’ Adam admits. ‘I thought he'd be really excited to get onboard but he kept talking about solar projects and I really want to focus on wind energy, at least initially. It felt like we were going round in circles so I just put my foot down and told him wind was the way to go.’

He pauses. Rose picks up her tea having removed the tea bag and sits next to Adam at the table. ‘Do you think it was wise to just dismiss his views? I thought you said he was an expert,’ she asks.

‘He is, but I mean, it's my company and I have an idea of where I want it to go,’ Adam says, almost with a touch of petulance in his tone.

‘I understand that you're excited about this and, believe me, I am too, and so is Georgia. But Adam, you've worked in oil for the last 20 years. I know that you've had some involvement with wind energy because of what happens locally, but I thought the whole point of this meeting was to get the input of an expert in this space, the renewable energy space?’

Rose waits for a response. Adam's gaze shifts and he looks at his phone. The message light is blinking. ‘Adam, come on, I'm just trying to help. I want you to make this work and I know that's what you want too.’

He looks up at Rose and can see that she's concerned. ‘Well what would you have done?’ he asks.

‘Did you listen to his reasons for wanting to focus on solar energy? Were they valid?’ she asks.

‘I told him I'd do some research and that I'd consider it,’ Adam replies.

‘That's not what I asked…’ Rose shakes her head slightly. Adam looks away again. The message light on his phone is still blinking. ‘Adam, you are going to have to approach this slightly differently to your job at the moment. I know you're used to being able to dictate exactly what happens, but you need to be a bit more collaborative with this venture.’

‘You think I should speak to Kaito again and consider switching to solar instead of wind?’ he asks, with a hint of disbelief in his voice.

‘I'm not saying you have to change your opinion, but you should definitely be open to that idea,’ she says. ‘He's an expert in his field and there's a reason why you chose to contact him. That's all I'm saying.’

‘But I said I'd research it and go back to him. I didn't completely dismiss his ideas…’ Adam's voice trails off.

Rose is still looking at him, even though he can't meet her gaze. ‘That's not quite the same thing as listening to him though, is it?’ she asks, not really expecting a response.

Adam sighs, ‘No, I suppose not, but what am I supposed to do? Just do whatever anyone else wants? That's no way to run a business.’ He's starting to raise his voice.

‘That's not what I'm saying either,’ Rose says, in a calm and even tone. ‘You know that's not what I'm saying. Just answer me this, why do you want Kaito to be involved?’

‘Because he knows so much about the renewable space and he's been working in that sector for years,’ Adam answers instantly, adding, ‘And because I trust him, we have a good relationship.’

Rose smiles. ‘There you go then, you know what you need to do.’ She reaches out and squeezes his arm. Adam looks at her. ‘You're doing the right thing and you'll do great things, just remember that you can't do this alone and we all have our strengths.’ She leans in and hugs him. Adam lets out a sigh as his arms tighten around his wife. ‘What would I do without you?’ he asks.

**********

When Adam checks his messages after dinner, he sees that one is from Kaito asking to talk. After his talk with Rose he's feeling much calmer and has realised that he needs Kaito's input. He suggests another call the following day at the same time. To his immense relief, Kaito agrees.

Adam is restless when he goes to bed. He tosses and turns and is constantly woken by the sound of the wind racing through the trees outdoors. The more he focuses on the need to sleep, the harder he finds it to disconnect. He's relieved when he sees the first shafts of sunlight breaking through the gap in the curtains.

Although he's the first out of bed, he's the last one to reach the kitchen for breakfast in the morning. Georgia greets him with a smile and Rose offers him coffee. ‘What do you want for breakfast?’

‘I'm not really hungry,’ Adam replies, sounding slightly distracted. ‘I've got another call with Kaito this morning,’ he adds by way of explanation. Rose smiles, ‘That's great,’ she says. ‘I hope so,’ Adam replies.

‘Who's Kaito?’ Georgia pipes up. ‘He's a guy that I'm hoping to work with on this new venture,’ Adam explains. ‘Cool! Is he an expert in wind energy?’ she asks, beaming. ‘Actually, he's a solar expert,’ Adam responds. ‘You're going to do solar too? That's awesome, there's so much potential for solar energy, especially in places like Africa,’ Georgia says. ‘Well, that's what we're going to talk about today,’ Adam adds. He doesn't want Georgia to get too excited about this just yet.

