Blue Ridge Leadership Insitute Graduates 19
For Immediate Release
Contact: Renee Whitener, Director of Public Relations, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, (828) 758-2383 ext. 3213; Pager:1-800-471-1323; or E-mail: Renee Whitener
Lenoir, North Carolina (June 28, 2005) – While most graduates are trying to break habits they may have picked up during classes, one group of graduates is embracing habits learned. These graduates recently completed the “Blue Ridge Leadership Institute” provided by Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation. The Institute is designed to provide employees with practical knowledge and solutions to enable them to become better leaders – for themselves and others.
“We began looking at our organizational chart a few years back and realized that we were going to have a number of people retire in upcoming years,” said Beverly Finney, company senior vice president and founder of the Leadership Institute. “We wanted to have a system in place to train people within the company to have a better opportunity to move into these positions, and we realized we needed to provide training for those who may want to move within the organization.”
The result was the Blue Ridge Leadership Institute that meets once a month for nine months to discuss key principles for personal and professional success, adapting to change, and empowering participants to take advantage of opportunities that lead to positive outcomes. Finney is refining a second course in the Blue Ridge Institute that will focus more on management and supervision as well as information specific to the business of Blue Ridge Electric and its subsidiary, Blue Ridge Energies. A complete curriculum will eventually be offered.
“People attend the class for many different reasons,” said Finney. “One participant said she signed up because her supervisor asked her to, but that she came back for herself.”
Many, like Ashe County line technician Tracy Davis, register for the class to help better themselves. “I’ve been with Blue Ridge for 19 years, and I felt that if I were ever going to look at opportunities for advancement or change that I needed to have more to offer than just years of service,” said Davis. “The Institute was a perfect way for me to better myself and learn to become a leader should the chance present itself.”
“I try to take advantage of all educational opportunities,” said Bill Covington, network engineer for Blue Ridge in Caldwell County for five years. “And the fact that this one was free was an added incentive. I signed up hoping the class would help me to become a better person, how to work with others, and understanding others … and it did.”
“When I decided to take the class,” said Joe Ward, district and operations manager for Alleghany County, “I wanted to continue to develop my leadership skills and to become an effective leader and to be able to help others develop to their full potential.” Ward, who has been with Blue Ridge for 21 years, said that he definitely met his goal and “I had fun doing it.”
“Each institute class is a little different,” said Finney. “We collect evaluations after each session, learn from those comments and try to improve. The basic curriculum is the same; we just improve in our method of getting that message to our participants.”
“We hope that our students take away at least one valuable lesson that will help them both professionally and personally,” said Finney. Many of the graduates received much more than that and found it hard to narrow it down to just one.
“It’s hard to choose what I thought most valuable,” said Susan Jones, Watauga district manager. “I found the win/win concept interesting. In some situations, I have felt that it was okay if I lost as long as someone, my customer or friend, was winning. Through the Institute, I learned how to make every situation a win/win for all involved.”
“The concept of empathetic listening was interesting to me,” said Ward. “I learned how to listen for the real message and try to understand what is actually being said and then respond appropriately.”
“I know that leaders often find themselves in many situations all at once,” said Davis. “This class helped me to see some of those and helped me to be able to resolve them.”
Blue Ridge Electric, who has some 68,000 members throughout Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Wilkes, Alexander and Avery counties, plans to continue its Leadership Institute as well as build upon it with follow-up classes in the future.
“I came from a larger company in a different industry and was used to many training opportunities,” said Jones. “I was happy to know that I would continue to have those same – actually better – training opportunities available at Blue Ridge.”
