OUC EXEC SHARES SUCCESS TIPS WITH JOB TRAINEES

LeMoyne Adams, Vice President of Electric & Water Distribution, offers simple tips for career success to participants in the OUC-sponsored Pre-Ppprenticeship Training Program.

Being “gainfully employed,” that’s how OUC executive LeMoyne Adams defined success as he began his career as an electrical engineer with OUC in 1993. But to be successful in a chosen profession, as well as in life, that takes a commitment to following some tried and true simple words of advice, he told a group of young men participating in an OUC-sponsored workforce development program.

Sitting at the head of a long conference table at Frontine Outreach Center, site of the 420-hour Pre-Apprenticeship Training Program, Adams, Vice President of Electric & Water Distribution, said success is a “learned behavior.” He knows this from personal experience, becoming an adherent of habits practiced by successful people after a college report card signaled he was heading in the wrong direction.

Eight participants in the OUC-sponsored Pre-Apprenticeship Training Program are flanked by Vince Preston, Director of Logistics (far left), Alandus Sims, Project Manager of Strategic Community Partnerships, and LeMoyne Adams, Vice President of Electric & Water Distribution (far right).

Adams met with eight program trainees on Oct. 20, 2021, after they had completed job interviews with potential employers representing companies in trade fields, including construction, carpentry, plumbing, electrical and building maintenance.

OUC contributed $35,000 to fund the pre-apprenticeship initiative as part of an ongoing investment in its Empowerment 4 the Future Zone, a disadvantaged area encompassing the 32805 ZIP code (I-4 west to John Young Parkway and Colonial Drive south to Kaley Avenue). Participants in program live in the Empowerment Zone. iBuild Central Florida, a nonprofit dedicated to preparing young men and women to work in construction-related fields, conducted the training.

Hoping to help influence the young men’s career trajectories, Adams shared five keys to success that he said form the “foundational footprint” of successful people. “The words are simple, but it’s practicing these things consistently over time that will help you become a successful person in life,” he said.

No. 1 – Work hard. “Outwork other people,” Adams added for emphasis.
No. 2 – Have a positive attitude.
No. 3 – Be goal oriented.
No. 4 – Do the right thing/Make good decisions. “While working, never lie, steal or purposefully falsify time sheets,” he warned.
No. 5 – Live by this simple 10, two-letter word motto: “If it is to be, it is up to me.”