‘Can I Be the Leader?’

Leadership continues to be a critical area of focus for utility safety and operations professionals. In my own career at Georgia Power, “Can I be the leader?” was a question I often asked myself and my employer. Now, in this installment of “Voice of Experience,” I am going to discuss the opportunities I was afforded during my 40-year journey with the company. My goal is to provide real-life insight into some of the industry leadership roles available while illustrating the passion and perseverance needed to safely, effectively guide our brothers and sisters through the workday.

What It Takes
Desire is a key requirement for strong leaders – you must want to work hard and never stop learning – but it is far from the only one. I certainly did not understand the full list of job demands when I started out. It was a series of promotions and time spent in those positions that educated me about the serious nature of leadership in hazardous environments. So, keep in mind that desire is not enough; we are also obligated to learn how to lead well. Humility is imperative.

Electric utility work calls for a specialized skill set, adding complexity. This means we must only promote employees to supervisors, crew foremen and similar roles if they are fully qualified to execute them. Leaders who do not understand the work present safety risks. They cannot offer dependable, practical guidance to crews and may fail to recognize unsafe acts as they occur. Yet it appears as though leadership positions are increasingly being filled by individuals who do not have the requisite training or work experience. Merely filling spots with bodies is a big problem given the nature of our work.

Here’s something else I want readers to understand: Know-it-alls have no place in management roles; we must instead strive to be learn-it-alls. And since effective leadership necessitates a combination of the willingness to serve others, an unending quest for knowledge and a healthy tolerance for being unpopular, only a small portion of the workforce will be ready to take that step at any given time.

I believed I was ready to take that step each time Georgia Power promoted me – and each time, I quickly realized that I needed to better understand how and why things worked best. Most of that came through on-the-job experience.

Moving On Up
I was promoted to lead lineman early in my career, which was nothing more than a matter of seniority. Next, I was chosen to help lead an apprentice training crew, serving directly under a line supervisor. Bruce Peterson was the other crew journeyman, and we collaborated to develop work plans and lead apprentice activities. The crew foreman allowed us to plan and instruct as necessary, introducing us to leadership responsibilities. At that time, I had begun to sense more of my responsibilities as a crew leader. The one thing I knew for sure was that I could not let anything happen to Bruce or the apprentices while work was in progress.

About a year went by with lots of apprentice training and work – and no incidents, I’m grateful to say. In those days, apprenticeship programs were nothing like they are today. Once classroom and field exercises were completed, apprentices engaged in tasks while receiving individualized training for a year. Our apprentices spent six months with the overhead distribution crews and another six months with the underground distribution crews. Then, they began working on energized primaries at 12 and 25 kV.

Around that time, I started bidding on crew foreman jobs, accepting a position in 1985. I moved from Macon, Georgia, to Jonesboro, just south of Atlanta, where I oversaw two three-man crews. That experience made me realize that building a job is easier than managing the crews who do the work. I hadn’t been in the role for very long when the company “volun-told” me that, because of my experience leading training crews in Macon, I would serve as foreman of the first-ever apprentice training crew in Jonesboro. No such crew had previously existed at that location. A decade later, 13 employees had joined the crew; my direct reports included overhead and underground workers and cable locators. While the challenges were intense at times, that role opened doors to various new career opportunities for me, such as assisting with developing training curricula for our foremen.

The chance to become the nonregulated lighting services contract manager arose after I had been working as a supervisor and trainer for about 10 years. The business unit used outside contractors to install lighting projects ranging from a single backyard security light to mall parking lots with multiple lighting circuits and feeds. I gained an incredible amount of contract management experience during those two years, and eventually, I was asked to manage the lighting installation contractors and assist with computer-aided design work for engineering.

That time was followed by a stint in a safety and health field position. My responsibilities included training and safety services for over 300 employees; leading storm teams; and participating in various safety committees. As the role evolved, I was named a safety teams supervisor and then the distribution and transmission safety consultant for the entire company, which had roughly 9,200 employees at the time.

My point in sharing these details is to demonstrate that the leadership opportunities available to me grew exponentially once I made the choice to take on new challenges and keep learning about the craft. I hope you can see that by continuously seeking to improve your skills and share your knowledge, industry leadership opportunities will almost certainly present themselves to you.

Honing Your Skills
Lastly, I want to share this list of knowledge and skills that a successful leader possesses. As you review the items, consider what you already know and do well, and then devise a plan to address those areas that need improvement.

• Knows the legal responsibilities involved with providing a safe working environment for employees.
• Understands how both personality and generational differences impact the job.
• Learns about and uses various leadership styles (e.g., democratic, servant), employing the most appropriate one based on the situation.
• Demonstrates strong public speaking skills.
• Shows respect for everyone and their contributions.
• Listens well.
• Promotes teamwork and open communication.
• Recognizes and clarifies desired employee behaviors.
• Keeps a truly open mind, including acknowledging personal biases.

Conclusion
There will be much to learn and master, but if you have the passion, perseverance and specialized skill set, then yes – you, too, can be a leader in the electric utility industry.

About the Author: Danny Raines, CUSP, is an author, an OSHA-authorized trainer, and a transmission and distribution safety consultant who retired from Georgia Power after 40 years of service and now operates Raines Utility Safety Solutions LLC.

Learn more from Danny Raines on the Utility Safety Podcast series. Listen now at https://utilitysafety.podbean.com!