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The Path To Leadership
We podcast about strong leaders, loyal employees, avoiding burnout, and raising profits building strong cultures. Everyone is a leader, but the path isn't always easy. Developing critical skills to build stronger, more successful and profitable organizations.
The Path To Leadership
James Williams's Dedication to Leading with Purpose
Discover the incredible journey of James Williams, the regional public affairs manager for Black Hills Energy, as he shares how his early experiences with the American Red Cross shaped his passion for community service and energy education in Kansas. From his roots as a "Wichita kid" to becoming a pivotal figure in energy solutions and public affairs, James's story is a testament to the power of resilience and commitment. Hear firsthand about his role in responding to a major tornado disaster, which catapulted him to a national spokesperson position, and how these formative experiences continue to drive his dedication to ensuring safety and comfort for communities.
Join our conversation where we unravel the nuances of leadership and motivation. James provides keen insights into the challenges of transitioning into leadership roles, emphasizing the importance of team appreciation and recognizing individual contributions. Learn about the intricacies of managing change within the energy sector, specifically how initiatives like Black Hills Energy's Green Forward are paving the way for customer-driven renewable energy solutions. James also reflects on bringing Startup Week to Wichita, underscoring the significance of community support and self-belief. This episode is packed with valuable lessons for anyone eager to explore leadership, community engagement, and the evolving landscape of energy solutions.
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Theme music by Emma Jo https://emmajo.rocks/
Back to the Path to Leadership. I'm really excited for my guest today. I know I say this on every show, but this truly also is one of my most favorite people from Leadership Kansas. Hey, James, how are you?
James P. Williams:Katie, it's awesome to see you.
Dr. Katie Ervin:Well, it's funny because I told Josh that he was my favorite person and he said he wouldn't tell anyone.
James P. Williams:Well, secrets out, Josh. Sorry, buddy.
Dr. Katie Ervin:What can you do? Well, so before we get into your story and what you're doing, can you tell everyone who you are, what you do? All that good stuff.
James P. Williams:Yeah, so I'm obviously James Williams. I am a regional public affairs manager for Black Hills Energy. What that means is a couple different things. I'll start with the stuff that I absolutely love the most, and that's just making people are safe and comfortable in their home. So we can get into it later.
James P. Williams:But I know what it's like for a family struggling to pay a bill, and so I commit every resource that I can to keep people comfortable in their homes. Outside of that, this job allows me to go do amazing things like meet you and Leadership Kansas and meet the other amazing people who just have the lights on and interact with our community on a regular basis on and interact with our community on a regular basis. I oversee our community giving in Kansas, where we help all kinds of amazing nonprofits in our service territory, and then I'm just what I call we call ourselves our unofficial title. Are energy educators, right? And just to make sure that people understand where their energy comes from, the importance and what different policy decisions mean and how that could impact reliability, affordability, Because ultimately, we want people to stay safe and comfortable in their home and it's a really rewarding job and I'm very, very blessed to be where I'm at.
Dr. Katie Ervin:I love it. Well, and so how did you get here? What was your career journey? What did you want to be when you grew up? So how did you get here?
James P. Williams:What was your career journey? What did you want to be when you grew up and how did you land here? Yeah, that's a good question. I'm a you know, I call myself a Wichita kid. I was born in Garden City, kansas actually, which is we went to go see Garden City as Leadership Kansas. I certainly have a soft spot for Garden City. My dad was a land man for the oil industry and that was 83. You know, price of oil hit the skids in 84. And so they came back to Wichita to be closer to family and I've known Wichita pretty much my whole life.
James P. Williams:I was very young when we moved back, grew up kind of on a main drag in Wichita on Douglas Street, up and down apartments all up and down Douglas Street, and went to East High, finally, worked up my courage to ask the cute saxophone out player out and happily married after all these years later and then went to K state. So I'm a wildcat and very, very proud of that and those were some of my defining years, for sure. And then came back and and and started my, my job at the American Red Cross and so when I was hired I was the youngest spokesperson in the area. It was a great job and obviously knows who the city, who the American Red Cross is. So that hard part of the conversation is out of the way. But I've said that when bad things happen, people look to the Red Cross, and so I was a person of one at the American Red Cross, a team of one, and I always wondered if a tornado hit my neck of the woods, hit my state, what would I do, would I have the ability to do it? And of course that happened. And so about three or four years after my time at Red Cross, we got one, and it was another kind of defining moment.
