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6 C’s of Energy Career Success

Navigating individual career success in today’s energy industry can be challenging. It requires a commitment to identifying and serving customer needs, a fundamental reality for a sustainable environment, and the ability to develop and nurture relationships within the industry. Together, we will work through: Creativity, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Citizenship, Character, and Community. This course will provide you with additional tools that will help you meet the challenges of today’s energy industry. Welcome to the 6 C’s of Energy Career Success!
Instructor: Larry Thorson
WE Learn + Lead

Emotional Intelligence

A cornerstone of excellent leaders is their ability to form relationships with their colleagues - connections that enable them to develop and support those around them, and emotional intelligence is what drives these relationships. This program is designed to help you learn how to develop strong connections, influence others effectively, and improve your adaptability and positivity. These are the top skills to advance your leadership potential!
Instructor: Ashley Nixon
WE Learn + Lead

Five Pillars of Leadership

In this engaging training session, leaders will explore the fundamental principles of effective leadership, emphasizing the importance of vision, communication, and team empowerment. Participants will engage in interactive discussions and real-world scenarios that highlight the diverse challenges leaders face, from inspiring teams to navigating conflict. Through collaborative exercises, attendees will learn the importance of what being a leader means in the day-to-day management of a team. By the end of the session, participants will not only understand the core responsibilities of leadership but also leave equipped with practical strategies to inspire and guide their teams toward success.
Instructor: Debrah T. Affonsa
WE Learn + Lead

Good Air – Creating Psychological Safety at Work

Psychological Safety is a shared understanding within a group that everyone can be themselves and feel safe to speak up, share ideas, voice concerns, and make mistakes. The “Good Air” workshop is your ticket to creating a more psychologically safe workplace where you will feel supported, empowered and inspired to perform at your peak through thought-provoking, interactive discussion. After attending “Good Air”, participants will come away with very specific practices they can put to use immediately—ways to fine-tune the energy or “vibe” they send out, make more meaningful connections, think differently about the language they use, and reframe their own failures and those of others. Let’s find some good air together!
Instructor: Buck Davis
WE Learn + Lead

Inclusivity in the Workplace

Are you a leader seeking to maintain inclusivity in the workplace? Do you want to keep your team feeling engaged and valued for who they are? In this workshop, we will help you practice inclusive leadership skills. Inclusive Leadership means understanding identities, our unconscious biases, psychological safety, and how to navigate hard conversations in the workplace. Learn how to come from a place of mutual respect and understanding so you can feel confident addressing your team, no matter who they are. An inclusive workplace is a space for all of us to be ourselves, and that type of environment is fostered by those of us in leadership positions. Through inclusive language and leadership, you will be adept in nurturing value for your team members!
Instructor: Alicia Daugherty
WE Learn + Lead

Leading a Safety Culture

Safety is a cornerstone of our industry and one of Western Energy’s core values. We want to support our members with resources and actionable strategies to lead, foster, and sustain a strong safety culture. Through examining leading practices, interactive discussions and real-world scenarios, this course bridges leadership and safety culture concepts to help you and your team advance safety within your organization. Topics include: key ingredients for building a great safety culture, leadership’s role in safety culture, practical strategies for securing buy-in, navigating challenging scenarios, and actionable near-term steps for developing a stronger safety culture.
Instructor: Booga Gilbertson
WE Learn + Lead

Owning Your Career Path

Looking to take control of your career in energy? Owning Your Career Path will empower you with the knowledge, skills, and tools to define your career by aligning your professional goals with personal values, developing actionable strategies for career advancement, and understanding how extraordinarily successful professionals use the power of planning and networking to achieve their goals. By utilizing a long-term action strategy with one, five, and fifteen year plans, a personal brand statement with a guide to marketing your brand internally, and an understanding of the power of mentors and persistence, you too will have the tools you need to take control of your career path!
Instructor: Dr. Karen S. Feltes
WE Learn + Lead

Peak Performance

The drive to constantly improve and deliver peak performance is constantly accelerating. Simultaneously, stress and setbacks are unavoidable. Learning how to cope and even thrive in stressful situations can make the difference between success and failure, and more importantly, brings more joy into our lives. This program is designed to help you develop robust and healthy cognitive, behavioral, and emotional habits to achieve and sustain peak performance!
Instructor: Ashley Nixon
WE Learn + Lead

