Leading from The C-Suite: John R Keller of IHI Power Services Corp on Five Things You Need to Be a Highly Effective Executive in the Power Generation Industry

An Interview With Doug Noll

Inspire people to strive for greatness and understand what their role is at every level of the company

As part of our series called “Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective C-Suite Executive” we had the pleasure of interviewing John R. Keller.

Independent Power and Utilities Executive with 20,000+ MW experience developing, managing and optimizing Conventional and Renewable Energy Investments. Hands-on leader with a passion for executing Optimization and Turnaround Strategies that enhance company bottom-line while mitigating market and operational risk. Empowers teams to challenge the status quo through innovation of value enhancement ideas.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?

I have quite an extensive background in the renewable energy field as it’s been one of my greatest passions for as long as I can remember. Energy is critical to everything we do as a society — which is what has been a key driver in my rewarding career trajectory. Looking back at my history in the industry, I began my journey by receiving my associate degree, working for a couple of years and then deciding to go back to school to earn my bachelor degree in physics. From there, I went on to receive my MBA and follow my strong desire to work in the energy field. Throughout my time working in different positions and areas of study, I became very self-aware of the fact that I wanted a job that combined my passion for the energy sector, technical capabilities and people/leadership skills.

After college, I went on to work for Con Edison of New York in its Young Executive Program. I had the pleasure of working at the Indian Point nuclear plant and multiple other power generation facilities, leading operations, outages and other endeavors as a project manager and supervisor of union employees. When the pivotal time in history came when utilities began divesting their generating assets, I decided to leave the organization and accepted an opportunity to manage several assets at an independent power producer where I eventually set up the operations and maintenance (O&M) program. A few years into this position, I was recruited by Enron and asked to be the Director of Operations for Latin America. This was a monumental opportunity for me both personally and professionally, as it provided me with the responsibility of building the first combined cycle power plant in Central America, located in Panama. I also developed and operated plants in Nicaragua, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and beyond. Eventually, I stepped into the position of Vice President of Engineering/Construction of natural gas pipelines which opened a variety of new doors and experiences for me.

After Enron’s collapse, I was asked to stay on as the COO of Enron Wind, the world’s largest wind power company. When we sold our wind turbine manufacturing business to GE, I stayed at the organization for a few years before developing my own company in 2004 called InventivEnergy. This is when I really honed in on power asset management for private equity firms and gained a great deal of experience that led me to BrightMark and now, IHI Power Services Corp.

Can you please share compelling or insightful anecdote that’s happened since you started your career or since becoming IPSC’s president and CEO?

The most insightful thing I have learned over the course of my career is that as a leader, I’m a firm believer that it’s all about creating a team of people that are responsible, good at what they do and above all, truly love and enjoy their jobs. By placing people in a position they’ll excel in and are passionate about, you simply can’t lose.

What is a life lesson quote or motto that you’ve followed throughout your career? If so, how has that influenced both your personal and professional life?

There are three primary pillars I have and forever will follow in my professional and personal life. They are to act ethically no matter what, to always move with integrity in all I do and to be honest to the core. Holding each of these traits near and dear to my heart has allowed me to lead in a manner that I can be proud of every day. Regardless of the industry in which you work, you will always experience situations or events in which others may act or encourage you to act against your beliefs. But as someone with deep and diverse career experiences, I can wholeheartedly say that if you stay committed to these three pillars you will never stray from being true to yourself, and you will achieve a level of success you will be proud of.

Are there any books that you recommend or want to share that have had a significant impact on your leadership style? If you have any specific stories of how they changed your way of thinking, please share.

One of my all-time favorite books that I always turn to is The Effective Executive by Peter F. Ducker. While an older book, it is a classic filled with the best leadership advice I’ve ever received and to this day, practice daily. Anyone who is in a leadership role, or stiving toward one, should read this book.

What do you think makes IHI Power Services Corp. stand out from other industry competitors? Do you have a specific story or company dynamic that you feel sets IPSC apart?

IHI Power Services Corp. (IPSC) is an extraordinary organization, and I am honored to be a part of the monumental change it’s making. IHI operates power plants owned by other entities and puts incredibly experienced and capable people in place to facilitate each of them. At every turn, IHI is focused on the objectives of ownership, typically to achieve ROI, protect plant assets and streamline operations in a way that meets and exceeds our partner’s top financial goals.

There are so many stories I can share that portray how IHI stands out from the pack. However, there is one recent experience we are immensely proud of. Recently, IHI was engaged on seven biomass plants in one fell swoop. While our competitors shied away from the challenge due to such a heavy lift, IHI took the opportunity head-on, spearheading the project in just one week. In doing so, we hired 70+ employees during the transition and worked tirelessly to ensure each plant and its team members felt comfortable, supported and confident throughout the entire process.

