Episode #11: Jimmy Staton, CEO at Southern Star - Team Communication, Vulnerability & Being A Flexible Leader

In today's episode, Christie sat down with Jimmy Staton. Jimmy D. Staton serves as the President & Chief Executive Officer of Southern Star joining the Company in December 2016.  Mr. Staton has extensive experience in the energy industry.  Before joining Southern Star, he served as the Executive Vice President and member of the Board of Directors for Venture Global LNG.  Prior to his work with Venture Global, he served as Executive Vice President of NiSource and the Chief Executive Officer of the Columbia Pipeline Group, Northern Indiana Public Service Company and the Columbia Distribution Companies.

Mr. Staton served in several Senior Executive roles with Dominion Energy where he led Dominion’s Natural Gas, Electric Transmission and Distribution and Telecommunications operations.  Prior to joining Dominion Energy, Mr. Staton was President, Regulated Operations, for Consolidated Natural Gas.

Leading Forward with Christie Berger

Highlights: "Team Communication, Vulnerability & Being A Flexible Leader"

• Leading with perspective and creating plans while leading with your heart.
• It is important to understand and appreciate where customers and manufacturers are coming from. Understanding both sides is critical.
• “Lead with passion” and “not try to be what someone else is expecting you to be as a leader.”
• It is okay to be vulnerable with your team and to accept vulnerability as a leader
• Mentors are important because they help you “see yourself differently”
• “As the pace of change accelerates, we don’t have to run faster; we need to lead smarter.”
• The organization needed to be more patient and listen while being more flexible.
• Continuing to enhance the organization’s appreciation was necessary to stay active in the community.
• Communicating better as a team: transitioning to video communication and rolling out an internal social media platform to have more personal interaction.
• Weekly check-in with team members and leadership and a “pulse survey” has helped the organization pivot based on team member feedback
• Moving forward after COVID-19, the organization will have a more flexible work schedule. Managing balance in work and life is important and the pandemic has shown ways to be more intentional with communication.
• Opportunities facing the natural gas industry: to continue to invest in technology and infrastructure to utilize natural gas in different ways that are more environmentally sound.

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LEADING FORWARD breaks down professional assumptions through meaningful conversations that remind us all that leading, effectively, can and often does look different for each of us.

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