James P. Williams:We're in a shelter, the storm's shaping up. We had a pretty, it was one of those kind of iconic storm. You could see something was going to happen. There was a bullseye on the map, the bullseye was on Wichita but nobody quite knew. So a leadership team gathered and sheltered in place at the Red Cross, at our shelter there, and my role as a PIO I you know I'm taking, I'm called some around the world BBC, cnn, fox News, cnn, fox News while the tornado is crossing over our building. And so that was about 10, 10 o'clock at night and by 11 o'clock we had a shelter open and we're gathering people, getting people moved over to a shelter, who had been displaced, and so, up until the point I got to the building, you know, I worked about I won't say straight I grabbed a cot from the shelter kit and I had a cot and I slept for a couple hours, from about you know four to eight maybe, and then worked another whole day after that and you know for so I say 40 hours, 40 media interviews in 40 hours and and ultimately helped a lot of people in the process.
James P. Williams:And so after that, right, you know, we have, we have work, we have quote disasters. How was your, how was your day today? How many? Well, it was a disaster, right, I'm sure we have work. We have quote disasters. How was your day today? Well, it was a disaster, right, right, I'm sure we've all had that conversation and I now know what a real disaster is and being able to respond to that, seeing the will of human beings all around you, you know, and when it is often the worst day, show them that you know somebody cares about it, get them through. That I was. That was something I'll never forget.
James P. Williams:And so, after the tornado, I was then a national spokesperson for Red Cross, and so I would. I would take a one way ticket to somewhere and not know where I was, how long I would be there, and this is before kids. And um, you know, we we called ourselves like team six of affairs for red cross Cause we were the first ones in the first ones out. Uh and um, I, I, I got to see a good part of the country, you know, responding to to major hurricanes and that kind of thing, and so I did that for six years. I was able to write out the financial crisis, you know, and I never fortunately never was never jobbed through the financial crisis Six years. Your first job is a good run.
James P. Williams:And then went to go work for Visit Wichita, and Visit Wichita was awesome. You know, I had the great opportunity, proud Wichita guy. Wichita was awesome. You know, I had the great opportunity, proud Wichita guy. I had the great opportunity of showing travel writers and dignitaries from all over the world why Wichita is a special place. And so in the two years I was there, I got an opportunity to help bring the NCAA tournament back to Wichita. Bring the NCAA tournament back to Wichita. We launched a new tourism business improvement district called TBID and increased their marketing. You know, spend exponentially, did a couple other things along the way and did phenomenal work there.
James P. Williams:And so, as I said, my whole life I've been basically in Wichita. You know I could write on about a three-block span of the city of Wichita and a story about every other building on those few blocks. And my wife and I went on a brewery tour of Fort Collins and Boulder and we're riding our bike from complimentary bikes, from the hotel and you know I have a picture that I'll send after the fact. But you know we're having a beverage on this boulder and the sun setting over the flat irons and my wife and I were like we can live anywhere and the country we want and we've, you know we've, we've lived in which lives, where would, if we were to do something, where would we go? And anyway, a year later we were. We were living in Denver and so we kind of drew a big circle around which where could we be within an eight hour drive to get back home if we need to, but still just do something different? I had a company called IMA Financial Group, an employee-owned company. They're an insurance broker at the heart of what they do, and amazing people, amazing leaders there.
James P. Williams:Certainly, as I've told other people, even our class, katie, who are maybe moving away or doing something else.
James P. Williams:You know, moving away, we grew up so beforehand, you know, we had bought a house, we, we lived, we lived across my father-in-law and most of the time it was great. There was a couple of times where it wasn't so great but, you know, lived in Denver, got, had a ton of stuff, I kind of understood kind of community relations there again more, you know, I I landed stories in the wall street, others, um, you know, my markets were dallas, kansas city, uh, denver, and were big areas of focus at the time and so talking about all kinds of cool topics there. But but, but eventually, you know, you know, five years of living in Denver and mainly cost of living, uh, we were ready to start a family and it was really important that that our daughter knew her grandparents and so, uh, we made the decision to to move back and, uh, now I've been at Black Hills Energy for, and now I've been at Black Hills Energy for five years and have loved it ever since.
Dr. Katie Ervin:That is awesome. I knew bits and pieces of this and that's what I keep telling our classmates Like I love having you all on here because we had such great conversation, but the time we're together is so frantic no-transcript. Do you know where it is? You need to leave tonight. It's not a quick drive, but can you talk a little bit about kind of leadership, kansas and your experience and thoughts?
