The TEAM is everything

Dear you – Kære dig!

Thank you so much for tuning into our newsletter, the last of 2022. This edition will share some leadership tips on how to build strong teams and why it matters. Plus a few updates from our side, including the fact that the website now is available in Danish. Read on. 

Book launch: Nomadic Leadership 

This November our 4th book hit the shelves (virtual as well as physical shelves). It is titled: Nomadic Leadership – Fantastic Changes in Turbulent Times” (Da: “Nomadeledelse – fantastiske forandringer i turbulente tider). 

Thanks a lot to all of you who came to our pre-launch reception or to one of the other launch events.
There is one last event taking place

Wednesday Dec. 14th at 16:30-18:30. in Gallery Sapere Aude

At this event you will also have the unique opportunity of hearing Kristian Scharling (Somera) and Gitte Winkel Missel & Chalotte Kusk Enni (Coloplast) share their stories about Nomadic leadership. So grab a friend and join us for a couple of hours of inspiration, bubbles and great company.

Leadership tip #1: The TEAM is everything

In a world where changes happen faster and faster, where the amount of knowledge is growing exponentially and with increased uncertainty, the TEAM is the only way to beat the odds.

Maybe one or two decades ago you could succeed by having great individual players and then just making sure they did not get in each others’ way. But those days are long gone. 

A central key to successful leadership is building a strong team around you. Not setting a team, but creating a team of those seemingly incompatible and complex individuals that you have been dealt. Let’s be honest: It’s tempting to just replace the people you ‘inherit’ with your own backing group, but it is very rarely the path to successful changes. 

Advice: You need to think of each of them as star players, and they will surprise you. You need to focus on having them play to each others strengths, making their differences a gift. And you need to lead them as a team – not as individuals. 

Want to know more? Reach out and we’ll be happy to share more.

It’s finally here:

Our website, www.fireandshield.com, is now also available in Danish. 

As many of you know, it’s been a constant source of arguing back-and-forth for us: English or Danish? Most of our customers at this point are Danish, yet many of them work in international companies where not everyone is a native Dane, and so we decided to keep things simple and start with an English Website.

But now we have both. So check it out and let us know how you like it.

Leadership tip #2: An ‘I’ in TEAM – or not

A famous saying goes something like: “There is no ‘I’ in team”. And while this, both literally and metaphorically is a fact, some of the resent research adds some more nuances to this. 

In our experience, the balancing of team and individual needs is one of the greatest challenges in leadership. When to take in special concerns to help one person over the team, and when to sacrifice the needs of one person to ensure the team succeeds?

Interestingly enough, the best performing teams know, that sometimes you treat everyone alike by treating them differently. The difference between creating a succesful team or not comes from whether or not you always take special concerns for the same people, or if it’s equally and fairly distributed over the entire team. 

A question to ask yourself: Am I allowing arrogance and the ‘story’ that some people on my team are more important and therefore need more special adaptations of the rules than others? If you do, this is a great place to start.

Pst: More theory on how to cultivate teams in the new book. 

Case: MAN Energy Solutions and the story of building a strong team.

In the new book, a full chapter is dedicated to why and how you build strong teams. The majority of the chapter is a case from MAN Energy Solution Denmark, and their ongoing transformation from a diesel-oriented industrial supertanker to becoming a frontrunner in de-carbonization of the shipping industry. At the core of this transformation is building a tight-knit Danish Management Team, and a strong leadership community across the Danish sites. 

We share the insightful and highly personal story from CEO Bjarne Foldager and Vice-president HR Katrine Brusgaard Haldne on how this transformation came about, their learnings and aha’s, and all their best advice if you want to start this journey yourself. If you are expecting a glorified tale of flawless heroism you will be disappointed. What we share is an honest and very open look behind the scene of a change process that is still ongoing. 

One of their learnings which may surprice you is, that it takes time to get a real commitment to the team, and you if you have to time, it is well invested in getting that commitment at the beginning of the proces. Truly check in with eachother and examine if and why it makes sense to build a strong team. It may challenge your patience, but if you do you’ll end up getting there faster in the end. 

Read more about it in the book. 

The Christmas present that keeps giving

Updated knowledge never goes out of fashion.

What do you give your boss to say “Thank you for your effort”? What do you give your friend who has it all? What can you give your customers and suppliers that will give inspiration for the road ahead? And what can you give yourself as an inspirationboost for 2023?  

May we humbly suggest our new book on Nomadic Leadership? 

Thank you for 2022 and Happy New Year. We look forward to seeing you in 2023!

Thank you for your continued support to Fire & Shield and our mission to make organizations great and great to work for. We couldn’t have done it with out you and we are extremely grateful for each and everyone of you. We wish you a wonderful holiday and a very happy New Year. 

Best regards,
Johnny & Elize