Leadership
Being a compassionate, caring coach will help you get the most out of the people around you.
Relationships are primary, everything else is derivative.
Success in your business life or your personal life will depend on your relationships. Concentrating on your business life for a moment, relationships are the basis of most business opportunities. We all have a sphere of influence - of friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, suppliers, peers, others. Building relationships is a key to a successful career. Whether your business is in sales, service or nonprofit it is always a benefit to have a wide range of friends and contacts.
Some people concentrate on social media and build “friends“ that way. Others do it the old-fashioned way by attending professional meetings, Chamber of Commerce events, service clubs like Rotary, or even starting a unique group. I had a close family member who was an expert at starting groups. Whenever she faced a downturn in life she simply started a peer group to share the burden. A grief counseling group when her husband died, cancer support group when she became ill, variety of Christian clubs and committees etc. Though it wasn’t a business goal, she ended up with an extremely wide sphere of influence and network of friends.
Politicians are known to shake hands and kiss babies. This is a tried and true way of making friends and influencing people. Every parent is proud of their beautiful baby, probably the smartest child ever born, and appreciate it when others take notice. So take notice! If a friend has a new child, send a card, a gift, a call, anything to let them know you acknowledge this special moment in their life. They may notice if you don’t.
So take the time to keep the friends you have and build a network of new friends as quickly as possible.
After all - Relationships are primary.
Meaningful Meetings
Have you been dreading having “that“ conversation with someone? Maybe your spouse, children or someone that reports to you at work. Someone whose behavior could be improved. Getting into these courageous conversations- and out of them - can be tricky business.
Having a plan and practicing it beforehand can make all of the difference in the world. One approach is called the Oreo method. Like the famous cookie, the important stuff is in the middle, surrounded by good stuff. You basically start the conversation on a positive note, get to the point of the discussion (the behavior that needs to be changed) and then end on a high note.
Start the conversation by building rapport with the individual. Complementing them or mentioning some positive behavior that you want to to reinforce is often a good start. Then it is important to mention the behavior that needs to be changed. Keep in mind behavior is some action they’ve taken in the past that you want them to modify in the future. The more specific the better. Getting the recipient to buy into the idea of taking responsibility for changing their behavior is crucial. A plan of action with a follow up date to see how things are going is needed.
Once the difficult part of the conversation is over, end on a high note, once again complementing them or mentioning some positive behavior that you want to reinforce.
If the conversation is critical or extremely important for the organizations success, you should practice what you plan to say and make sure that you are specific about the behavior that needs to be changed. A simple example is someone who is late for work. Don’t use general terms such as you are always late for work, you’re routinely late for work, you are never on time, etc. Be specific by saying something like: “Last week you were late three days, Monday you were 15 minutes late, Wednesday 20 minutes late and Friday 15 minutes late. Is something going on that makes it difficult for you to arrive on time?”
Be a compassionate listener. Perhaps they are experiencing a family emergency and this is a temporary situation. Until you have the conversation and hear their side of the story, a change in behavior will be difficult. Whatever the circumstances, come up with a plan and make sure the listener knows it is their responsibility to implement it.
So, remember the Oreo approach whenever that need for a Meaningful Meeting presents itself.
Progressive Discipline vs Progressive Communication
Basically, the idea is you hold employees accountable through discipline. The employer progressively uses more severe discipline in order to control the employee’s behavior. You may start with a verbal reprimand, then a written reprimand, then a suspension or even demotion and then finally termination. The idea being to give the employee plenty of opportunities to change before you end their employment.
So though this sounds fair, there is a better way to change employee's behavior. No one likes using discipline. Neither the supervisor nor the employee likes discipline. It is backwards looking and negative. The lesson basically is - don’t do that again. It doesn’t describe what to do right, you should simply avoid doing something wrong.
A better approach is constant positive reinforcement. Continually catch the employee doing something right and gently steer them if they head off course. This requires active participation on the part of the supervisor. They need to develop a relationship with each of their employees by being empathetic, compassionate, observant and developing mutual trust.
