Storytelling

Promotion & Staying at the top, gracefully.

Challenge & Selection

Storytelling is the tool I always use when I need to provide context, perspective, motivation, and gain  support from my team for an important project. Over my career I had several bosses who were very  astute in connecting a real-business life challenge we were facing at a moment - i.e., a competitive  process to expand our businesses internationally or a bid to sell energy to a high-profile customer in  Brazil - to a successful (most of the time) story they had already lived, sometimes even in their personal  lives. “The talk” used to happen at the beginning of projects, usually in our kick-off meetings, was part of  the initial presentation and was led by the CDO (Chief Development Officer) or event the CEO depending  on the scope of the project. We used to refer to them as anecdotes. The fact that these stories were  real, conveyed a concrete sense of resilience by the people who were in them and were lived by our  leaders in each case helped us a lot down the road to reconfigure during several setbacks, preserve our  motivation and moral and restore our desire to win.

Application

The most challenging period of my career started in January 2014 with a promotion and took me almost  4 years. And the example I would like to briefly describe is how storytelling (regarding my career and  personal challenges) helped me accept this promotion and start this new role with the support of the  existing team. In January 2014 there was a major restructuring in my firm and almost all the executive  directors were replaced. The new CEO asked me to leave Business Development - as the agenda would  be less on the growth side and more on managing JVs – to become the Superintendent of power trading  (free market) and commercialization (regulated market), a bigger team which would give me the first  P&L responsibility. My first challenge: the former superintendent, a very charismatic executive, was  asked to step down as they wanted someone more focused on finance and processes. My second  challenge: I had no formal experience in trading although my master’s in finance and business  development experience gave me the confidence to accept the promotion. My third challenge: lead  senior managers, people who had been working for 15-20 years with the same subjects. So, the  question was really about the three elements of trust and how I could first assemble them in a  storytelling I delivered to the team during my first week:

1. Would I be able to maintain / foster an atmosphere of positive relationships (or camaraderie, a

“trademark” of my predecessor?) The implicit concern here was: “am I going to be fired as well” or  “is there a mandate to restructure the team”? What I could tell them in first place was that I was  given autonomy to lead the team and the business, and this was the only way it could work for me:  full responsibility for results and lack of results as well as always. Having said this meant that I had  the green light for changes if believed they were necessary, but I was not given any script  beforehand. I believed that I could foster an incredibly positive, constructive atmosphere and  progress even further on fronts like team development (technical and behavioural), business  fluency and better relationship between the team based In Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. I told  them I had taught children math and computer science in different occasions in my life so as a non- trained professor I liked very much to transfer my business knowledge to the team as well. In  addition to this, I encouraged them to speak with my previous teams to learn their perspective as  well.

2. Would I be able to quickly transfer my previous knowledge / expertise to trading and

commercialization? I believed this was the smoothest point to address. I was not a specialist at all  in any sector – my focus was on business and its fundamentals and my career at that time was  developed in 4 blocks - chemical and petrochemical, metals and mining, management consulting  and power - with different companies and corporate cultures. From telling them how I could  transition from all these spaces, the belief I had that by holding on to fundamental business  concepts and practices one can apply those in different sectors, and the benefits to me as an

individual from transitioning from time to time, I attracted their curiosity for subsequent individual  meetings to address their development goals or even more conceptual career questions – it was an  interesting journey specially with the younger team members.

3. Did I walk my talk? Was I consistent, did I honour commitments and keep promises? Although

they could also obtain elements to judge this aspect from other colleagues, this one was more  personal in my opinion and would be constructed day-by-day, by their observation. I mentioned to  them that back in 2007 when I joined the firm, I told my first team that whenever they were offered  a better career opportunity even within our firm, I would support them to pursue their objective. I  shared with them something that happened to me and made me thing this way: when I was  working for a mining company in 2010, I was also studying for my master´s in finance. I was part of  the business development team when an opportunity with the treasury team appeared. My boss  did not support me because he believed it would have sound bad for him to lose someone for a  neighbour department. It was difficult for me at that time and I never would have liked to provide  the same negative experience to someone in my team.

Insight & Approach

On my first week I addressed the three points above in three different occasions: first meeting with the  whole team, second meeting with managers only and third meeting with the whole team again and  more structured in which I presented to them the initial findings, areas of concern and how we could  cooperate during the first 3 months when we would reconvene and evaluate our progress.

I believe the stories I told them to illustrate our areas of concern stayed with them on the background  over the years we worked together. Everyday I sensed that we have an opportunity to build this fabric  called trust. The stories were on their minds and they kept checking whether the persona on that  anecdote corresponds to the one in front of them, today. Although my example was not an objective  one to reach a physical, concrete product (a system, a car, or an app), it led us as to the fantastic  product that is a team to function in harmony and in a transparent way.


