From intern to leading a growing team

Since then, both his team and his responsibilities have grown considerably. Along the way, Juan has learned not only how to manage a growing team, but also what kind of manager he wants to be.

Starting without a technical background

As a Business Manager, Juan’s role has three main sides: managing and supporting a team of employeneurs, finding new professionals to join TMC and developing business with existing and new clients. It means working closely with both the people in his team and the companies they work with.

Before joining TMC, Juan studied International Relations in the north of Spain, while playing basketball at a high level. He later moved to Madrid for a master’s degree in International Trade and Business and started working in logistics and commercial management for an American company.

It didn’t take long for him to realise that it wasn’t where he wanted to continue his career. He started exploring other opportunities and spoke to several companies. TMC stood out. “The personal approach was different from the other companies I interviewed with. A lot of consultancy companies sounded quite similar, but at TMC, I noticed a difference in how people were treated and in the professional environment they wanted to create.”

Juan joined TMC Spain as an intern. After three months, he was offered a permanent position as a Business Manager. There was just one obvious gap in his experience: technology. “The first months involved a lot of studying and preparation. I had to understand technology and the projects we were working on. I studied International Relations, so my background had nothing to do with technology.”

Still, something a former teacher had once told him proved useful: International Relations is about understanding complex problems and finding solutions. “Understanding problems is something I’m good at. I didn’t always understand exactly how something was done technically, but I could understand what we were trying to achieve and why.”

Learning from his own team

Juan built his technical knowledge through reading and courses, but much of what he learned came directly from the employeneurs he managed. “I wanted to spend time with them and understand the basics of their work. They enjoyed teaching me and I was curious to learn. It became a relationship in which I helped them, but they also helped me.”

Having a Business Manager without a technical background wasn’t an issue for his team, he says. Juan didn’t need to tell experienced engineers how to solve their technical problems. His role was different.

“You don’t need to have all the technical answers. What matters is that people know you are there when they need you and that you have their back.”

From 5 employeneurs to 35

Juan’s team has grown from five employeneurs to 35. With that growth came a completely different set of challenges. “When you start, you are learning how to do the job and what your employeneurs expect from you. Once you understand that and become more comfortable in the role, you can start focusing more on strategic tasks.”

That means Juan spends more time opening new client accounts, following developments in the industries he works in and thinking about how to organise his unit.  He wants teams to become more self-sufficient, so he can focus his attention where it is needed most.

But becoming more strategic doesn’t mean becoming distant from his team. “That is very important to me. I spend a lot of time on the wellbeing of my team. I try to put myself in their shoes and think about what I would expect from a manager. I want to be present and make sure they know they can come to me when there is a problem, professionally or personally.”

For Juan, that also means building enough trust for people to raise issues they might otherwise keep to themselves. “I try to act the way I would like a manager to act.”

Learning to take the long view

A bigger team and more responsibility also required Juan to change the way he responds when things don’t go as planned. Especially in his first years, setbacks could affect him strongly. Seeing someone leave the team felt like a major disappointment. Good news, on the other hand, could feel like a huge win. Experience has taught him to put both into perspective.

“I’ve learned that bad news is often not as bad as it seems. You have to believe in the work you do every day and know that, over time, it will pay off.” That lesson is particularly relevant in business development, where the effort you put in today doesn’t necessarily produce a result tomorrow.

A project with a personal connection

That patience has led to some results Juan is proud of. Recently, he helped TMC become a provider for a major international sports organisation, following an extensive proposal process. TMC was selected for data engineering and artificial intelligence projects.

“I’ve always loved sports. I played basketball at a high level, and I’ve always been a big fan of major sporting events. Being part of that world indirectly through my work is something I’m very proud of.”

It is one of several milestones he points to when looking back on the past four years. But he is equally proud of the team he has built and the relationships within it. “You start working with someone when they join the company, and then suddenly three or four years have passed. You develop a close relationship.”

His role may look very different from when he first joined TMC. His team is bigger and his responsibilities have become more strategic. But staying close to the people he works with remains an important part of how Juan approaches his job.