Change

16 Aug Change

I am officially 90 days into my role as Interim President and CEO. A lot has happened, both personally and professionally. A Greek philosopher once said, “The only constant in life is change.” If there is anything we can all agree on in life, it is that things change- whether you want them to or not.

Throughout my time in this industry, I have seen more changes than you can imagine. Surprisingly, they have all been positive changes for the most part. Throughout those years, I have also experienced personal changes as well, as a husband, father, and grandfather. As my family has grown, so has the industry.

My family is my inspiration and motivation in everything that I do, they have been with me every step of the way in my sometimes very demanding career that I have loved for several decades now. As my wife and I have officially concluded our West to East Coast move across the country, I cannot help but think about the excitement that lies ahead for us. Looking into the future, I look forward to their own journeys and experiences that I will bear witness to and be a part of. More and more opportunities are passed down to each generation, not only within this industry but the nation.

With Women’s Equality Day right around the corner (August 26th). I can’t help but reflect on how far we’ve come with equity and inclusion for women in the workforce. We do still have a lot of work to do, names to credit, owed “thank you’s,” etc., the list goes on. There has been an insurmountable number of women who have fallen by the wayside because of our inability to see them as equal or enough. One of my favorite quotes that has become somewhat of a staple in my family is, “The more things change, the more they remain the same.” Better known in French as “plus ca change plus c’est la meme chose.” I’ve always known this quote by Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr to mean, “a change of heart must accompany experience before lasting change can occur.” In other words, we still have a lot of work to be done. We can’t just go through checking boxes; an internal change must occur for these external changes to have true meaning and lasting effects.

One of the biggest changes that I’m thrilled to witness is all the programs and opportunities available to our incoming workforce, specifically related to the utility and technology industries. Not only am I a proud father seeing my daughter participate in Women in Technology events and programs, but it also makes me hopeful for future generations that these organizations are already in place for them. It’s our job to set our children up for success. It’s our job to make life a little easier for the next generation coming in. In that same vein, as Summer comes to an end, internship programs are wrapping up and we have a slew of young, intelligent, hardworking college graduates that this modern workforce needs. We also have high school graduates heading into their first year of college, deciding on their majors and thinking about their career paths.

At UTC, one of the ways we are welcoming students into the workforce is by inviting them to our regional and national events. If you have a student yourself or know of a school that you think would benefit from attending one of our meetings, please contact us.

Since I started this blog off with a quote, I will go ahead and end it with one- I don’t know who said it but I’m sure that somebody did, “Change is good.”