Being in plant management, our team strives to follow the motto, “Like we own it” because as partners, we are dedicated to the customer no matter the situation. This means that when IHI runs a power plant, we act as if it were our own — putting the team members, plant success and goals at the forefront of everything we do.

As a seasoned leader with a proven track record, what three characteristics do you think have been the most instrumental in getting you to where you are today? Please provide a story or example of how each has benefited you throughout your career, where possible.

The three characteristics that have been most instrumental in getting me to where I am today are honesty, the willingness to accept challenges and having a deep passion for what I do. By practicing honesty with myself and with others, I have been able to lead with ease and make justifiable choices because I know I’m acting with integrity to make the best possible decision for my company, team and customers, regardless of the situation.

Looking back at my time in the renewable energy field, I pride myself on my willingness to accept challenges. Each obstacle I‘ve taken on has resulted in growth and lessons learned that have remained with me throughout the entirety of my career. For example, if I hadn’t accepted the challenge of onboarding at Enron, I wouldn’t have had the immensely incredible experiences like, living in other countries, learning Spanish, building new power plants, leading the operations of 25,000 miles of natural gas pipelines and leading the operations of the largest wind power company with almost 4,000 turbines at 25 projects.

Lastly, loving what I do has made all of my hard work and dedication well worth it. I find that if you are not happy with your job or not doing what you love to do, there is a lack of joy and appreciation that can bleed into many facets of your life. This can often result in a lack of performance — whether realized or not — so in my opinion, having that deep-rooted passion for your work is a necessary component for success! When you’re good at your work, and love what you do, then the work is less burdensome.

Leadership often entails making difficult decisions or hard choices between two seemingly viable paths. Can you share a story about a hard decision or tough call you had to make as a leader as well as the outcome or any lessons learned from that experience — good or bad?

As a leader, I’ve had to make many difficult decisions. However, there was one from early on in my career that molded me into the leader I am today. I had been a watch supervisor at the largest power plant in New York City. The plant was 1,000 Megawatts, meaning it was one of the major sources of power for the entire city — a huge responsibility! I was working the 2:00 a.m. shift and one of my team members disappeared. After combing the plant from top to bottom in an effort to find him, I began to panic — but as I walked out to the turbine hall (one of the loudest areas in the plant… and on earth), ready to dial 911, I noticed something was out of place.

The 15 oil pad packages we used for absorption that were stacked next to the oil skid, were down to one. I went to open the skid door and to my pleasant surprise, there was my missing team member — taking a nap on the pads with earmuffs on! I lightly nudged him, urging him to wake, and had him accompany me to the roof, as he said, “What are you going to do? Throw me off the roof?”

As we stood there on the roof during a clear November night, the kind you yearn for in NYC, looking at the city skyline and lights, I could see he was a bit nervous. As he looked across the evening Manhattan skyline I said to him, “Have you ever thought about what you do for a living? There are 10 million people in this city and we have the important responsibility of supplying electricity to all of them. If this plant goes down, the whole city could go down, so I want you to think about why you matter, why your job matters and the importance of what you do for a living in supporting all of these people.”

The following day he came up to me and said, “Are you going to fire me?” I said, “No.” He then said, “Our conversation really changed me. I had never thought about my role or this job in that way.” From that moment on, he transformed into a completely different employee.

This story is important to me because I could have easily fired him on the spot or yelled at him in a regrettable matter. Luckily, I didn’t and instead played a role in changing his perspective in a way that made him appreciate himself and his career more than ever before. To this day, it’s one of my proudest and most memorable moments of leadership. I believe one of the most important leadership qualities is to inspire people to understand why they matter and why they are important. Without great people, nothing happens. It’s our responsibility as leaders to bring out greatness in every employee.

Can you explain in your own words how your role as CEO and president differs from other executive roles in the company? In general, and within IPSC are both welcomed.

I view my role at IHI Power Services Corp. as not only CEO and president, but also as our chief ambassador for my team and everything we do. Upon joining the company, I coined the phrase “Like we own it” in an effort to inspire my team to treat what we do in a way that holds us all to a higher standard. I feel that if we are going to do our partners and customers justice, we have to act as though it’s ours. With almost $15 billion in assets under management, IPSC manages and operates assets that are vital to the entities that own them. Most of these organizations are private equity firms that manage retirement funds for firefighters, teachers, police and other similar fields and at the end of the day, we are creating returns on these investments for them — while also making sure the grid is reliable, electricity continues to flow and lights stay on.