James P. Williams:on that. I mean just to piggyback off what you said. Part of my job today is I'd been to know and have relationships in a lot of the towns that we visited. And so you know, I knew, I had an idea, I thought I had all these great towns that we were going to visit. But even just experiencing Garden and Dodge, as through the lens of Leadership Kansas, was phenomenal. You know, the access that you get there, the leaders speak with, those are all just phenomenal opportunities. And so you know, for those who don't go through Leadership Kansas, kansas is right and I, leadership Kansas is, the Kansas is right and I thought my Kansas is, was going to be.
James P. Williams:Kansas is unexpected or unbelievable, and I mean to see the things that we saw over the eight months was truly unbelievable. It's the things that I saw. I know I saw with my own eyes. I still don't believe in things. I heard, like you know, when we went to go look at the Panasonic plant, we didn't get to see it, but they said that there's a hallway so long there that you can't see the end of it, right, uh, so it's just stuff like that that's just truly hard to fathom.
James P. Williams:The very plastics that the sheer operations that they had. They're just churning out, uh, those cups. I mean, I, I still, I still have a hard time believing how, what I saw there. But but most importantly, you know, getting to meet you, katie, and and the others I'm just the cool, the cool stuff that I always hold with you and you know there's, frankly, you know, seeing you, meeting you a lot, it just makes me want to do more. It makes me realize that we're all, we're all doing amazing things, but you know, they always say the best class ever and and um, the art class are absolutely world class and they just inspired me to to want to want to be more, want to do more, and we're all capable of more than we've ever thought. And being in a class with my peers like you has just lit a fire underneath. For that, katie, I'm really thankful for you.
Dr. Katie Ervin:Yeah, thank you so much. I know it's just the people and the connections and you know it's funny because, as we went throughout the eight months, I would say you know it's funny because, as we went throughout the eight months would say, you know I've applied before and I didn't get in and knew why. Or you know I was supposed to do this and previously and when, and I couldn't, and it's like you know, we were all meant to be together and when get the group? It just was such a neat or such a neat group of people doing really cool things, and now we have family all across the state, which is really exciting.
James P. Williams:I don't think I'd trade. I'm doing fantasy football right now. I'm getting fantasy football. You swap people out, right. I've got the amazing fantasy leadership candidates. I wouldn't sub out anybody with who I met because they're all just amazing human beings. I couldn't imagine it being any different. I wouldn't want to have it any other way.
Dr. Katie Ervin:Yeah, yeah, I totally agree with you. It's hard to sum it all up in a short piece, but yeah, it was just so, so, fantastic. So let's talk a bit about leadership and your leadership journey. You know, being a leader is a challenge all the time, but then being new leaders can be difficult. So what's your advice to new leaders? And you know, how did you learn your leadership skills when you're in your career?
James P. Williams:Oh yeah, I'm still learning, I've still got a lot to learn. Oh yeah, I'm still learning, I've still got a lot to learn. You know, I think it's actually, you know, it has a tie to it. I'm a book.
James P. Williams:I think it's called Possible and it was by the, by the leader of Pittsburgh State who recommended it, and I've been at the recommendation of another one of our friends and just realizing that that we're all just driven by basic human needs and something that we did on a leadership team at Black Hills is just kind of understanding the different nuances of what really makes us different, I guess is the right word.
James P. Williams:Or maybe just you know, it's kind of one of those you know personality thing. But we are, we are, and and me saying one thing to five different people, all five different people, because of their past life experiences, their past history, just they all could hear that just a little bit differently and and so on. So no one kind of what going back to the book, no one that, what their kind of essential needs are and knowing how they process thing, the biggest thing that I've really learned over over the last year. I mean, I think you know this, but I'm, I'm, I'm a new, and so I've I've it's been both both. You know, up until this point I've really been a team of one, and so being being a people leader has really gotten me out of out of my comfort zone. And and being able to appreciate and know that we have just amazing people to to do what they do, letting them shine and helping them grow, those have all been really big lessons for me over the last year.
Dr. Katie Ervin:Yeah, yeah, well, and my doctoral research is workplace, really about work, and so I'm wondering, as you're a new people leader, how has it been motivating your teams? Or you know how has it been motivating your teams what else with you? Know how you bring the team together and motivate them to go in the same direction?
