Back to Neutrona - 2019<>2020

Ever since I left Neutrona back in October 2015, I kept in touch with 3 key individuals, who I’m glad to call them friends. Daniel Monetto who was now Neutrona’s CTO, Pablo Rosman who was leading Finance, and Martin Volpi, who was now deeply involved in Product and Market Strategy.

Daniel presented the idea to go back to Neutrona around November 2018. At that particular time, things were super fun at Global Eagle as there was a big reorganization, driven by the aviation folks. My name was starting to make waves both in the yacht and other business units and I started to feel the adrenaline of professional development that was backing up my decision of leaving Argentina behind. Ole had taken a stronger role on the maritime leadership team and Jeff was super-firm on the land business unit, with special focus on the US Government deals. I got to work hand-in-hand with these 2 individuals and customers RFPs and challenging projects were in order.

Winds changed in early 2019, and despite a quiet January, there was massive staff reduction that happened overnight in February, and this is where I lost direct bosses and colleagues. Once the water settled, I was no longer leading a team, I was no longer presented with maritime challenges and I was somehow reduced to systematic and repetitive tasks. The excitement was gone, the cool people were gone, and in just a couple of days, it all changed to “focus on the next paycheck” instead of “professional growth”. This money mentality was OK for literally just 2 days, and it was clear something was missing… I call it purpose.

It was during mid-March 2019 that I got a new call from Daniel and he said “I need you back, we need to figure it out, but you have to be here.” Interesting how time works and things change in just 4 months. I replied “I’m listening” and the operation return was triggered.

Daniel was on his way to Miami in the first week of April, and once in town, we went for dinner and talked more about the position, the industry challenges and how Neutrona changed in the recent years. Good news, Martin was also in town, so we met him later for drinks. Deep inside it felt like the right move… found a new purpose, again.

The very next day I met Luciano Salata at the Miami office and he was a different person compared to the one I saw back in 2015. His previous anxiety and adrenaline attacks were now converted into an active listener, still a challenging individual, who was far more certain on what to do, than the previous version of himself. He was still a wolf, but fitter. Meeting was great, he was shocked with my 2015-2018 travel rush as well as my relocation to the US, so he wanted the international first-class experience to be presented in LATAM. I was the right guy for the job.

I was then back to Argentina for 10 days, and met Mateo Ward for lunch. We talked in detail about my experience outside Neutrona, he covered how Neutrona changed and where the pain was located. It all made sense again. Mateo was fitter too, better equipped with soft skills and his company vision was broader than before. I liked that.

Once back in Miami, I got the offer letter from Daniel on April 30th. I had to relocate back to Argentina and start working in Neutrona on May 13th, so I had to get rid of the car, return the mattress, pay taxes, cancel the apartment rental and get back home to start working. It was a tight schedule, but I'm grateful with Adrian Klinger and wife helped a lot with my re-relocation. I’m also grateful to Jeff Kietzmann, as well as Federico Fawzi and Saulo Salvador, who were shocked at first, but perfectly understood the decision I made.

Getting back in Neutrona was great! there were lots of changes, new people, good old colleagues but the family essence was intact. Monica Passaggino was all over the place making sure, who along with Milagros Montes de Oca, made sure I had everything I needed.

First session with the Service Delivery team was a bit challenging since they were in need of answers, purpose and a clear objective. I only had 1 of these 3 and it was “white-glove experience can happen in LATAM”, so I started from there.

I then met them individually and got to understand a bit better where they were coming from, what was promised to them, what was fulfilled, etc. I’m grateful to all of them for trusting me from the very beginning. Looking back I recognize that I landed hard on them. At first I wasn't listening, it felt like excuses and the phrase “we always did it this way” was more present than ever. Daniel had a majestic intervention and asked me to become more open, and let the team know I trusted them. It was hard at first, we were not making the results and the excuses I received were very similar to the ones back in 2015 when I left. I didn't want to compromise my “winning at all cost” mentality, but Daniel has been around long enough to make that suggestion, so I took it.

I approached the team in a different way, where they felt listened to, where they can make contributions and if viable, we could try them out. We built new targets and goals together, making sure these were aligned with the company, but also felt doable and scalable. We promoted Gonzalo Rico into Head of Service Delivery and by doing this, we became far more closer to the team, making sure nothing was missing to meet their goals. Project deliveries started working on-point, customer complaints were under control and the team spirit was great. We went from “I can do this” to “We can do this” mentality in little over 4 months and felt like a great place to work.

I want to thank the entire Service Delivery and Service Management teams, first and foremost for trusting the purpose and ideals I had presented to them, but ultimately by giving me the time to show them the results of the methodology implemented.

Special thanks to the following: 

Rocio Martinez, who joined the company around mid-2019 as CSO, and came to Buenos Aires very often. She is a warrior at heart, understands people and uses personal private experience to overcome work related topics. She mastered the art of “Let me finish”, making sure her voice is heard and ideas are landed. She is a listener, a giver by nature and furthermore, she consistently delivers. My time with her was meaningful and I managed to absorb her experience and positivity which I’m convinced, made me a better person.

Pablo Rosman, for his integrity, his charm and passion. For his medical-condition, that put my world on-hold and upside down, but seeing his strong mentality, the way he shaped his reality is not only encouraging, but deeply enviable.

Santiago Zuccarello, for his never-ending collaboration and orchestration with the team. Even when working on a different role, he shared and trained and coached my team to absorb his best practices. A sharer by nature.

Martin Volpi, for his trademark questioning. The why’s, the how’s, the what if’s, the reasoning behind, the 3-minute coffee breaks, I welcome them all. Not to challenge for no reason, but to understand the reason why not to challenge.

Daniel Monetto, for his human touch. He has the right C-level attributes, as well as his execution style, but I’m grateful he never loses sight of the human approach. Small conversation, imperceptible gestures, after hour phone calls or SMS just to check on how you are doing, are priceless. I’m grateful I took the decision to come back, to find out what an inspirational leader he has become.

Milena Anton Braier and Juan Ignacio, for their constant deconstruction and voracious appetite for information, challenges and adrenaline. They both have unique conditions that will guarantee success, since they are already running at the “speed of now”.

Julian Mistorni, Cristian Herrera and Agustin Rios, for your constant challenge. The convincing exercise without the use of imperative tools generated collaborative sessions as well as meaningful experiences for all 4 of us.

Facundo De Rentis and Gaston Burgos, for being in the front-line, for drinking out of a firehose, for their detailed presentations, the stamina and willingness to challenge actual processes and improve them single-handedly.

Javier Penizzotto, Ivan Zenteno, Alejandro Arcushin, Francisco Massaroni and Federico Sanchez, who provisioned and documented countless projects, but most of all, stood by the end-customer making sure it worked as requested, with superior first-class service.

Laura Canedo, Rodrigo Ferreyra and Adriana Contreras, who spread Neutrona’s name through the region at every partner and end-customer level, making sure the contracts were met as well as deliverables were accepted.

Gonzalo Rico, for his never ending customer charisma, that spread empathy across the room. For his hands-on and action-reflex abilities, who directly impacted on the team’s mindset and results.

Juan Olveira, for his business angle view, for the market perception, for the immediate reaction, for the fun approach and gin-tonics, and for the crazy automation perspective of life and processes.

Just like the other articles of this week, several colleagues are left unmentioned, however I’m grateful our paths crossed and I’m convinced our time together in the recent past, shaped my future self.

Thank you!