Present and Perform Online

Are you looking to stand out in a sea of remote meetings and presentations? Liven up your virtual performance skills with this course! You will be able to keep your participants engaged through active presentation skills and strategies such as: interactive segments, cadence coaching, conducting breakout sessions, and visual guides, all while keeping your virtual sessions timely. By sticking to tried and true public speaking principles, your seminars will leave participants feeling energized and grateful for your time. Make the most of theirs by delivering quality performances time and time again!
Instructors: Christopher Lee + Eric Christenson
WE Learn + Lead

Strategic Thinking

Leadership requires structure, clear direction, and achievable results. Strategic thinking will help your team deliver goals on time. In this course, we will help you hone strategic thinking abilities by strategizing action plans, restructuring processes, and using critical thinking. With these skills, you will be able to break down complex problems into manageable and actionable tasks, and your team will trust your steady leadership. Through strategic thinking, let’s deliver consistent leadership and make sense of complicated, multifaceted dilemmas to deliver guidance beyond uncertainty!
Instructor: Debra Smith

Meet Your Instructors

Deborah T. (Deb) Affonsa is a highly experienced executive in the energy and utilities sector with a diverse career spanning multiple leadership roles . She currently serves as an executive advisor at EDMs, a boutique consulting firm specializing in the energy sector, and is a part-time Lecturer for The Wharton School’s Communication Program at the University of Pennsylvania.

Deborah T. Affonsa, Principal, EDMs; former VP Customer Strategy, PG&E, former Chief Customer Officer, PSEG

Learner, educator, dreamer. Eric uplifts others through knowledge sharing and relationships that matter. His enthusiasm delivering industry and ratemaking courses is matched by his pursuit to help people effectively present and lead in new virtual arenas.

Eric Christenson, Director of Education + Training, Western Energy Institute

Alicia is a leadership and executive coach with 30 years experience leading teams in complex environments, including 20 years with PECO Energy/Exelon. She is passionate about supporting leaders to be the best versions of themselves and to lead with confidence, authenticity and inclusiveness.

Alicia Daugherty, Principal, Alicia Daugherty Coaching LLC

Speaker, consultant, trainer and online content creator helping people and organizations become more inclusive, happy, and resilient. Offering practical and evidence-based training that helps leaders bring out the best in themselves and others at work.

Buck Davis, Speaker, Trainer, Coach; Buck Davis & Company

Karen Feltes is an accomplished executive, business consultant and coach, with a career spanning the breadth of domestic and international human resource areas in both the public and private sectors. She is certified as a Professional Certified Coach by the International Coach Federation. With over 20 years experience in corporate leadership roles, Karen understands the many challenges professionals face in today’s dynamic business environments.

Dr. Karen S. Feltes, Former Senior Vice President, CHRO and Corporate Officer, Avista Corp.

Karen Feltes is an accomplished executive, business consultant and coach, with a career spanning the breadth of domestic and international human resource areas in both the public and private sectors. She is certified as a Professional Certified Coach by the International Coach Federation. With over 20 years experience in corporate leadership roles, Karen understands the many challenges professionals face in today’s dynamic business environments.

Booga Gilbertson, Advisor; Board Director; Former COO, Puget Sound Energy

Christopher leads executive and supervisory programs that provide mentorship, collaboration, and leadership development. His passion is supporting utility leaders as they face new and ever-changing challenges. Countless members can thank Christopher for growth, success, and progress in their career.

Christopher Lee, Director of Leadership Development, Western Energy Institute

Ashley Nixon is a Professor of Human Resources and Organizational Behavior at Atkinson Graduate School of Management. She teaches courses in leadership, management, human resources, and organizational behavior. She is a Fulbright Scholar Specialist and an award-winning professor.

Ashley Nixon, Associate Professor of Human Resources & Organizational Behavior, Willamette University

With over 25 years in the utility sector, Debra’s skill in effecting change and anticipating industry movements is well-recognized. Beyond her technical prowess, she maintains an exceptional rapport with the teams she leads.

Debra Smith, Future-Focused Utility Leader: Collaborating to Shape a Sustainable Tomorrow; former General Manager, Seattle City Light

Larry is passionate about life, learning, and making a positive difference in the lives of others. With over 37 years working in natural gas distribution operations, he is convinced that our industry has the right product, priorities, and the right people to bridge the present and future with clean, sustainable energy.

Larry Thorson, Former Region Manager; Questar Gas
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