It is a supervisor‘s responsibility to paint the big picture so that the employee understands the company’s ultimate values and goals. The supervisor is also responsible for providing all of the tools and training necessary for the employee to do their job correctly. Remember, common sense isn’t so common. Employees have to be trained to do their job. And of course supervisors have to be trained to be supervisors.
In the event the employees behavior needs improvement, you start off by simply reminding the employee what the big picture is and how their behavior needs to be modified in order to achieve that. If that is not effective then a more formal meeting may be required to explain what the right behavior looks like and why employees behavior does not match that desired behavior.
If those strategies don’t work, then more communication is needed. The next step would be another formal sit down meeting but this time discipline would be discussed. Employee would have to be aware that if things didn’t change something unpleasant would happen next. That something needs to be specifically communicated so there’s no question that there will be a specific consequence if the specific behavior reoccurs or does not change
Of course, if the employee’s action is severe you may have to jump straight to disciplining employee. But for the vast majority of cases, if the supervisor has developed a strong relationship with their team through constant communication with the employees and the employees wants to do what the supervisor wants, then the use of discipline should be significantly reduced.
Progressive Communication is more time consuming on the front end for the supervisor, but the rewards for both the supervisors and the organization are much greater than using Progressive Discipline to try to change someone’s behavior. You can’t have a great organization without great leaders. And you can’t be a great leader until you understand your employees and develop a relationship with them. It is relatively easy for a manager to get the employees to do what they want. It is more difficult for a leader to get employees to want what the leader wants. But once that happens - you end up with a great organization.
FKEC
I am proud to serve on the Board of Directors of the Florida Keys Electric Cooperative. Below is a letter that our Board President Karl Wagner recently wrote:
With challenging times usually comes a greater appreciation for who surrounds you. For me, that has proven true in 2020. As your Florida Keys Electric Cooperative Board President, I can’t let this year come to close without expressing appreciation for our FKEC members, co-op staff, and every employee. I also thank my fellow directors for their time and dedication to serving our members.
As your elected board of directors, it is our sole job to represent the interests of the 32,000+ FKEC account holders. During my 16 years on the board, we have faced challenges that required careful consideration and quick decisions, but addressing a pandemic was something altogether unexpected. I speak for the entire board when I share this message of gratitude.
To Our FKEC Team
Thanks to the hard work of FKEC staff, your board was provided thorough information from which to base many COVID related decisions in rapid time. I want to publicly express my thanks to CEO Scott Newberry, CFO Cris Beaty, and COO John Stuart for devising plans of action and working with their teams to execute those plans. As always, FKEC staff and employees rose to meet all challenges.
To protect our members and employees, we approved staff recommendations for office closures, linemen reporting from home, staff reduction in the offices, and suspension of routine maintenance and construction activities. Since the initial impact of the virus we have adjusted our protocols accordingly.
After addressing health-safety, we focused on the financial impact to our members. Meeting virtually, your board of directors and chief officers talked
with electric cooperatives across the state and country about how to address the economic hardships of COVID-19. This led FKEC to approve the early alloca- tion of Capital Credit refunds to active account members in May. Normally, these would be refunded on your November electric bill. And, your directors would have the pleasure of hand-delivering checks to some members as a show of our appreciation. We hope to be back visiting you next year.
In addition to the early capital credit return, we also temporarily suspended the disconnection of electric service for non-payment and the late payment penal- ties for members financially impacted by the pandemic. We thank FKEC Member Service, who continues to work to help affected members make payments today the best of their ability to prevent the accumulation of a larger balance. Thanks to the hard work of the co-op's Member Service team, and the dedication of our member-consumers, the number of past due balances remains low.
Elected by you, our members, the board of directors, is responsible for ensuring FKEC is a financially sound utility. As a member-owned cooperative, we assist individual members while also maintaining the utility’s success for our membership as a whole, now and in the future.
To Our FKEC Members
FKEC’s ability to face any challenge the world throws at us is thanks to our members. Working together to support each other is the key to overcoming and persevering during hard times. On behalf of the entire FKEC Board, we thank you all for your positivity, support, and maintaining the community spirit on which this cooperative was founded.
