There’s a first time for everything. For Andrew Flanagan this past January, it was becoming CEO—of the fourth-largest renewable energy business in the U.S.
At RWE Clean Energy, a subsidiary of German power giant RWE, Flanagan hasn’t wasted any time making his mark.
RWE Clean Energy belongs to a larger organization with a clear purpose: “our energy for a sustainable life.” Flanagan, who leads about 1,700 people, says the company is transforming itself and putting that purpose into action.
On that note, he tells me what RWE Clean Energy is trying to accomplish with its onshore wind farms, solar power, and battery storage systems. Having worked in conventional energy, he doesn’t necessarily see the business through an environmental lens.
“There might be this notion that our purpose is to affect climate change or reverse climate change,” says Flanagan, who was previously chief development officer of the company, formed last year when RWE Renewables Americas and Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses combined. “But our purpose is much broader than that. Our energy will sustain communities.” To him, that could mean fueling the economy as much as shrinking carbon emissions.
At a town hall, Flanagan just introduced a new U.S. market strategy to capitalize on growing demand for clean energy and boost employee effectiveness. RWE Clean Energy’s identity is about generating impact, which the company aims to do in four ways: create value at scale, excel at execution, partner to grow, and team to solve.
Wondering about that last one? Essentially, it means working together to find solutions to challenges and seize new opportunities.
When it comes to delivering on that strategy, Flanagan invokes RWE’s three global values: trust, passion, and performance.
Trust is foundational. “Without trust, you can’t have collaboration, you can’t have a team, you can’t have effective communication,” Flanagan says. “If you do not have trust, that’s the number one dysfunction around a good operating team. Without that, [we’ll] never have the performance we need to differentiate ourselves in the market, as well as to build the relationships that we need to execute on that.”
Part of building trust is making sure people know they can speak up to their teammates—including the CEO. For example, in discussions about the cost of developing projects, everyone involved is encouraged to weigh in, regardless of seniority, Flanagan explains.
“What we want to provoke, or trigger, is good, open dialogue and debate where everybody is comfortable challenging each other,” says the self-described servant leader. “That really helps us to identify and deliver the best solutions for the business and for our various stakeholders.”
In the same spirit, RWE is introducing a program called the Peak Performance Hub to foster emerging as well as current leaders.
Passion is motivation, Flanagan says. For the leader of a large organization, it can be exhausting to have to tell people exactly what to do, he notes.
“If you can create an environment, create a team that at its core has that burning desire,” Flanagan says, “and as individuals, couple it with the right trust and open dialogue; that’s when you really move an organization and make the impact that we’re looking to make.”
He wants team members to get to a place where they tell him exactly what they’re going to do—“just as a heads-up, and give me that opportunity to say no.”
And performance? It’s execution. “We can say all the right things, but ultimately, we have to deliver,” Flanagan says. “In order to establish the trust, when we make commitments, we need to follow through.”
For Flanagan, clarity of purpose also builds trust with stakeholders. “They need to understand your intentions and your motivations,” he says. “Making that clear opens the door for building stronger, longer-lasting relationships that are critical to business growth.”
Some good energy there.
Nick Rockel
nick.rockel@consultant.fortune.com
