As a leader, Randy Hayman said his secret superpower is determination. “When faced with adversity and moments of trepidation, I regroup, modify my plan, and continue moving forward,” he said. “This ability has served me well as I proudly serve as part of leadership for two major water utilities located in different parts of the United States and now as Philadelphia’s water commissioner.”
Successful leaders must be comfortable living in a world of duality, said Hayman. “On one hand, we develop a career based to a degree on individual hard work garnering a record of professional and personal experiences that allow us to stand tall, speak with authority, confidence, guidance and compassion,” he said. “And yet, to be truly effective, we must know how to quietly listen to the organizations we serve and let those working with us do what they are trained to do.”
As a Titan 100 Hall of Fame inductee, Hayman has led the Green City, Clean Water program, now in year 11 of a 25-year implementation schedule. The program utilizes an innovative combination of investments in green stormwater infrastructure coupled with targeted improvements to the robust sewer system to address obligations under the Clean Water Act to reduce combined sewer overflows.
“We were strategic and organized, and in the end, we successfully reduced CSOs by over 3 billion gallons a year on average, which exceeded our 10-year goal by 1 billion gallons – that is 3 billion gallons of pollution that never entered a stream or river in the City of Philadelphia,” said Hayman.
During this process, Hayman said he learned that if you trust in your employees and provide them the tools and resources to be creative, they will develop dynamic new solutions. Moving forward, Hayman said these are very demanding times for the water industry and to move the utility forward, it’s necessary to be able to multitask.
His vision for the next five years involves enhancing efforts to attract and retain new talent, rebuild the aging infrastructure, introduce efficiencies made available through new technologies and demonstrate a commitment to diversity. “We need a bright, young workforce up to the challenges presented, and there are career opportunities at every level of the utility,” said Hayman.
Leaving a legacy of one that showcases his leadership style is a goal for Hayman. “I want my legacy to be that I showed respect to others on a daily basis and that I consistently held the door open for others to have a strong, positive opportunity and an honest chance to live up to their fullest potential,” he said.