The FKEC Board looks forward to continuing to serve you in the new year. Happy Holidays.
David Ritz was recently re-elected to the Florida Keys Electric Board for another 3 year term. David Ritz has served in many leadership roles with the coop including serving as Board President for 8 years. He currently serves on a number of committees and was recently appointed as Chairman of the Emerging
Technologies Committee. This committee will study emerging technologies that might effect the coop and alert the board if they become concerned about about a particular technology. A partial list of issues they will look at include: solar, wind and renewable energy sources, electric cars and trucks and their impact on the coop, cyber security and ransom ware, crypto currencies and many others.
David Ritz was also proud to announce that last year FKEC also started a standby generator loan program to assist homeowners acquire a backup power source. This program is similar to the well received Solar Loan program. FKEC Members are eligible to receive up to a $35,000 loan for the purchase and installation of a grid-tied Distributed Energy Resource system. Including solar panels and batteries.
David Ritz was also on the board when FKEC started the Residential Rebate Program to help members increase their home’s energy efficiency.
All of the programs are designed to help members with their electrical needs. After all the coop is owned by its members and should do more than just provide safe, reliable electricity and the lowest possible cost. The coop is a member of the community and wants to serve its members in the friendliest, most helpful manner possible.
FKEC - Storm Harding
David Ritz recently had the pleasure of attending the FKEC Annual Meeting held at Coral Shores High School in Tavernier, Florida. This was an unusual scaled down version of the annual meeting due to the after effects of Covid19 on the community. Though the annual lunch was cancelled, those in attendace enjoyed the annual presentation by CEO Scott Newberry and a huge number of door prizes!
David Ritz answered many questions by members before and after the meeting. Questions about Electric Vehicles, Charging Stations, Solar Panels and Storm Hardening topped the list. Scott presented a number of interesting statistics at the meeting including those regarding storm hardening. FKEC has reinforced 114 utility poles in our water crossing to prevent future spalling and increase the poles life. To help pay for the project FKEC worked tirelessly to receive a FEMA grant to pay for 70% of the project. This $7.8 million dollar grant not only was used to storm harden the poles, it also allowed us to work with Coral Restoration Foundation to remove and relocate nay mature coral that we found in our way.
David Ritz also appreciated Scotts comments regarding the 50 miles of distribution conductor wire that was replaced and the 1416 Insulators that were upgraded. Due to all of this work, FKEC has one of the lowest outage rates in the country. This is a remarkable feat considering our high storm location and the fact our power lines all run in a straight line down the chain of islands. Other utilities can create a grid and back feed power when it goes out in one area. We do not have that luxury. If power is disrupted in the upper Keys, the lower Keys loses power too. David Ritz reported that the Board of Directors looks at these metrics every month and the 99.9 Reliability rating puts us in the top 10% of the country and at the top of the list in Florida.
David Ritz is looking forward to the 2023 Annual Meeting when once again we can enjoy the big lunch and fun festivities we have grown accustomed to having at the Annual Meeting.
FKEC LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE
FKEC Board members David Ritz and Craig Belcher joined hundreds of electric cooperative leaders who converged on Capitol Hill in Washington DC for the national Legislative Conference this week to urge Congress to help co-ops take advantage of energy incentives, reduce their federal debt and access billions of infrastructure dollars.
“We are focused on federal policy priorities that have a direct impact our local cooperative. “David Ritz said..
Working with the national cooperative association, NRECA, we have identified more than two dozen different components in the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill passed by Congress last year that may be of interest to electric co-ops, Ritz said.
As a group co-ops have banded together in consortiums to seek funding for projects in five categories: electric vehicles, microgrids, cybersecurity, natural hazards, and smart grids and data.
FKEC Board members Ritz and Belcher met with staff from several US congressmen and senators as they make decisions about how to distribute funding from the bill.
“We continue to be actively engaged in the process” Belcher stated.
Ritz said “We are also asking members of Congress to help pass additional bills this year”
The first would provide direct federal payments for electric co-ops to develop new energy resources and technologies, including renewable energy, battery storage projects, nuclear energy facilities and carbon capture and storage.
