Summary
Through the paragraphs of this advice-loaded interview article, know what it’s like to be part of a global team of Technology Consultants, through Werner Korb’s story, and what led him to lead global tech experts, while working as a digital nomad. Read how the challenges of being an IT consultant and professional like describing unique-selling propositions, defining a vision and mission, lack of partners, inevitable tasks that are time-consuming, and trouble balancing time between family and work, impact organizations and professionals. Discover how working with a team having a united vision, better than being a solopreneur. Through his story, learn the struggles and joy of finding what best serves your purpose in the world.
Coach Leadership Story And Testimonial
1. Failure of new digital business and realization of potential
After many years of working as a successful researcher and entrepreneur, and selling his shares of his first startup, Dr. Werner Korb began moving from Europe to Latin America. Arriving there Werner was already searching for a way to work as a solopreneur, he wanted to begin an online business and work as a digital nomad. Unfortunately, one of his online ventures did not work, as he expected. It failed and went bankrupt.
Determined to find success, he explored the startup-ecosystem in Bolivia and Latin America, and realized that his expertise and experience as a startup entrepreneur could be of enormous help to businesses.
2. Exploring IT business ideas and career paths to success
With a bouquet of key IT traits including not only his research and technical background, his ideas of balance between family life and work-life but also his successes and failures in the startup-world. He felt he could influence and guide many tech businesses and experts as a coach.
While he assessed his many options, he met with the Eprenz team, and expressed discovery of a new tech innovation:
“I was talking with Anurag and he opened my eyes together with David, that this does not need to be restricted to Latin America. I could do this coaching work for tech experts all over the world.”
Realizing an optimal win-win situation, it did not take long for Werner and Eprenz to join hands. Eprenz has had a long run with an enormous experience in the coaching and consulting business. The culmination of Werner’s expertise in research and IT startups (including HealthTech, MedTech, EdTech,AI, etc.), with Eprenz’s competency in sales and business experience, resulted to be profitable for both ends.
3. Emerging as an Technology Consultant and Leadership Coach
Werner has always experienced joy in working with people and teams of people. As a tech expert, he likes setting up strategies, developing concepts and ideas that nurture businesses and the people behind them.
It’s refreshing to see how human centric his approach is. He identifies as a family man and strives to find the best balance between work and family. That is exactly what he wants to share with his team and the coaches in his team.
In his experience, team members have always appreciated his openness and the freedom he allows for them. (He has worked with teams of up to 20 researchers, students, interns, etc.) He is confident that he is “an ideal leader for independent teams, that however want to reach common goals together.”
4. Envisioning a future for the global Technology Consultants and professionals family
“I want to set up a team that works independently but at the same time together, in solving problems in a shared manner.”
Talking about his vision, Werner expresses an undying desire to help Technology Consultants, experts and professionals improve their businesses, and not only that, assist them in having a successful and balanced life.
“Work is a part of life, and so are recreation and family. Work can only be successful if the family is supporting a tech expert. ”
Also, the IT business sector is like a family to Werner too, mainly because he loves this “species” of people. Tech people are from a special typology. They have an analytical way of thinking, that is based on patterns and Werner loves to have “new and crazy ideas for unknown solutions.”
However, he also expresses the need to “learn to explain our ideas and speak with non-tech people.” That’s what Werner intends to help IT experts with, finding ways how to pitch their ideas and sell their expertise to non-tech entrepreneurs and startups.
5. Genesis of TEC ONE, the no. 1 company for Technology Consultants
“Startups all over the world should consider consulting Tec One Team first to solve tricky and complex tech questions because it has the most effective and efficient consultants for their technical questions.”
Searching for a good company name is a tough task, but it is also interesting to find and create words that represent everything your company stands for. It is like a virtual flag bearer, that has the brand’s image, brand’s story, and brand’s mission.
Werner and team were playing around with slogans and phrases that potentially comprised of all three qualities and then tried to distill them into a company name.
The symphony of creative and impact driven minds, resulted in the creation of “Tec One“, which includes TECH, CONsulting and Number ONE. They strive to be number one in all google searches, and to be the first one to appear whenever startups are in the need of solutions and resources.
Find A Network Or Family Of Technology Consultants Near You
Werner’s company is global, so no matter where you are geographically, TEC ONE is always near you. After reading this far, you can be sure that Werner’s team is a part of his wider family. He counsels them, as he counsels his family. For example, in Werner’s family, he wants his kids to become independent and find their own ways and solutions. Simultaneously, they can consult him and ask for his help if need be.
This is exactly how Werner sees his team. He wants everyone in his team to find their own ways and work with their clients. He hopes that they become even smarter, better experts and greater than himself in their specialty. At the same time, he views it is his “job” to connect and network between the team members and the startups, ultimately leading both sides to success.
“We can better solve the tech-world, if we solve problems together, and not everybody independently for themselves.”
Werner hates it when tech experts and consultants have a competitive approach. He doesn’t like to see people work with an “elbow mentality”. In his world view, “every person – and this is particularly true for tech specialists – has special expertise and contribution to the tech startup ecosystem. There is no need for a single person to do every project and job.”
He desires to find out each tech consultant’s strengths and expertise for them. This strength will make the field or niche where this person should work and consult. Other projects and jobs, that do not belong into these circle of strengths, should be passed to a partner in the team, that is better in the respective field.
