When Robert Gardner was applying for an engineering job in his hometown of Springfield, Tennessee three decades ago, the young black engineering graduate thought he would drop off his resume and hear about a job interview later.
But then Springfield Electric Manager Ralph Jerrell agreed to an on-the-spot interview that began with a gruff question – “What do you want?”
Gardner recalls Jerrell as “an old school, my-way or the highway” kind of manager, but he ended up talking with Jerrell for four hours that day. A job offer didn’t come until six months later, but Gardner said Jerrell ultimately proved to be one of his mentors and recommended him as his successor in 1994 to become the first black head of a TVA distributor in history.
“I realized that I had initially prejudged Mr. Jerrell, thinking he might be a racist based upon the way he looked. But he taught me a great deal about TVA, the industry and the need not to prejudge anyone and he opened doors for me that I didn’t think I was ready to walk through,” Gardner said Friday during a panel discussion during a Black History Month event at the power headquarter of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Gardner, who has served as the first African American to head a local power company in the Tennessee Valley for the past 25 years, said he initially tried to follow the authoritative management style of his predecessor. But over time, the Springfield Electric director said he has learned that the key to management is focusing on the people, not just the job.