A direct-pay incentive would put co-ops on a level playing field with investor-owned utilities, which already receive federal tax breaks for providing power according to David Ritz
CRISIS MANAGEMENT
During a crisis David Ritz and Florida Keys Electric Cooperative are prepared
David and the Board of Directors work year-round with the outstanding staff to ensure the coop has the right people, supplies and processes to restore power after an emergency like a hurricane or major storm.
“Our first responsibility is to ensure the safety of our employees, our members and the communities we serve, followed by restoring critical business functions as quickly as possible,” Ritz said.
Every FKEC employee has a storm role. Some will travel to the hardest-hit part of the Keys to assess damage and determine what crews will need to make repairs while others will stay in their designated area and respond to customers who report outages. "What I love about storms and the work we're doing is to see how many groups throughout the Keys come together," Ritz said. "You really see the power, scope and scale of the coop and the community, and how we all work together to get the lights back on safely and quickly."
We have spent an enormous amount of time, money and effort to storm harden our system. We believe that these efforts will help reduce the amount of time the power is out in any given area.
PREPARE NOW FOR THE STORM
David Ritz has several tips on how and when to prepare for a major storm. It is not a matter of IF a storm will come, it is a matter of WHEN a storm will come. We all should have a storm box ready and stocked at the beginning of Hurricane Season - June 1. There are many lists of important items to have in your Hurricane box, so be prepared. Many people stock food and water at the beginning of Hurricane Season and then consume the products in November. This way there is always a relatively fresh supply of food and water.
David Ritz is on the FKEC Board of Directors and is particularly concerned about downed power lines post storm. Before a storm is approaching it is important to check the trees around your home. Are they near the power lines or overhanging your roof? You can make a tree trim request from FKEC if they are near the power lines. You can also ask FKEC for a whole home power surge protector. This is mounted on the electric meter and in combination with plug in surge protectors, this will help for individual voltage sensitive electronic devices.
Be sure to have an evacuation plan for your family and pets. If someone in your home is dependent on electric-powered life-sustaining medical equipment it is your responsibility to have an emergence back up power plan.
David Ritz states the importance of staying away from downed power lines. Electricity from downed power lines travels like water along the ground in a big circle up to 35 feet away. So even getting near a downed line can be deadly. If a power line falls across a car that you are in - stay in the car! If you must get out of the vehicle due to a fire or other immediate life threatening situation, do your best to jump clear of the car and land on both feet. Be sure that no part of your body is touching the car when your feet touch the ground.
THINKING OF SOLAR
Are you ready to try solar?
Many of us have thought about putting solar panels on our roof. But where do you begin? Will putting panels on roof make our roof less sturdy in a storm? What is the return on investment? Can we sell electricity back to the electric co-op? How much does it cost?
All good questions! David Ritz reminds people that the Florida Keys Electric Co-op (FKEC) is very solar friendly. They have experts on staff that will help walk you through the entire process. In addition they encourage the use of solar with two major programs.
The first one is called Simple Solar. FKEC has a solar farm in Marathon with solar panels installed in a large field. You can “buy” a solar panel from FKEC by simply writing them a check and all electricity generated from that panel gets deducted from your electric bill each month. You reduce your carbon footprint and get the good feeling by helping the environment with very little effort.
The second FKEC program is the Solar Loan program. In the event you want to install solar panels on your home, FKEC can make it easier to pay for the system. FKEC offers competitively priced, simple interest rate loans up to $20,000 for the purchase and installation of solar panels and battery storage systems. The monthly loan payment is conveniently included on your electric bill each month.
David Ritz knows that solar in hurricane prone areas is always a concern, however some people view it as a benefit. When you install solar panels on your roof you end up putting more screws into the roof and rafters. This actually holds roof down tighter. (The more screws holding the roof down the better.) In addition, some people pay quite a bit of money for gas powered generators to power their home in times of electrical disruption from FKEC. Instead of paying for generators, which may be used once in a blue moon, that same amount of money can go towards a solar system which is used on a daily basis.