James P. Williams:Well, I mean, I think that and you know this certainly better too, but different people in different ways. But if it's one thing that I just want to make sure my people know no-transcript and I just want them to know how appreciated they are, I would, I would never ask somebody to do something that I wouldn't do. And in the world of public affairs, you know, you know your, your your days look differently and some days, some you're behind a computer, but other days you're you're out in the community having having really important conversations, and so it's helping people realize the why and the importance of those things. And as a part of the public affairs function, we have really visible jobs and so but at the same time, even though our jobs are visible, I think it's a cans and trade that maybe we or just humble a little bit and and it's, it's weird, I'm like a humble public affairs person, so sometimes I wonder if I'm like really the right person for what I do, but same time, it's like we need to make sure that that our powers know and realize what, what we do.
James P. Williams:So I'm always advocating for my people. You know, we have this cool thing called Energize, where somebody does something great. You can go on a portal and basically zip them $5 in Energize credits to eventually build up and they can go get some AirPods or whatever they want to get. And so I'm always at an Energize deficit because I'm always giving people the love through that, just telling them things on a regular basis, making sure they know how much I appreciate them.
Dr. Katie Ervin:Yeah, I mean that's so important and it's funny. I tease all because my 22-year-old will come home and he's super excited because where he works they do kind of a similar program. And he's like I have $5 today and for some people it's like it's $5, but it's been appreciated and up, which is nice, because then you can buy something bigger. But it's just that someone sees you and appreciates the work you do and I don't think we do that enough.
James P. Williams:Yeah, you're right, you're 100% right. And just the fact that I've been seen and recognized and you know, and Just the fact that they've been seen and recognized and you know, in this new job that I'm in, you know the thing I always want to make sure that whoever I'm reporting to make sure that they understand with on a regular basis or oftentimes it's the person, a tech in a truck who's working long hours making things happen you know they're the ones that are actually, you know, keeping the energy they need to know that I see them and our leaders see them too, because they have a tough job as well.
Dr. Katie Ervin:I bet yeah, it was just making me think. I mean one of the things that my husband and I tried to do, especially, you know, in the restaurant or something. If we got great, like hey, send your manager, but don't tell them why, because I would imagine, just with your people out in the field, like they're seeing people in stressful situations or they're not happy, so they're getting the brunt of the of the negativity. They're not getting a lot of people that are like, hey, I just want to tell you you're doing a good job, and so Rob and I will. The manager will kind of come over head down like, oh gosh, can I get free appetizers? I'm getting yelled at. We're like, hey, we just want to let you know Cindy's great and couldn't have enjoyed her more, and you could just see the manager. But I bet your people don't get to see or feel that as much as they should.
James P. Williams:You know, in our world the number is going to be, but we're like 99.7% reliability, right, and so we have a very, very high reliability metric. And energy is a weird thing that, and I can't think about it. In many other you know things that we pay for, but the very millis power goes out, you know. You know there's no doubt in your mind about what just happened. You just know that you just lost your power, and that's a very high standard to achieve. And we know our customers, we know that's one of the most important things that our customers care about. But when it does go out, there's questions, and so, you know, if we just take it over the course of a thousand days, that's like one day right where they one, or two days where they go out, and that's. We never want an outage. I'm not saying that that's the case. But to deliver 99.7 reliability, whatever it is, uh, people need to know and appreciate what, what, what, what, the hard work.
James P. Williams:I appreciate you saying that, and so I was actually at a thing last week and and we have kind of, we have, you know, even internally on our operation side, we have emerging leaders, right, and so part of being an emerging leader is going to the banquets and the things that we all get to go to leadership gets to go to, and he was like he was just joking with him.
James P. Williams:His name's jj he was just joking with. He's like man, I cannot wait to tell my wife like you made me sound like a doctor or something, because like I'm like hey, hey, commissioner, or hey, councilman, xyz, I want you to meet jj here. Jj knows this system better than anybody else in the entire state and, for an example I got a call on. I got a text on Memorial Weekend about a customer who had notified a city leader that something was going on and on the Tuesday, 7.55 am, tuesday not even a business day had passed we were out front making it happen. And so it's people like JJ and our techs who are doing just phenomenal work. We're really proud of that and good at what they do, so lucky to have them, and they're definitely appreciated.
Dr. Katie Ervin:Yeah, oh, I love that. Yeah, it's funny because the minute electricity goes out neighborhood it's like you know, facebook, everybody. Within one second there's electricity. Yes, look outside, it's out, there's a storm. They'll figure it out.
