The Strategic Supervisor: Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Customer During Crisis Situations

For many years, the US Marine Corps has utilized a concept known as a “strategic corporal”, which is a small unit leader who not only knows how to win the fight, but also how to win the peace as well. Without understanding the vital need to interact in a positive way with the local populace, it is easy to “win the battle and lose the war”. In the utilities industry, we need “strategic supervisors” to do much the same thing. A “strategic supervisor” is one who not only has the technical skills to fix a problem in the field (like water line break), but is also skilled at engaging with customers in a positive and productive way that enhances our reputation as a company. If not trained properly to accomplish both missions, supervisors at our utilities can win the battle against a line break and lose the war of public opinion in the eyes of the customers. This paper describes how it is done at Daphne Utilities to great success.