In summary, David Ritz states that there are many pros and cons to installing solar panels on your home and each of us has a unique situation. The easiest way to start is to call your local electric company and ask for free advice.
Natural Gas Price
Why is my electric bill so high? About 70% of your power bill is from FPL who generates the electricity for our area. They have some nuclear power (20%), but most of it comes from national gas(70%). As natural gas prices go up so does your electric bill. Many have asked David Ritz "Why are natural gas prices going up?"
David Ritz explains it is as simple as Supply and demand. The US produces more natural gas than we need, so you would think we have plenty of cheap fuel. Unfortunately for us, the energy companies export the excess natural gas across the world market. Obviously if it stayed in the US prices would be stable. But natural gas prices are set based on world wide supply and demand. Now that the economic effects of the Covid pandemic are passing we are all using more power. That means demand world wide is up.
If it is all about supply and demand, and demand is soaring, why don’t the energy companies increase supply? Is it tough federal regulations? Actually no. The energy companies have the land and the permits to drill more gas wells, but they have chosen not to do so. Why? Energy companies are in business to make money. They are making a lot of money and paying their stock holders large dividends based on these high prices. They could use these profits to drill more wells, but it is not in their best interests. Until they decide to increase supply or we decide to decrease demand, prices will stay high.
The only other scenario is increased use of another fuel, Like solar, wind or something else. Eventually, other forms of power production will occur. David Ritz was recently informed that FPL plans to switch from natural gas to solar and hydrogen power. This will take a couple of decades, so don’t expect any quick results…
C0ACH TO WIN
David Ritz has presented his message of being a caring, compassionate coach to organizations around the country. Working with LDR Leadership has been a life altering experience and has helped spread the art of “speaking in a way that others want to hear you.” These presentations have brought a David Ritz a great deal of positive feedback.
Imagining yourself a kind coach trying to help others succeed; this is the first step in developing yourself as a servant leader. How can you assist others succeed? What obstacles are in their path that you can remove? You cannot be a successful leader unless those around around have success. So the questions is: How can I help others? When they are successful, you are successful.
David Ritz once noted that Soccer coaches have a different role on the sideline during game time compared to football coaches. During the game a football coach is in constant contact with his players. In fact NFL quarterbacks and captains of the defense have speakers in their helmets so the coach can always be talking to them. The other players come to the sideline every few minutes or the coach yells from the side of the field to give them directions. A soccer coach doesn’t communicate with his or her players as much once the game starts. He has to rely on training and everything he has told them during the week prior to the game.
From the coach's perspective, which sport seems easier to coach? Which sport do you have the most opportunity to change the players behavior once you see things going awry?
How does this tie into the workplace?
If you are like an American football coach you can constantly observe the players and give them minor course corrections, words of encouragement, or coaching tips on a regular basis. In the work place you have an opportunity to communicate with your staff on a regular basis. This is a real advantage for the leader. Since you have the opportunity to observe and comment on your team's performance on an ongoing basis, you shouldn't waste that opportunity. If you see something say something.
David Ritz believes a good coach finds a way to cut through and make a connection. Listening, being loud, being quiet, being compassionate, whatever the receiver needs the coach finds an angle to make a connection.
Does anybody watch Ted Lasso? "Be curious not judgmental." That is a quote from Coach Lasso. What does that mean? Ask why somebody feels like they do or why they did what they did - don’t judge how they feel or think or act before trying to figure out why. Be curious. Once you have used all of your emotional intelligence skills and demonstrated empathy and compassion, then you may understand the other person's perspective.
Have you thought about IQ versus EQ? It is reported that IQ is involved in about 20% of one’s success. Emotional intelligence may also be 20% or more of one’s success. Naturally, some occupations require higher emotional intelligence to be successful and some require higher IQ to be successful. However emotional intelligence can distinguish people in high IQ careers.
David Ritz read an engineering study recently that tried to determine why some engineers in the company were more successful than others. The researchers asked all of the engineers in the large firm to identify the best engineers among their peers. Once the top engineers were identified, the top group's IQ and EQ were compared to the rest of the firm.
