The Phoenix Ghost

Reshaping Leadership on Both Sides of the Ocean

Sean, Kota, Gabe and Victor were sat in Vic's office looking over a diagram of leadership roles, analysing the skill sets that each Blackbourne team member possessed in the context of the new team structure they were considering. They'd been discussing since
last month about how their team didn't just need new management but a whole new decision making structure altogether.

Owen had begun well with establishing that all decisions would be unanimous, with the group discussing the options until they could all agree a path forward. But now they needed to take that further, devise a structure where every member of the team was actively involved in decision making and team building where they had aptitude to contribute.

They were thinking of three tiers, strategic lead (team liaison), people management lead (family liaison) and resource specialist lead (tactical liaison) with all nine of them allocated to the tier they excelled at - three team members per tier.

In reality, there was only one additional role to the team liaison and family liaison leads under the current structure - but that tactical liaison role was important to improving the team's versatility and hard skills - something important they'd not given enough attention to and that focus was long overdue, the four felt, if they were to take their team to the next level of effectiveness and efficiency.

The other key difference would be that each role had three representatives where all three were to be trained and prepared to step into the role on a one or two year rotational basis.

They all felt strongly that the restructuring process should not be used as a stick to beat Owen and North with. Nor should it be viewed as a form of punishment. Both Owen and North had valuable skills, that the four of them had great respect for, which the team needed to use effectively to succeed. They had been pleased to see last night that both Owen and North had voted for their own removal; clearly they were remorseful and knew what they'd done was against their team's ethic.

A knock sounded on the shut office door,

'Since when do you guys need to knock? Come in,' It didn't really matter to Victor which of the five other Blackbournes was on the other side of the door, they were still a team and Vic's door would always be open to them all. Yes, things were changing, but that was a good thing and certainly didn't affect his love and dedication to his team, his brothers. If that hadn't been true, the four of them would have resigned when they were out voted on leaving Sang in South Carolina. The door opened to the uncertain and sheepish trio of Silas, Luke and Nathan,

'We wanted to talk to you guys,' Luke started the conversation,

'You four have had a lot longer to get your head around this mess and Silas seemed to think you might already have some thoughts on how to move forward...?' Silas shrugged in a self deprecating manner while Gabe wiggled his eyebrows and grinned widely at the three of them,

'So you three wanna join the smart guy section of the Blackbourne team,' Luke teased his usual partner in crime back,

'Oh yea? What are you doing on that section of the team then,' the seven of them laughed, all pleased that the fun brotherly dynamic was still there underneath the drama of the last 11 months. Gabe pushed Luke playfully,

'You're such an asshole, man,' Luke chuckled before sitting on the sofa in Victor's office that was large enough for their whole team to sit and plan assignment strategy together comfortably. Sean sighed, rubbing the back of his neck,

'We do have some thoughts on where the team goes from here. But first we think it's important that everyone is strait about whether or not they intend to continue on as a member of the Blackbourne team,' As Sean looked at Silas, particularly remembering his statement last night that he wasn't sure he wanted to stay with the team or the Academy anymore, Owen and North approached the open door of Vic's office. Silas gave Sean a very direct look,