‘I'd better get going,’ he says, glancing at his watch. He downs the last of his coffee, planting a kiss on Rose's lips as he passes her to put his mug in the sink. He kisses the top of Georgia's head as he leaves the kitchen and for once she doesn't protest. In spite of feeling concerned, Adam is smiling by the time he gets in his car.

***************

Adam has butterflies in his stomach as 10.30 a.m. approaches at work. When he dials into the call with Kaito he's nervous and relieved when Kaito greets him warmly. After his talk with Rose last night he'd been worried that he'd really upset his friend.

‘I just have something I'd like to say,’ Kaito begins. Adam's heart sinks. He's going to say he doesn't want to come in on the venture. ‘I felt as though you didn't really listen to me properly yesterday and I think that's a mistake. There is so much potential in solar energy and I'm well positioned to help you take advantage of that. I'm not dismissing wind energy out of hand, but I really think that solar is the place to start to build a strong foundation…’

Adam cuts in, ‘Kaito, I'm sorry that I seemed so dismissive yesterday. And you're right, I didn't really listen properly. Please can you talk me through your points again? I want to take notes so I can do some research myself.’

Kaito visibly brightens. He seems to sit up straighter and there's a new energy to his speech. ‘Sure, I'm really pleased you want to work through this thoroughly.’

After half an hour, Adam can see why Kaito was so keen to start with solar energy and he is beginning to appreciate the business case for doing so. But his heart is still set on wind energy. Maybe we could do both?

‘This has been great, thank you,’ Adam says warmly and he means it. ‘I still want to go away and do a bit of research myself before we settle on solar along with wind, particularly in relation to the market in the UK, but I can feel myself leaning in your direction now.’

Kaito breaks into a grin. ‘Of course, I wouldn't expect you to make a decision like this immediately. I've got some notes that I'll send via email, it's just a few places where you can look for research and so on. It'll save you a bit of time anyway.’

‘Great, I'll pull together my research on wind energy and send that over to you as well. Where do we go from here?’ Adam asks.

‘We'll definitely need a financial expert,’ Kaito says, ‘Someone who can help us to raise the funds we need. How about Jeff? The guy from California who we met at that conference in 2012? Are you still in touch with him?’ Adam nods. ‘I am actually. I'll get in touch with him as soon as we're off this call and set up a meeting for the three of us.’

**************

The second rock for building your virtual power team is what's known as the Strengths Matrix. I'm a big believer in strength‐oriented management, which means you strengthen the strength instead of developing the weakness.

This isn't a new concept and it's certainly not my invention. In fact, Gallup has a book called StrengthsFinder 2.0, which includes a very sophisticated test with 64+ questions to establish your key strengths and develop an action plan.

For virtual teams, I believe we need a more pragmatic approach that delivers faster solutions. There's an exercise I use, after the lifeline exercise I discussed earlier in this section, where I ask people to list their top strengths. I'll share the exercise with you in more detail in a moment, but first you need to understand why it's so important to identify each team member's strengths.

The reason is remarkably simple: if you discover someone's true strength, their real natural talent, and focus their work on this area then they don't consider it to be work. They feel joy, they're passionate and often the results are outstanding.

In general, I would say that there are three types of people:

 Generalists

 Specialists

 Empaths

Generalists have a broad overview of what's going on and understand the big picture. These are the kinds of people that you want to put in roles where they're responsible for managing a particular client or stakeholder group. They'll maintain a relationship with those people and channel and manage any demands through the team.

Specialists have deep expertise in a particular field. These are the kinds of people I would nominate as knowledge champions in their field. That means that every time there's a deliverable within the team that falls under their area of expertise, they review it and suggest improvements or give feedback before it's disseminated more widely. In doing this, you show them that their expertise is valued.

Finally, there are empaths. These are the kinds of people who have a good sense of the emotion within the team and who are naturally great at relating to other people and fostering a positive team atmosphere. You might give them responsibility for taking care of a new team member induction, for instance. Even if your HR team has an induction process, don't underestimate the benefits of giving them a buddy, so to speak, within the team they're joining. These people are key.

Those are some basic examples of how you can leverage someone's natural strengths to generate additional meaningful interactions and improve team spirit.

Think back to Adam's story. What groups would you put his early team members into? It's fair to say that Kaito is a specialist. Adam is a generalist. Would you also class Jeff as a specialist? At this stage, Adam's wife Rose is playing the part of the empath.