The top engineers' IQ was unremarkable compared to their peers. However, their EQ scores were much higher. Emotional Intelligence can help distinguish you from the rest of the pack even in careers like engineering.
David Ritz noted that when you get to the top rung of an organization, you often find most of the individuals have relatively high IQs. Smarter people tend to do well at work. No surprise here. But, what distinguishes the good from great leaders? Look for the common traits of emotional intelligence. It has often been said CEOs are hired due to their high IQ and job expertise, and fired because of their low EQ.
Just like being competent at your job, emotional competence is fundamental to success. How you manage your emotions, manage your relationships, being self-aware, and socially aware are all important criteria
The further you go in school the more specific your knowledge becomes about a given subject. You become an scholastic expert in that area. Once you get your college degree, your bachelors degree and then work on your masters degree and become a master of that subject and then get a doctorate degree and have doctoral knowledge of that subject, you actually know more and more about less and less. Our education system gears you to become highly educated in a given field and the further you progress in college you eventually become prepare for only a job in academia. It does not really prepare you for the “real world“.
We all know some people that are “Book-smart“ and we say things like “they lack common sense.” That may be because they are concentrating in one small area at the expense of general knowledge. And it is not uncommon for students to go through high school, college, masters degree and doctoral degrees without ever hearing the words emotional intelligence or understanding the importance of getting along with other people. There are plenty of examples of people with an IQ of 160 working for people with an IQ of 100. The person with the lower IQ probably has greater interpersonal skills.
David Ritz is happy to observe that times are changing and EQ is now taught in some elementary schools and in junior high schools. School boards are becoming aware that our ability to get along with others, understand others, show empathy and compassion and caring are keys to success that are often times more important than sheer intelligence.
FKEC Finances
Many people have asked David Ritz about how an Electrical Cooperatives finances work. After all an cooperative is owned by its members and FKEC has over 26,000 members. How do they get their share of profits - or do they have to pay into losses?
Let’s start with revenue. David Ritz explains that in 2021 FKEC had over $226 million dollars in assets less depreciation, so the book value of the assets was about $172 million. Most of that is in the utility plant and at the end of the year they had about $17 million in cash reserves.
Next let’s discuss debt. This is somewhat unique to cooperatives. The way almost every electrical cooperative in the country operates is live on debt. The thinking is existing members should pay for the assets and not rely on prior members funding the utility. So the thinking continues that existing members do not have to fund the plant for future members. Future members will have to pay their share when the start using the services. Most coops have about 60% debt to 40% equity. FKEC aims for about those ratios too.
The debt for the plant is shared by the coop’s members and financial institutions. This is another somewhat unique thing about running a cooperative. David Ritz explains at the end of the year the coop determines how much profit it made. In the coop world these are called margins -basically the difference between our revenue for the year and our expenses. Last year FKEC made almost $5.7 million in margins. This excess revenue is shared with the owners of the cooperatives - its members. You are a member if you receive electrical service in your name. The way the coop “borrows” money from its members is… they hold onto the profit for about 18 to 20 years before paying it to its members. This way the coop doesn’t have to borrow so much from a bank, saving the coop (members) the cost of paying interest.
This payment of margins is called Capital Credits and once a year the coop pays out capital credits to its members based on their share of the profit from some preceding year. “Their share” is basically how much electricity you used divided by the total amount for that year. The percentage of electricity you used is the percentage of profit (margins) you receive. The actual calculations are slightly more complicated, but this is a good overview.
David Ritz is proud that FKEC is well run and has had positive cash flow for many years. Since the Florida Keys does not have a lot of commercial or industrial development, most of the electricity is used by homeowners, so naturally most of the revenue comes from residential accounts - about 58%. And since FKEC buys its power from FPL, most of its expense is paying FPL for electricity - about 53%. Depreciation is the next largest expense at about 11%.
This was not meant to be an in depth explanation of all of FKEC’s finances, just a brief overview about the basics. Please feel free to contact FKEC directly if you have any questions about how any of this works.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
David Ritz is a big believer in customer engagement. This is more than customer service. Every employee needs to know who the customer is and engage them in a relationship. Relationships are primary. Everything else is derivative. If there is no relationship there is no engagement. Training of all employees is key to success. Particularly those that face the customers on a regular basis. It is amazing how many companies compensate the employees that deal with their customers the least amount of money.
