NEWWA Leadership Conference—A Young Professional's Perspective

Abstract

This article discusses the Water Supply Leadership Development Institute Conference hosted by the New England Water Works Association in April of 2006, in particular one session titled: “It's 11:00 p.m. in the Water Business ‐ Do You Know Where Your Leaders Are?” As part of this session a “Young Professionals” town meeting was held that provided the opportunity for the leaders of today and those of tomorrow to have a discussion about working together. The overall consensus of the meeting was that communication was key, and that a change of management style was necessary to attract and retain young professionals for the process of succession planning. The top five most important things to them professionally are discussed, and the article states that the most important lesson that came out of this meeting was that each generation has unique qualities that make the workplace better.