Thimo Mueller
Interview by Dominic Moore
BIOGRAPHY
Thimo has almost 15 years of strategy, transformation and business leadership experience in the global energy industry.
Thimo worked for RWE/Innogy, one of Europe’s largest energy utilities, for almost 10 years. As former Head of Group Portfolio Strategy (Upstream & Generation) and Manager of RWE’s transformation & restructuring program, Thimo led global projects and high-performing teams, developed investment strategies and worked with RWE’s executive team and board for several years.
His international experience includes developing the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030 for the Government in Dubai and working for The World Bank in Sydney on energy projects in the Pacific.
In his current role as a General Manager Strategy, Commercial and New Business with Verdia, Thimo drives strategy development, commercial assessment & structuring, sales transformation and new business/product development.
CAREER RELATED QUESTIONS
What is the best thing about your job?
Besides having a long job title, it’s the 3Ps: Purpose, People and Potential.
Purpose: I’m excited to work on one of the biggest challenges of mankind – taking on the climate crisis. Verdia’s purpose is to accelerate the transition to a renewable energy economy. Australia’s top 250 energy users account for almost half our nation’s total energy consumption. This is where Verdia focuses and make the biggest impact.
People: I enjoy working with people who share the same values and are passionate about what they do. I’m fortunate to lead a team of great individuals who support each other.
Potential: Since I joined Verdia, the revenue has grown by 10-12X (I’d like to think there’s some sort of causality…). It’s great working for a growing company because it offers a lot of opportunities. In my role, I enjoy a very high level of autonomy, cover a lot of ground and I can get things done quickly due to the nimbleness and hands-on culture of the organisation.
What is the most challenging project/problem you have worked on either as an external consultant or an internal strategist?
Working on RWE’s transformation program was very challenging. The goal of the program was not only to reduce cost by several billion dollars and find new sources of revenue but also to transform and change the culture of the organisation. I learned a lot about what drives people’s behaviours and learned even more about myself. It’s easy to ask other people to change, however, change starts with yourself. It’s a journey that never ends – I’m enjoying the ride!
What advice would you give someone transitioning from a consulting firm to a role in industry?
I have only spent a small portion of my career as an external consultant, working with the Government of Dubai. However, I’ve been working with many people who worked in consulting before. Based on my observations, my advice would be that when starting a role in industry the focus should be on listening to people and being interested in building genuine long-term relationships.
The nature of consulting entails that most of the relationships are temporary (e.g., project teams or client engagements). In industry, you will work with the same people for several years and you can only be successful in your role, if you get their support. So: listen first, inquire and then start advocating.
Who has influenced your career the most and why?
I’ve been fortunate to work with a lot of people who had very different talents and I’ve learned from all of them.
One of my former managers at RWE had a big impact on my career since he had the courage to promote me to Head of Department and trusted me to work directly with the Management Board of one of Germany’s 30 biggest companies when I was 28 years old. I was the youngest Head of Department in the holding company and all members in my team were older and further progressed in their careers. This put me into a good spot for learning quickly and developing my leadership style.
What is the favourite piece of advice you have received and from whom?
At the beginning of my career, I was very impressed when I joined meetings with Board Members. The impact was that I listened but was hesitant to speak up. My former boss told me that he takes me along because he thinks I have valuable contributions to these meetings – otherwise he would bring a nice plant (this feedback may sound a bit harsh in an Australian work context but it’s reflective of the directness in German culture and intended to be motivating - which it was for me).
This gave me the confidence to be more vocal.
PERSONAL INSIGHTS
As a child what did you want to be when you were older?
That’s an easy one – a professional soccer player. I’d like to think that I was reasonably talented but I was also aware of the very low odds of making it to the Bundesliga (Premier League). In hindsight, focusing on my education was the right choice…or wasn’t it?
What are your three favourite books and what are you currently reading?
As father of a 10 months old daughter, my reading activity has slowed down a bit and Netflix is the easier choice. I’ve still 50 pages or so to go to finish ‘Sapiens – A brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari’.
I enjoyed reading ‘Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis’ by J.D. Vance which paints a picture of the white working-class America and ‘The Underground Railroad’ by Colson Whitehead which is a novel about a female slave on a cotton plantation in the Southern States. Nassim Taleb’s ‘The Black Swan’ is great but I’d also recommend his less known book ‘Antifragile: Things that gain from disorder’. In terms of TV shows, ‘The Wire’ is my all-time favourite.
Who is your personal or business hero/heroine and what quality do you most admire in them?
I don’t think that I have a personal hero or heroine. I admired the leadership by Jacinda Ardern that she showed after the terrorist attacks. She was courageous, vulnerable, authentic, transparent and determined. Without her leadership, I think the long-term impact of this terrible attack on the society in NZ would have been more detrimental.
Who would you like sitting next to you at a dinner party and why?
I’d always pick my partner, Theresa, to sit next to at a dinner party. I like sitting next to people who have some interesting story to tell and who I can have a good laugh with. If you’re asking me about more famous people than her, then I’d pick Barack Obama and Mikhail Gorbachev – I think this would be an interesting conversation and cover an important period of modern history.
What is your favourite quote or motto?
Oscar Wilde said ‘Life is too short to learn German’ … I’m not sure where I stand on this. One of my mottos is from Rocky Balboa ‘Every champion was once a contender who refused to give up.’