Follow Your Interests: Interview with Barry Moline, Executive Director of the California Municipal Utilities Association
I recently went one on one with Barry Moline, the Executive Director of the California Municipal Utilities Association. Barry was previously the CEO of the Florida Municipal Utilities Association for twenty one years.
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Barry: I have a lot of “movie clips” of life experiences running in my head that shape who I am today. Most are good, with a few negative ones that resulted in important lessons learned. I use the good ones to guide better decisions, and treat the others as course corrections, not dwelling on them, but trying not to repeat.
I think it’s vital to be constantly looking to improve, to be better. As a graduate student, when I gave my advisor a draft of the first chapter of my thesis, it had a few typos. He was direct when he said “If your work has typos and errors, people think you’re stupid. Always check your work before others see it. Don’t just double check. Triple check. Always be the best you can be.” It was tough love, and it taught me a valuable lesson about having high standards that has made be a better person as well as elevated the organizations I’ve worked for.
One of my responsibilities at work is advocating before the legislature and state agencies. One time many years ago I was unprepared for a legislative hearing, and my team and I did a poor job presenting our case. The poor planning was my fault. I swore after that experience I would always be as prepared as possible. I still might lose an argument from time to time, but I will always be prepared.
I frequently harken back to my first professional presentation. Boy was I nervous. One person came to the session early, and he saw how anxious I was. He said “Barry, don’t worry. You’re among friends. We all want you to succeed.” It calmed me, and now whenever I speak and feel a little tense, I remember his advice, that I’m among friends who want me to succeed. It has made me a better speaker.
The bottom line is it’s important to be open to the lessons life throws at you every day. If you seek to constantly improve, you’ll enjoy the journey and create your success.
Adam: What are the best lessons you have learned from your decades leading trade organizations?
Barry: Trade associations, and basically most businesses and organizations, are about people. In order to lead in any part of the business, you need good people skills. That means listening to others, understanding their interests, how they look at life, and what drives their decisions. By focusing on others, I’ve been able to bring people together to work through tough problems and move our organization forward in a way that benefits everyone. Building relationships is always tough at first, but it pays off to keep trying.
Adam: What do you believe are the defining qualities of an effective leader?
Barry: Leadership is motivating people to act and achieve a common goal. The first step is defining the goal, then making sure everyone understands it. Each member of your team then needs to recognize their role in accomplishing the goal, and why their engagement is important. When you have the goal, when everyone gets it and knows their role, the motivation takes care of itself because people want to be part of a winning team. Leaders need to constantly be looking toward that North Star, that reason for being. When you know your why, taking action to achieve it is easy.
Adam: How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Barry: Read, watch and study. I’m constantly reading books, articles, research and case studies on teamwork and leadership. I love understanding how others respond in tough situations, what makes them tic, and how they lead others to accomplish a goal greater than themselves. I watch TED Talks and YouTube videos, read book summaries, and subscribe to Masterclass to find ideas. I listen to podcasts while walking the dog. Not everything is relevant, but I almost always find a nugget of information I can use. Recently I was watching what most people would say is a boring lecture on how to give a presentation. It was an hourlong video of a stogy MIT professor talking about how to give a technical talk. He used a chalkboard! He was monotonic and slow. Seems boring, but it was a phenomenal presentation. He was interesting and methodical. I took away several ideas and implemented two great ideas immediately. Since I’ve teased you, here they are: 1) At the beginning of a presentation, make a promise. Tell the audience what they will learn, and specifically, how it will make their lives better. 2) At the end, don’t say thank you. Say “I salute you.” Complement your audience – salute your audience – for taking the information they’ve learned to go out improve the world. Then move to Q&A or discussion. I implemented these ideas in my next presentation and they had an immediate, positive impact.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders?
Barry: First, I cannot emphasize enough the value of persistence. I’m not sure why I adopted persistence as my core success strategy, but maybe it was a tactic I learned early in life and it seemed to help me accomplish goal after goal. When you know you have a good idea, move toward accomplishing it. Persistence doesn’t mean your idea is the greatest since the invention of the wheel; what it means is you have an idea, you choose to investigate it further, and you don’t give up till you have enough information to either implement or pause. Sometimes your ideas are ahead of their time. That’s Ok. Commit to exploring further, learning more, and with every piece of new information, you either get closer to accomplishing your idea, or learning why it might not work and has to be adjusted in order to come to fruition. Here’s an example: About a year ago I had the idea to start a podcast at our association. My staff and I had no idea how to make it happen technically, or even if we’d have listeners. But I wanted to create a communication channel where our ideas could be shared and influence others. We investigated, found another organization that had a successful podcast, learned everything we could from them, hired an expert, and a year later, it’s going strong – The Water & Power Leadership podcast.
One more thing about persistence. Sometimes you might be sharing your ideas with the wrong people, the naysayers. Don’t try to convince them. Many people find it difficult to stretch their minds or imaginations to new ideas. Find those individuals who you can brainstorm with, and blue sky your ideas with them. Don’t be discouraged by naysayers. Find your “inspiration peeps” and encourage each other to improve the world.