This is the tech world that Werner envisions, where people work together and share expertise and not be in a competition, wanting to be better than a colleague and so miss the best opportunities in tech research and progress.
Problems faced by Technology Consultants and professionals in the world
1. Describing Unique-Selling Propositions
Nobody can be mirrored, of course, everybody in the TEC ONE team knows this, including Werner. Mirroring someone else’s work can be hazardous to any organization, even if it passes as non-plagiarized. It is a strenuous activity to build a product that is unique to most of its constituents. It should be so, because in the end a unique product that works well, sells. Werner’s team is extremely efficient at helping startups and businesses identify their unique selling propositions.
2. Defining A Vision And Mission
Some tasks sound plain and easy, and yet they are the most significant of them all. Defining your business’ vision and mission is one of them, it dictates your identity, and everything you stand for. Without a mirror, it is impossible to find your true identity, and one cannot be the mirror for themselves. That’s leads to the third problem faced by consultants in the IT world.
3. Lack Of A Partner
Without a “mirror,” we cannot grow or work on ourselves, because a mirror not only reflects our strengths, but also our shortcomings.
“I am happy to have David Wagstaff (from Eprenz) as my sparring partner for this. At the same time I will do the best to be a competent and promising sparring partner for my TEC ONE team members.”
4. Time-consuming Yet Inevitable Tasks
No doubt back-office is an essential part of any business, but it leeches on the time that can be consumed for other tasks that actually result in progress or profit, like business development.
Werner helps his clients in all the practical fields where a consultant needs help, saving them a lot of time that can otherwise be utilized in doing something that actually improves their performance and progress. This includes back-office work, marketing, writing, graphics, analytics, etc.
5. Troubles Managing Time Between Family And Work
Continuing with the previous point, Technology Consultants should focus on what they are good at and not bother with other office and marketing activities. Of course there are tech consultants that do that, but they typically do that out of their “office times” and this reduces their family times and work-life balances. Many of them feel like being stuck in a hamster wheel then.
This happens if you practice your consulting without a team, without a leader and without a back-office team. That mimics working like a solopreneur. This is not at all healthy in the IT world, that’s what TEC ONE wants to change.
Advice for Technology Consultants Who Want To Be Successful As A Team
1. Working as an individual of a team, not just as an individual alone.
2. Share ideas open-mindedly, without fear of judgment or rejection.
3. Don’t be competitive, be competent.
4. Be self-confident. Share ideas because you know that you have your own experience and expertise. There is nobody who can “steal” that. So you can be supportive and helpful to others in your team and to your clients.
5. Accept your leader and have as many coaching meetings with them as possible.
6. Try to think differently. Solve problems in an unconventional way and do brain-storming together, without hesitation.
7. There is nothing wrong, just unconventional.
8. Delegate things you are not good at. Make lists of tasks and prioritize. Things that are not your priority or not within your skills, delegate them.
9. Find the best teammates and back-office VAs you can. Always delegate your work to those who can solve your problems most effectively and efficiently.
10. Try out things and keep the successful things and skip the unsuccessful.
11. Don’t stop after failures, always continue to go further.
12. Learn from mistakes. Share your mistakes. So that others can learn from that.
13. Give young people a chance. Young people have insights and they can be good consultants. It’s a matter of character that is independent of long-time experience. With the characteristics I mentioned, everyone who has a technical mindset and education, can be a coach for tech-startups, even people that are just out of school. Then they still have a fresh and open-minded approach.
14. Invest time and money to set up your consulting business. Without investment, there is no chance to form a business. But you should be investing time and money cleverly. Choose carefully your sparring partner(s).
Time Management Strategy For Technology Consultants And Professionals
As an IT consultant and professional, if you can identify what your priorities are, what your life calls for, where your strengths lie, and what your skills are, you can always prioritize your work.
Just do what you are good at and what you like – all the other stuff do delegate. At TEC ONE, Werner gives Technology Consultants and professionals, the chance to step out of their hamster wheel. The offer holds another golden chance for them to spend more time with their family, without the fear of losing clients or money.
Moreover, take the advice of your family very seriously, even if they don’t understand your work and your technical background in detail. They will develop a sense of you and attempt to understand you and your work problems from another perspective.
Werner emphasizes that you will only have a great family-work-life balance if you can convert the input from your family into your work. They have invaluable insights into your character and your work style, that nobody else can provide – not even your teammates, not even Werner as your team leader in TEC ONE, and neither your client.
Listen to your family and share time with your family. It will impact your work and tech consulting business enormously.
Why Is Working With A Team Having a United Mission Better?
“Working alone, makes it lonely, quirky and strange.
Working together makes it creative and joyful. It keeps technology human.”
Without a sense for human teams, researchers will develop technology that is inhuman. It is common sense that in (good) teams, 1 + 1 is not only 2 but much more than that, because it allows looking beyond existing borders together. So in teams we have another formula: 1 + 1 = a lot more.
Werner expresses gratitude to Eprenz for helping him grow a team of his dream, “With Eprenz, I have got the chance to grow TEC ONE with the best specialists and experts worldwide. Eprenz has unique processes and methods to find those specialists for me and I can select and educate them to be a part of an incomparable winning team.”
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