As CEO, I strive to be a true advocate for my team, our customers and the industry as a whole. To me, this is so much more than a job title.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a C-Suite executive and why?

The biggest myth I would like to dispel about being a C-Suite executive is that I am part of the team. Not all C-Suite leaders simply oversee. Rather, they view themselves as an integral part of the team just like every one of their other fellow team members. It’s my belief that because we operate 50 power plants, the most important people in the company are those in the control room at 2 a.m. on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve with $500 million in assets sitting in his or her hands. These are the people that make the world go round and that make IHI what it is.

What are the most common leadership mistakes you have seen C-level executives make when in the beginning stages of the role? What can be done to avoid those errors?

There are three leadership mistakes I’ve seen in the early stages of a role at the C-Suite level that come to mind; those are the failure to: 1) listen, 2) get to know your team and 3) keep an open mind. It is critical to spend time with all individuals on your team — whether they’re in the office or out in the field — rather than only carving out time for the folks that directly report to the executive team.

At IHI we have 50 different plants and in turn, 50 different teams and cultures. When leaders don’t take the time to understand their employees, learn about their communication and work styles and make a conscious effort to listen and be open-minded with them, true success cannot be reached.

In an effort to practice what I preach, when I joined IHI, I made a personal commitment to visit all 50 plants and take the time to meet and speak with every team member on-site — a feat that has so far been extremely rewarding to say the least. And while I haven’t quite crossed off that goal quite yet, I plan to complete it by my work anniversary coming up this October — only 12 more to go!

In your experience, which aspect of running a company tends to be most underestimated? Can you explain or give an example?

In my experience, the most underestimated part of running a company is the need to communicate and be in touch with all areas of your organization. As difficult as having an open line of communication may be at times, leaders must do their very best to not only be accessible but also transparent about financials, benefits, goals, concerns about where the company is going, etc.

Because IHI is a company with multiple power plants and over 700 employees, I prioritize a monthly call with each plant to discuss company and plant happenings. With this, we developed a “Like we own it” moment where we recognize achievements, talk about safety, promotions, hires and more. This has helped ensure our team members feel seen, heard and that they know there is always an open line of communication, no matter what.

What are your “Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective C-Suite Executive”?

The five things I think everyone needs to be a highly effective C-Suit executive are as follows:

1. Listen
2. Set Goals
3. Create the best team of people
4. Properly compensate and reward
5. Inspire people to strive for greatness and understand what their role is at every level of the company

In your opinion, what are a few ways that executives can help to create a fantastic work culture? Can you share a story of how this works at IPSC?

To create a fantastic work culture, leaders have to show the people in their organization that the CEO and other leaders genuinely care about them. They need to make sure they are safe, effectively communicate with them, make them part of the company and show them that they matter. When you have the perspective that people are everything, you can create an extraordinary work environment and strong company culture.

If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

Nowadays, a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people would be to reverse climate change. Whether people want to deny it or not, it is indeed happening right before our eyes. Oftentimes organizations promote fossil fuels just for the benefit of money, however, they fail to educate on the harm that such fuels create. If I could develop a movement of truth that would bring information and educate people for a better future, that’s the movement I would start.

If you are interested in working with us visit https://www.ihipower.com/ or follow us on LinkedIn.

Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!

About the Interviewer: Douglas E. Noll, JD, MA was born nearly blind, crippled with club feet, partially deaf, and left-handed. He overcame all of these obstacles to become a successful civil trial lawyer. In 2000, he abandoned his law practice to become a peacemaker. His calling is to serve humanity, and he executes his calling at many levels. He is an award-winning author, teacher, and trainer. He is a highly experienced mediator. Doug’s work carries him from international work to helping people resolve deep interpersonal and ideological conflicts. Doug teaches his innovative de-escalation skill that calms any angry person in 90 seconds or less. With Laurel Kaufer, Doug founded Prison of Peace in 2009. The Prison of Peace project trains life and long terms incarcerated people to be powerful peacemakers and mediators. He has been deeply moved by inmates who have learned and applied deep, empathic listening skills, leadership skills, and problem-solving skills to reduce violence in their prison communities. Their dedication to learning, improving, and serving their communities motivates him to expand the principles of Prison of Peace so that every human wanting to learn the skills of peace may do so. Doug’s awards include California Lawyer Magazine Lawyer of the Year, Best Lawyers in America Lawyer of the Year, Purpose Prize Fellow, International Academy of Mediators Syd Leezak Award of Excellence, National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals Neutral of the Year. His four books have won a number of awards and commendations. Doug’s podcast, Listen With Leaders, is now accepting guests. Click on this link to learn more and apply.