Stepping into the Arena

I’ve been in a lot of interviews recently. On the surface, these are about roles we need to fill. But what they really test is something larger: the fittedness between a candidate and the arena they’re stepping into.

That arena is not only Powerverse. It’s the market we operate in — the energy transition, the competitive shifts that come with it, and the uncertainty of scaling software in a sector that is still modernising. When someone joins us, they’re stepping into that whole context, not just a team chart.

The question every interview asks, in one way or another, is whether the person and the arena are well-matched.

The arena we are shaping

The Powerverse arena is evolving. Our mission is clear — make energy cleaner, cheaper, and fairer in people’s homes — but the setting isn’t settled. We’re serving customers, building product, and working out the rhythms that hold things together as we grow.

In conversation after conversation, I hear the same need: people who can act confidently while the ground is still moving; who can live with ambiguity; who can introduce rhythm without slowing us down; who build trust across functions that don’t always see things the same way. The work isn’t just to execute tasks — it’s to help the arena mature.

What candidates explore

It helps to look at two very different areas of hiring, because each shows the exploration from a different angle.

In sales interviews, people want to know how our propositions fit customer needs in the energy transition. They talk about simplifying complexity into propositions customers can say yes to, earning credibility inside the company so sales and product stay in step, and structuring the sales journey so adoption feels inevitable rather than forced.

In people and HR interviews, the themes are retention and career growth, giving managers the tools to handle performance early and honestly, creating lightweight but reliable systems, and nurturing cultural rituals that give distributed teams a sense of belonging.

Across both, the underlying question is the same: what does the working cadence feel like, what visibility will they have into the business, and where are the control points of accountability? The aim is to see whether this is an arena in which they can act fully and succeed.

Trust as the foundation

Underneath all of this sits trust. And trust is shaped by how people show up.

The culture we’re building looks for people who perform from a place of creativity and genuine care — enabled by passion for the work and connection to the team — rather than from fear, defensiveness, or insecurity. Carefree in this sense doesn’t mean careless; it means bringing energy and initiative without being paralysed by the prospect of getting something wrong. That’s the ground where trust grows and where good work compounds.

The infinite game

This is where the idea of the infinite game helps. In a finite game, people play to protect position and chase short-term wins. In an infinite game, people play to keep creating and contributing to something bigger than themselves.

That’s the mindset that fits our arena. I look for people ready to act as agents within it — confident enough to bring their creativity and authenticity, and steady enough to keep going when the path isn’t smooth.

Where the dialogue meets

Interviews become a co-exploration. We describe the arena as it really is — mission, progress, and rough edges. Candidates describe how they make work flow, how they build trust, and what conditions help them deliver.

Together, we’re testing fittedness. Do their instincts align with our way of working? Can they see themselves acting with confidence here? Do we believe they’ll thrive as agents within this wider market context as well as inside the company?

You can hear the same question expressed in different languages: a salesperson talking about simplifying complexity and qualifying opportunities, a people leader probing retention and manager capability. Both are exploring how clarity and trust are built into the system, and whether there’s enough rhythm and visibility to act well.

What interviews show us about ourselves

These conversations also reflect us back to ourselves: how clearly our mission lands when we say it out loud; where our ways of working feel convincing; which parts of the arena feel strong and which still feel unfinished.

When themes like trust, clarity, rhythm, and balance recur, I take them as signals of the culture that’s forming — and as reminders of what we need to keep improving.

Cultivating fittedness

Every interview is two-way. The candidate is asking: can I act confidently in this arena? We’re asking: will this person thrive as an agent within it?

Fittedness isn’t only about skills. It’s about shared confidence — that the arena invites creativity and passion, and that the person is ready to play the long game with us. When both sides feel that confidence, trust follows. And with trust in place, we have a foundation to build something that lasts.