copyright: TETE (Tomasz Tomaszewski)
Interview with Kajetan Kajetanowicz, rally driver, two–time European Rally Champion, four–time Polish Rally Champion, and three–time winner of the Rally Poland
Romeo Grzębowski: Congratulations on your second European Rally Champion title in a row! How do you go about becoming a champion in this sport? What is needed? Money? Good car? Talented driver? Training hard?
Kajetan Kajetanowicz: The truth is that everything counts. Every, even the smallest detail may prove decisive. Rally driving is an emotional and fascinating sport. At the same time it is very complex. Ultimately, success depends on whether you are able to get an advantage over your competition, then keep it, or better yet, increase that advantage. Both stages are a must. I am convinced that this cannot be done without a team of people who believe in shared success. Such faith can be seen in commitment and in nurturing a good collaboration, even when not everything goes smoothly
Waldemar Olbryk: It’s true. Media usually talk about the drivers, sometimes about their co–drivers. How many people really worked for the success of “Kajto”?
KK: Actually, there are dozens of such people, not to say hundreds. My road to becoming a European Rally Champion did not start at the beginning of the 2015 season, but many, many years earlier. I climbed step by step the ladder in the rallying community and lots of people helped me along the way. I no longer work with many of them today and our contacts are less frequent. But there is one thing we still have in common: my gratitude to all of them. A large team of people works during a rally; together with mechanics, it’s more or less twenty people. When we practice, the team is smaller, just the core of four people. Paweł is our coordinator. He keeps track of such a range of issues that it would really be difficult to list them all. It’s everything, from tires, through catering, all the way to flights and accommodation. The office, all administrative and financial matters are the domain of Wojtek – this guy is always reliable. Then, there is Gabriel, totally engaged in his work of press officer. There is also me, the driving force behind everything and everyone, but still mainly behind the wheel. During rallies, we also have Jarek, my co–driver, plus the photographer, cameraman, the weather boys, the mechanics, the cook… The best part is that everyone has something to do.. 🙂
RG: What does “good team” mean to you?
KK: If I looked at the results only, I would say that a good team is one that is successful. For me, personally, the team is good when they enable me to act and focus on being the fastest and the most effective driver. For that to happen you need to have a clear and undisturbed mind, and you need to know that everything will be done well. Among other things, this is the foundation of a good team where trust is the foundation. My team really works hard and effectively for me to be able to develop. In return, I do my best to appreciate their efforts and motivate them to work. We all turn up the heat to act even better and more effectively. Someone once said that your company is as good as when it operates without you. I am proud that my team can take on responsibility and work even when I am completely absorbed by other tasks.
RG: How do you go about building trust in your team?
KK: The first step to build trust is to understand what it essentially is. Everyone may have different understanding of that word. For me, trust is something built on many levels. It doesn’t mean just being discreet, it’s also about effective action and responsibility. I am convinced that to build trust you need to be open and specific in your approach to people. At times, things get so hectic that I don’t even know what day of the week we have. This means that I need to carefully ponder how to split my time to use it to the best and to become even better. In the team, we trust each other because we feel that every one of us acts solely for its good. This is helpful when you need to address challenging situations.
WO: What hinders good collaboration?
KK: Most certainly the absence of trust. Without trust it would be hard to strive for and attain the ideal. All team members need to have the same, shared goal which defines the path to further and greater achievements. For everything to work to its best at times you need to suppress your own ego. This is not so self-evident in a team of twenty people. Some time ago, one of my colleagues said that a group tour with guides only would never ever get anywhere (laughter). This is the reason why I am very happy that in our team, with each next rally, everyone wants to grow together.
KK: It’s true. We arranged a workshop for the whole team, based on the Extended DISC assessment. Before the meeting, everyone completed an online questionnaire. Then, at the workshop we all got individual reports with a description of our aptitudes, things with feel, feel at ease with and those which make us feel uncomfortable. We also analyzed how we communicate, what draws our attention in a conversation, how we make decisions, and how we respond to stress. Response to stress was particularly relevant because during a rally pressure runs high, conflicts are easy but never desired. What is interesting, lots of results came to us as a surprise. During the workshop, I felt myself and saw on the faces of others that the process stirred many emotions. It’s because we all took the topic very seriously. In the concluding part, we had a joint discussion session on our results and we got a “psychological map of our team”. Thanks to this, we now have a better understanding of our reactions, we know what counts to each of us and what to avoid in our relations. It was like “oiling of the bearings”, and I think it could work well for any team. In my sport you experience moments of extreme stress. Lessons from the workshop should now help us is better focus on the goal, so on the victory in rallies.
WO: Are you ever fully satisfied with the result, for example, after winning a championship or some other title? Do you ever think: ‘I’ve topped myself’.
KK: Maybe it would be hard to believe but for me results alone are not the source of satisfaction. Sometimes, I am happy with a rally even I do not win. On the other hand, I can be very strict, mainly to myself. I may return home from a competition where we took first place but in my mind I’m still reworking things than could be improved. I also had rallies with no victory but I felt that I gave my best and that on this precise date I simply couldn’t do more. Philosophically speaking, it’s good to follow your voice in life. You should do what you believe in and act in line with your expectations.
WO: How do your victories affect you? Do you still find in you a space for new challenges?
KK: Every win is a boost of motivation for me. After a victory I always analyze what else can be improved and what I could do better. This was the case of this year run–up to Barbórka Rally. I was wondering if we could attain a better performance. Until now I have won three times… four times in that insidious and unpredictable Karowa [Street] section. You could see in the results that there was a room for improvement. We won all special segments and got an advantage which largely surpassed what we had over the past dozen years. I always look for challenges which make me strive for more, for new levels to be reached.
WO: How do you react to defeats, those bigger and those smaller ones? What do you feel when you are at fault? How do you respond when you lose because your staff have done or have failed to do something?
KK: My own failures make me mad, and I feel sadden by minor mistakes of other people. A lot depends on how someone addresses their own errors or mistakes. Thanks to rallies I’ve learned humility – this is important, in life and in sports. I try to share these experiences with my colleagues on the team. I also know that they can teach me a lot. When I make a mistake I can be insufferable. I’d do everything to find the cause and understand what happened. If others fail I try to help. All in all, it’s in our common interest that the team works well… at the very least. 🙂
RG: After winning this year Barbórka Rally and the Criterium of Aces [speedway rally] with its famous Karowa [Street] segment, you were interviewed by the press and started the conversation by thanking your team. This is not very common among rally drivers…
KK: I started that way because I know how hard my team had worked. In many sports spotlights are on the contestant. Nobody knows how many people actually enabled his or her success. In our case it’s not just the team itself but also our sponsors. I want to thank them by scoring high, but also by stressing how much I owe them.
Thank you for the interview.
Kajetan was interviewed by:
Romeo Grzębowski
Partner at TIME FOR TEAM and CEO of Extended DISC Polska, the company specialized in diagnosing talents and employee potential. Romeo specializes in implementing programs intended to improve team effectiveness in business. He also supports professional and amateur sport teams in building effective collaboration.
Waldemar Olbryk
Head of the Business Support Divisions at Skanska Poland and CEO of Skanska Property Poland in 2011 – 2014. Expert in B2B and in building business relations. Active in investments and real estate sector for almost twenty years. He specializes in implementing innovative solutions in business and in supporting changes in its environment.
