Electric cooperatives have long valued leadership — to guide long-term strategic direction, inspire positive change, and empower employees and the community alike. Paulding Putnam Electric Cooperative’s Accounting Manager Annette Schreiner recently took the lead, completing six courses, a capstone project, and personality assessments to earn her Cooperative Leadership Edge certificate.
This five-month program, held by PPEC’s statewide trade associations — Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives (OEC) and Indiana Electric Cooperatives — was based in Columbus, Ohio, where Schreiner was assigned a mentor coach, completed in-depth coursework and activities both in and outside of the classroom, and executed a capstone project.
A deep dive into two individual assessments, the DiSC Assessment and the EQ-i 2.0 Assessment, revealed Schreiner’s strengths, guiding her through a personal development plan aimed at fine-tuning her leadership skills. Coursework focused on coaching employees, time management, emotional intelligence and conflict, adapting communication approaches, carrying out difficult conversations, and business and finance writing.
“The Cooperative Leadership Edge certificate program is designed to be more than just training; it’s a learning experience with measured results throughout the program to gauge impact,” states the program description. “Between courses, learners participate in structured and unstructured activities to refresh, expand, and apply the learned skills.”
Schreiner lives in the Bryan area and has been a PPEC employee since March 2011.
