By Morgan Scott, Consolidated Edison Company of New York
Kathy Boden, Vice President Gas Operations at Con Edison and keynote speaker for the WICE Fall Conference, started the day off with her personal story as a pioneer in the energy industry and giving the audience advice on ways to develop a successful and fulfilling career. Kathy began by discussing her goal in life – being financially independent – which she set early as a junior in high school. This goal would be a driving force as she advanced throughout her studies and career. A student at New York State University Albany, she initially intended to study math or physics in order to become a teacher, but majored instead in engineering after researching career opportunities that would help her reach her goal.
Kathy then took the audience through her life-long career at Con Edison starting upon graduation, in the Company’s Management Intern Program followed by the Field Intern Program in the Electric Distribution group. She continued to progress through the Company’s Electric business, becoming a supervisor in Brooklyn Electric Services where she continued to learn the intricacies of the electric system and was challenged to become more assertive. This assignment was followed by five promotions in eight years as she became the first female Department Manager in the Manhattan Electric Control Room and again the first woman to be named Chief Distribution Engineer. In these positions she learned the value of team work and the importance of boundaries as she continued to develop her understanding of the Company’s electrical system. Her hard work and dedication to learning her business, was rewarded when Kathy was then named the Vice President of Manhattan Electric Operations.
Kathy’s most recent promotion to VP of Gas Operations has been a complete switch, challenging her to draw upon lessons from throughout her career to support her learning of a new business and commodity. The second part of her talk focused on those lessons which have helped her the most and which she gave to the group as an example of things that can be done to enhance success. She spoke about the importance of showing up, learning, and contributing. She explained the importance of developing a respectful yet also passionate opinion that comes from a place of either knowing or wanting to know. Kathy also touched on the issue of work-life balance challenging that one should not be sacrificed for the other but instead as women we should strive to thrive in each piece and learn to find true balance. Kathy closed with her top 5 pieces of advice:
- It is okay to be scared
- Keep the big picture in mind
- Learn your business and create lasting relationships
- You can’t make it alone
- Learn how to set boundaries and make you the #1 priority
Kathy ended her talk by saying that keeping a sense of humor will get you through anything – her humor certainly came through as she told her inspirational story and her advice was a great way to begin the conversation of how to develop a personal brand in the workplace.
