Power from the bottom up.

• Author: Shelton, Ken
• Position: Utah Power and Light Co.'s chief executive officer, Verl Topham, a believer in, practitioner of open management, team playing

POWER FROM THE BOTTOM UP

Every year for the past 20 years, Verl Topham has travelled to Cedar City to the Shakespeare festival. One of his favorite plays in King Lear. He likes Lear for the lessons it teaches about power and leadership.

Indeed, history repeats itself. We see the same misuses and abuses of power in most of today's organizations. Power, it seems, is intoxicating--it goes to one's head, affecting vision, reducing reason and, in some cases, inducing madness. The corporate counterpart to King Lear is the CEO who, from the top down, demands loyalty and expects certain affections from followers.

Atop the impressive One Utah Center tower, Verl Topham has the power office in the state. He enjoys expansive views of the Salt Lake valley and, electronically, has instant access to data and information on virtually every person, place, and thing in the state. Utah Power has some 530,000 customers in Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming, 4,800 employees, and annual sales of $1 billion.

But the 57-year-old native of Paragonah is amazingly unaffected by it all. Like the children in the company's ads, Topham has a sort of natural aversion to power. He quotes, in addition to Shakespeare, Thomas Jefferson: "I've sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." Says Topham, "There is no greater tyranny than the tyranny we place upon ourselves through our own fears, inhibitions, restrictions, and self-limiting beliefs." He wants his management team to be free from prejudice and preconceived notions. His favorite book, Les Miserables, is the account of a French revolution against abusive aristocracy.

"I try not to let titles and office surroundings get to me," says Topham. "I try to keep a common touch and appreciation for those who do the real work of the company. I spend a lot of time visiting our offices and plants and our customers to listen to them and let them know I support them. There's a good deal of natural skepticism about me as the leader of a merged company. My managers see me as someone who has the power to upset their lives. I'm gone a lot. And so they wonder who I am, what I am all about, and whether I represent their interests, and the best interests of customers, stockholders, and employees."

He adds reassuringly, "I don't believe in bullying people or abusing power. I'd rather be creative in coming up with win-win alternatives. You have to respect the power of your position and use it carefully as you would the power of electricity. Respect is earned; it cannot be decreed."

One reason Verl Topham practices a bottom-up style is that he has worked dutifully along a slow and steady track up the legal side of the corporate ladder. Also, he comes from pioneer stock. His ancestors settled the Paragonah area, and his father, Angus, was a farmer and rancher. While Verl never took to ranching, he retained a small town sense of community and values. At age 16, he received a ticket out of Paragonah in the form of a scholarship to the University of Utah. He graduated...