Storytelling Promotion & Staying at the top , gracefully . Challenge & Selection Storytelling is the tool I always use when I need to provide context , perspective , motivation , and gain support from my team for an important project . Over my career I had several bosses who were very astute in connecting a real - business life challenge we were facing at a moment - i.e. , a competitive process to expand our businesses internationally or a bid to sell energy to a high - profile customer in Brazil - to a successful ( most of the time ) story they had already lived , sometimes even in their personal lives . “ The talk ” used to happen at the beginning of projects , usually in our kick - off meetings , was part of the initial presentation and was led by the CDO ( Chief Development Officer ) or event the CEO depending on the scope of the project . We used to refer to them as anecdotes . The fact that these stories were real , conveyed a concrete sense of resilience by the people who were in them and were lived by our leaders in each case helped us a lot down the road to reconfigure during several setbacks , preserve our motivation and moral and restore our desire to win . Application The most challenging period of my career started in January 2014 with a promotion and took me almost 4 years . And the example I would like to briefly describe is how storytelling ( regarding my career and personal challenges ) helped me accept this promotion and start this new role with the support of the existing team . In January 2014 there was a major restructuring in my firm and almost all the executive directors were replaced . The new CEO asked me to leave Business Development - as the agenda would be less on the growth side and more on managing JVs – to become the Superintendent of power trading ( free market ) and commercialization ( regulated market ) , a bigger team which would give me the first P&L responsibility . My first challenge : the former superintendent , a very charismatic executive , was asked to step down as they wanted someone more focused on finance and processes . My second challenge : I had no formal experience in trading although my master ’s in finance and business development experience gave me the confidence to accept the promotion . My third challenge : lead senior managers , people who had been working for 15 - 20 years with the same subjects . So , the question was really about the three elements of trust and how I could first assemble them in a storytelling I delivered to the team during my first week : 1 . Would I be able to maintain / foster an atmosphere of positive relationships ( or camaraderie , a “ trademark ” of my predecessor ? ) The implicit concern here was : “ am I going to be fired as well ” or “ is there a mandate to restructure the team ” ? What I could tell them in first place was that I was given autonomy to lead the team and the business , and this was the only way it could work for me : full responsibility for results and lack of results as well as always . Having said this meant that I had the green light for changes if believed they were necessary , but I was not given any script beforehand . I believed that I could foster an incredibly positive , constructive atmosphere and progress even further on fronts like team development ( technical and behavioural ) , business fluency and better relationship between the team based In Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro . I told them I had taught children math and computer science in different occasions in my life so as a non- trained professor I liked very much to transfer my business knowledge to the team as well . In addition to this , I encouraged them to speak with my previous teams to learn their perspective as well . 2 . Would I be able to quickly transfer my previous knowledge / expertise to trading and commercialization ? I believed this was the smoothest point to address . I was not a specialist at all in any sector – my focus was on business and its fundamentals and my career at that time was developed in 4 blocks - chemical and petrochemical , metals and mining , management consulting and power - with different companies and corporate cultures . From telling them how I could transition from all these spaces , the belief I had that by holding on to fundamental business concepts and practices one can apply those in different sectors , and the benefits to me as an individual from transitioning from time to time , I attracted their curiosity for subsequent individual meetings to address their development goals or even more conceptual career questions – it was an interesting journey specially with the younger team members . 3 . Did I walk my talk ? Was I consistent , did I honour commitments and keep promises ? Although they could also obtain elements to judge this aspect from other colleagues , this one was more personal in my opinion and would be constructed day - by - day , by their observation . I mentioned to them that back in 2007 when I joined the firm , I told my first team that whenever they were offered a better career opportunity even within our firm , I would support them to pursue their objective . I shared with them something that happened to me and made me thing this way : when I was working for a mining company in 2010 , I was also studying for my master´s in finance . I was part of the business development team when an opportunity with the treasury team appeared . My boss did not support me because he believed it would have sound bad for him to lose someone for a neighbour department . It was difficult for me at that time and I never would have liked to provide the same negative experience to someone in my team . Insight & Approach On my first week I addressed the three points above in three different occasions : first meeting with the whole team , second meeting with managers only and third meeting with the whole team again and more structured in which I presented to them the initial findings , areas of concern and how we could cooperate during the first 3 months when we would reconvene and evaluate our progress . I believe the stories I told them to illustrate our areas of concern stayed with them on the background over the years we worked together . Everyday I sensed that we have an opportunity to build this fabric called trust . The stories were on their minds and they kept checking whether the persona on that anecdote corresponds to the one in front of them , today . Although my example was not an objective one to reach a physical , concrete product ( a system , a car , or an app ) , it led us as to the fantastic product that is a team to function in harmony and in a transparent way .