Second, help others without expecting anything in return. I learned this lesson years ago when, as a young analyst, I was tasked to call the CEO of a major corporation and ask for information. I was surprised when his assistant immediately put me through. Yikes! I told him who I was – a junior analyst – and his response startled me. He said “How can I help you?” This was the CEO, and he wanted to help me? What’s up with that? I explained my project, he responded earnestly, and he got me the information I needed. What I learned from that encounter was that whatever your position, helping others should always be your philosophy. I’ve had a lot of people help me along the way, and whenever I can, I try to pay it forward and help others as well. Years later after I became a CEO I got a call from a graduate student who wanted to interview me about renewable energy and climate change. We spoke for two hours in my office. I forgot about it for about ten years, until one day he called and told me he was now the mayor of a major city, and my act of kindness was the single ingredient that helped him complete his Master’s degree in political science, which inspired his career in elected politics.
Finally, treat everyone with respect, including the custodian. Give everybody a smile and make them feel welcome, which builds trust. We are all trying to make the world a better place in our own way. Everyone has a story of how they got to where they are today. Reach out and try to understand them, where they’re from, and what their life goals are. You’ll be fascinated, and pleasantly surprised at the relationships you build along the way.
A friend of mine is the CEO of a major energy and water utility and worked his way up from an entry level position. When he was an intern at the company, every week he gave an in-person verbal report to his supervisor. He’s very friendly, and each time he waited in the receptionist area outside his boss’s office, he chatted with the administrative assistant. When it came time to choose which interns would get jobs with the company, the supervisor asked his assistant for her opinion. She told him my buddy was the friendliest, and that was enough to elevate him from the pack. You never know what will be the magical attribute that propels your career, so as you advance, be positive, bring others up, and treat everyone with respect.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading and managing teams?
Barry: Take time to get to know everyone on the team on a personal level. Not to be best friends, but understand their family, their career goals, and what they want in life. Then help them achieve their goals. Sometimes their goal may be to work somewhere else. Help them. While they are working for you, they will appreciate you, and do everything to help accomplish your organization’s mission. Of course, if they can accomplish their goals while staying in your organization, that’s even better. Get them the training they need. Praise them when things go well and counsel them to change course when things go wrong.
One way to get to know people quickly in the work environment is doing ice breakers. These are short exercises you can do before group meetings. Have each member of the team discuss something going on in their lives or do a fun ice breaker to help them learn a little about each other. Keep it short. Some ideas that are safe in the workplace include asking what people are streaming, podcasts they are listening to, hobbies, favorite music, or recalling a nice part of their weekend. Getting to know people is the key to building great teams and doing ice breakers is a simple way to get the ball rolling. I used to not like them because I thought they were a waste of time. However, I’ve learned that getting to know people – just a bit – is the key to building great teams. That leads to building trust, which leads to growing dependence on each other and greater effectiveness of the organization.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Barry: The best advice I ever received was from my Uncle Jerry, a successful accountant, business advisor and leader of his firm. I was in college, not sure if my major in education was the best track for success in life, and we were talking privately at a Thanksgiving dinner. He said “Follow your interests. You never know when your mix of knowledge and experience will be the right ingredients for the situation in front of you. Stay on your path, enjoy the journey, and it will all come together.” He was so right. I had a variety of interests that seemed scattered. Photography, graphic arts, writing, videography, storytelling, energy and environmental issues, playing hockey, and engaging with people. I ended up leading two energy and environmental trade associations for 25+ years, where most of my interests have come together under one roof. We publish a magazine, make videos and started a podcast. Dealing with people is integral to our business model. It’s uncanny how many of my random interests came together. And I still play hockey!
What that advice means is, don’t worry. Life will unfold, and you must be ready to engage and respond when the time is right. Some people think they need to go to a certain college to be recognized in their career, or everything has to be just-so in their life. Not true. It’s a cliché, but life is about making lemonade out of lemons, and growing where you are planted. Success is making a positive impact wherever you are.
Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?
Barry: After returning from service in the U.S. Peace Corps in 1990, I was eager to get to work in Washington, D.C. I snail-mailed out about 50 letters to organizations, not asking for a job, but rather, asking for a telephone chat with key people who might know about openings elsewhere. You know, classic networking. One person, the CEO of a solar energy industry group, called and asked me to come to his office. I had no idea if it was for a job interview or networking discussion. This bigwig at the time, Scott Sklar, from the Solar Energy Industries Association, talked with me for an hour, really listened, and at the end, said he knew of a job opening I would be qualified for. He called a colleague who wanted to see me ASAP. The next day I interviewed and got the job, working for a national trade association. It was the springboard to my entire career.
I was fortunate to see Scott about 20 years later. It was a delightful reunion. He was proud of how his outreach to me had paid off, and I was grateful to be able to express my appreciation to him for getting me on a successful career path. I’ve never forgotten that act of generosity, and I continue to help many others along the way. You can never go wrong when you sincerely help others.
Adam Mendler is the CEO of The Veloz Group, where he co-founded and oversees ventures across a wide variety of industries. Adam is also the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. Adam has written extensively on leadership, management, entrepreneurship, marketing and sales, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities and non-profit organizations.
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