Strong People Skills

Since taking over as director of communication services at Duke Energy in 1993, Delilah Fisher has earned a reputation as a fair, efficient, customer-oriented manager who is willing to listen to new ideas and let employees make their own decisions. That's one reason her staff nominated her for Manager of the Year, an honor she earned in 1998.

Fisher has spent the last 21 years at Duke Energy, a Charlotte, N.C.-based utility. When Duke merged with Pan Energy, Fisher was given responsibility for Pan's Houston-based in-plant, as well as its video production and trade show planning functions.

Fisher has been traveling to Houston once a month ever since. While she's there, she sits down and talks with employees individually. Fisher understands the importance of employee training and she budgets money each year for it.

One of her strengths has always been customer service.

"You really have to stay in tune with your customers and what their needs are," she advises. "Understand how their business is changing and what...they're going to need from the in-plant in the future."

Being named Manager of the Year was quite an honor, Fisher says.

"I had lots of calls, particularly from suppliers, to congratulate me," she says. "It did open some doors for some dialog with potential suppliers that we have [since] done some business with."

Since 1998, her operation has not changed significantly, she says. She recently consolidated some paper contracts and conducted salary studies, but the total in-plant staff at her two operations remains at 47.

Bob Neubauer can be contacted at: bneubauer@napco.com.