David Ritz has often stated that expectations are the first step. Goal setting, explaining why customer engagement is important, and measurable results will reduce employee anxiety and improve staff morale. If employees are happy they are more likely to keep your customers happy. Constant and continuous communication clarifying expectations should be the company culture. This should start at the top with great examples by the CEO and senior staff.
Tracking data to determine trends and making improvement is another key element to a successful program. One example could be Requests. Are you tracking them? Number of total request, requests by type, requests closed, active over 30 days, follow up to long term requests. most common requests, average days to handle… Obviously the more automated the system the better. We all need reminders.
David Ritz recommends that every employee have a proactive, time of the essence type of attitude. Being friendly and inquisitive goes a long way toward handling tough customers. Training employees on emotional intelligence skills should be an element of your program. Can all of your employees maintain their own composure with difficult situations? Are they trained to recognize and de-escalate tense situations? Do supervisors monitor interactions between staff and customers?
If you really believe your customers are important to you, then ensuring that every employee is prepared to be a caring, compassionate representative of your company should be one your top priorities.
David Ritz has served on the Florida Keys Electric Coop Board of Directors since 1999 when he assumed a board seat originally held Ed Grant. David is an advocate of continuing education and has received every certificate offered by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.
David Ritz served as the Board Chairman for 8 years and continues on the board as a Trustee and as chairman of several board committees.
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
By Jon Meacham
Technically this should be located under Ritz Picks. However, Jon Meacham's "Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power" is a deeply insightful exploration of one of America’s Founding Fathers, illuminating not only Jefferson’s complex personality and his political acumen but also providing valuable lessons for contemporary leadership. David Ritz was impressed with how Meacham, delves into Jefferson's life, highlighting how he skillfully navigated the tumultuous waters of American politics in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
The book is meticulously researched, utilizing primary sources and historical context to paint a vivid picture of Jefferson as a statesman and thinker. David Ritz notes that Jefferson was not merely as a philosopher but as a pragmatic leader who was often at odds with his ideals. Meacham examines Jefferson’s roles as Secretary of State, Vice President, and ultimately President, showcasing how he wielded power effectively while grappling with personal and political contradictions.
Meacham emphasizes Jefferson's diplomatic skills, his vision for an agrarian America, and his commitment to the French Revolution, juxtaposed against the realities of governing a nascent nation fraught with internal and external challenges. Jefferson's decisions—most notably the Louisiana Purchase—are scrutinized for their implications on American expansion and their ethical considerations.
One of the central themes of the book is the duality of Jefferson's character: a champion of liberty who was also a slaveowner. This contradiction serves as a critical lens through which to view leadership today. David Ritz suggests that effective leaders must grapple with the complexities of their own values and the societal issues that shape their time. This is a lesson for contemporary leaders who often face moral dilemmas where their decisions can have far-reaching consequences.
Meacham explores the importance of communication and persuasion in leadership, skills that Jefferson mastered. Today’s leaders can learn from Jefferson’s ability to articulate his vision and sway public opinion, reminding us that the power of words remains a crucial tool in governance and influence.
In an era of divisive politics, Jefferson's commitment to compromise and dialogue resonates strongly. Meacham illustrates how Jefferson was willing to engage with those who held opposing views, an approach that is increasingly rare in contemporary governance. Leaders today could benefit from adopting a more collaborative mindset, understanding that compromise does not equate to weakness but rather to a practical approach to governance.
Jon Meacham’s "Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power" is not just a biography; it is a thoughtful reflection on leadership that remains relevant in today's political landscape. By examining Jefferson’s life, we are reminded of the complexities of power, the necessity for ethical reflection, and the enduring value of communication and compromise. David Ritz suggests that as we navigate the challenges of contemporary leadership, we should learn from the past while striving to build a more inclusive and principled future. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in history, politics, or the art of leadership.