James P. Williams:It's a very high standard. It's a responsibility that we take very seriously and we're honored to do it, yeah.
Dr. Katie Ervin:Yeah, yeah, that's very cool, and thank you to the world that keep our lights on and our freezer freezing and all that good stuff, aj is a good people, for sure, yeah. Well, so I think I would imagine you know there's a lot going on just in the world energy and everything else and I know there's a lot of changes going on and that can be challenging as we implement change. So how do you build consensus and help everyone understand the change going on in your organization or within a team?
James P. Williams:Yeah, I mean we live by kind of two mottos, and those make tomorrow a day and we want to make sure that we're the energy provider of choice and and just based on how the world of utilities works, at least, at least in Kansas we have to kind of make our plan at a across, across a state, without getting too much of the regulatory. That's when we start losing people like, oh, regulatory utility I'm going on to, you know, seeing how we're, like you know, mark Rober's doing- no, we got it's that different, different things.
James P. Williams:It's a very big segment of our customers who say you know what? I just want the most affordable energy I can get, and that's a very fair ask of them. There's a growing segment who says I want the cleanest energy I can get, and that's also a very fair thing to come about, and so it's managing, because the most affordable and the cleanest don't necessarily there's some conflicts there. So it's people understand, uh, what we do to make sure that network striking the right balance. It's about giving people choices and, and, uh, one of the things that I'm really proud about at black kills energy is, you know, at least even even among, like a company, right, each competitive with the other.
James P. Williams:Uh, so Kansas is a division of the company, and Kansas rolled out Green Ford, which is an ability to basically offset their emissions caused by their natural gas usage at their home, and so I advocated for that at the highest level of our company to say this is something that our customers want, to say this is something that our customers want and this is something that our customers are asking for, and so we rolled that out a couple of years ago, and it's through a series of renewable natural gas credits and carbon offsets where, for $15 a month if you want to, you can address your carbon footprint that way, and so it's just about finding those solutions in a world that everybody needs this product. But we come from different walks of life, we're wired differently, we all have different motivations, trying to find a solution for our customers that they can appreciate.
Dr. Katie Ervin:Yeah, yeah, very good. Well, and so the final question I on every show is to the level you're comfortable sharing. What's the biggest leadership or career misstep, or maybe learning, that you've had?
James P. Williams:Yeah, I think you know this is actually a good thing. And so when I moved back from Denver, when I moved back home, Denver had this thing called Denver Startup Week and I was like man, this would be so cool in Wichita. And I was the first thing I did. I moved back in 2019. Of course the pandemic happens. Yeah, I moved back in 2019. Of course the pandemic happens.
James P. Williams:But I talked to everybody who would you'd think would be involved in that and they're like that's a great idea, you should do it. That's an idea you should do it. That's a great idea, you should do it. And so kind of kind of I think something you said, katie, is you don't you're capable of until you put yourself out there and you actually do it.
James P. Williams:And you know, looking back at successfully bringing Startup Week to Wichita, see where that's gone over the course of I guess the last three or four years now has been really rewarding. So you know, I now have that confidence that I can do between I think the two of the biggest defining moments of my career were the Wichita Tornado and then Wichita Startup Week and I now have the confidence that I can bet on myself and I know I'm good at what I do and so to have that confidence that I'm going to succeed at whatever I get serious about, that's a very comforting feeling that you know, even in all of our day to day, is like how are we going to get through this? How are we going to get through these life challenges that we all go through? And having gone through those two experiences has been an eye-opening experience and I'm better off for them.
Dr. Katie Ervin:Yeah, yeah. It's always nice to have those reminders that we can really hard things.
James P. Williams:Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean you, you, in particular you, you, you are, you are. You know you're a phenomenal leadership consultant, and so just do what you do. Katie is an inspiration and I appreciate you.
Dr. Katie Ervin:You're so kind. Thank you so much. Well, and I love having you on the show, but, more importantly, I love having you in my circle of friends and and um. I I'm just so excited to continue to you know, cheer for you and be there with you and um, thank you so much for your time today.
James P. Williams:Yeah, katie, it's always a good day when I get to hang out with you and, uh, it's not goodbye, but it's until I see you again.
Dr. Katie Ervin:Yeah, I love it. I love it. Well, I hope everyone in the podcast today and I will talk to you next time on the path to leadership. Bye everyone.
