Part 6: Becoming an Anteambulo

This is installment six in a twelve-part series on the future of the Safety and Health (S&H) profession, and the Safety and Health professional. Insights are based on one of the largest and most comprehensive ongoing qualitative research projects on leadership in the safety and health field. Review?part one here ,?part two here ,?part three here , part four here , part five here.

"Ignore getting credit and getting ahead, even throw out what your job is supposed to be on paper. Instead, focus all your energy on finding, presenting, and facilitating opportunities that help other people inside the company succeed — particularly the people you directly report to." Ryan Holiday

How is your manager measured? How is your manager's manager measured? What are their priorities? Do you know what's keeping them up at night?

When we first enter the workforce, join a new organization, or earn a promotion we're given well-intended advice: make other people look good (your boss specifically) and you will do well. Keep your head down, listen, don't create too much noise and certainly don't bash against the proverbial walls; i.e., fall in line, don't break the rules, lick a few boots, and things will go well for you. Although well-intended, this advice is not only disempowering, but leads to disengagement, disenchantment, and the stifling of innovation and creativity. Especially amongst high-performing, hard-charging employees.

What if "success" has nothing to do with making others "look good?" What if success is about providing the support so that others can be good - even and especially if you have to break some rules and bash against a few walls? As Tim Ferriss writes, "the better wording for the advice is to be an anteambulo , clearing the path for the people above you which will eventually create a path for yourself." If we want to be successful, we must learn how to truly make things better, rather than simply looking as if we are.

Imagine, if just once per day you thought of one thing you could do to clear the path for your boss, or your boss's boss. Contemplating how to do so in a way that solely benefitted them and not you. In order to do so, you would need to understand their KPIs, top priorities, and what is on their mind as they seek slumber at day's end.

That is where we're headed today, with actionable, tangible strategies to help you become an anteambulo. "Success" need not be complicated.

Facts Tell | Stories Sell

On the final day of ASSP's Safety 2021 I was posed a question that's been on my mind since: "What is keeping HSE executives up at night?" It's a thought-provoking question, and one many of us would instinctively (and accurately) respond to with: COVID-19, The Great Resignation , employee well-being, supply chain constraints , ESG , and serious injury and fatality (SIF) prevention .

Today, I want to take a deeper cut into three of these, leveraging insights from the more than 160 in-depth interviews with many of the top thought leaders and practitioners in our space, along with recent interviews and insights from several outside our space. You can't read the label from inside the bottle, and for reasons I don't fully understand, the HSE profession has historically been quite insular.

Our best insights are often generated not from looking within, but rather by accepting views from outside of ourselves. When we are open to outside perspectives, we are able to release preconceived notions, remove assumptions and biases, and move beyond asking the same questions of the same people. We must continue to self-examine, create space to look inward, and benchmark feverishly within the profession, but cannot overlook asking those "outside the bottle" to hold the mirror in front of our faces, to provide support from the outside.

Sometimes an external "expert", or "ordinary fellow from another town" as Mark Twain writes, is exactly what's needed to help us see what may have been right in front of us all along. Just ask Doug Pontsler , Chairman and Managing Director at COVE whose recent research reconfirms that most - as much as 90% - of what we think we see is actually our brain filling in the blanks based on bias, memory, and past experiences.

Said another way, we're only "seeing" ~10% of what's happening around us at any given moment. We must learn to view the world as it is - not as it seems initially. We must "realize that our inherent ability to look at something and really see what is there, is impacted by our experiences, our expectations, and our biases." In order to become an anteambulo, especially as it relates to the following topics, we must see clearly.

Clearing the Path

Today, I want to help us each of us do just that - bringing clarity to how we're viewing and approaching the following critical topics in today's safety, health, and business arena:

1. Serious injury and fatality (SIF) prevention
2. President Biden's vaccine mandate
3. The Great Resignation

In doing so, we'll take a look at three tangible, actionable strategies your organization can deploy today to prevent SIFs, navigate the polarized, hyper-politicized conversation of vaccine mandates, and both retain and recruit high-performing safety and health professionals; even and especially as 48% of employees are actively looking to make a change , and nearly 1:4 will do so in the next six months . In the process, intending to make things better for our people and organizations, while helping you clear the path for the people around you, and those above you.

What Are We Pretending Not to Know?

Additionally, for article #6 we bring under question both long-held industry beliefs, and recently developed assumptions, asking each of us to consider if our current approach is the "best known way." Are our current practices truly protecting and enhancing people, property, and creating a highly inclusive, respectful, high-performing organizational environment?

We all have psychological blind spots. As you likely know, we also have a physical blind spot in each eye. We don't notice this natural blind spot because our other eye makes up for it. What one eye doesn’t see, the other eye does, and our brain fills in what’s missing.

When it comes to SIF prevention, navigating vaccine mandates, and The Great Resignation, what are you missing? What collectively are we missing? How is that affecting how, and maybe more importantly, who we choose to engage with on these critical topics? Where are your blind spots?

Yet again, both you as an individual practitioner, and we as a collective profession have been granted an opportunity to make great things possible, and prevent grim things from happening. We've cauterized so many "burdens" into blessings during this time, and have another opportunity to do so. That is, if we choose wisely - voting with facts and then our feet, rather than our ever-fluctuating feelings. Seeing things as they are, but not any worse. Leaning into crucial conversations, rather than shying away from them.

To assume our decisions to this point haven't been, and won't be impacted by blind spots and biases would be, both inaccurate and irresponsible. Not only are these topics complex, they're "emotionally stimulating" in nature, which will only further arouse our blind spots, and our more than 188 proven cognitive biases .

Uncovering what we don’t know requires new questions, self-discovery, and external feedback. I hope today's article provides all three - while delivering tangible strategies to help each of us make things better for the people around us. In order to do so, in order to become an anteambulo, we must see clearly and proceed thoughtfully.

Topic #1: Serious Injury and Fatality (SIF) Prevention

"We need a new paradigm to understand and guide prevention efforts for SIFs." 7 Insights Into Safety Leadership

If your organization were to experience a SIF, where would it occur? If your son or daughter, husband or wife were to join your organization on the frontlines tomorrow, what is the task or tasks you would absolutely refuse to allow them to perform? If you were CEO for a day, where would you immediately invest to reduce risk?

What is the dumbest thing your organization asks the worker to do?

The data is clear (see graph below), recordable injuries are declining steadily, but serious and fatal injuries (SIFs) are level, even increasing across certain industries. Why is this so?

There is a "growing realization that techniques that have worked well over the years to reduce overall OSHA injury and illness rates have not had a similar impact on the injuries and illnesses that cause the greatest loss and human suffering. Fatalities, life-threatening events, and severe injuries and illnesses that are life altering continue at unacceptable levels. The ongoing loss is attributed to the insufficiency of current approaches and to several concepts that have underpinned our profession for decades that may actually be barriers to serious injury and illness prevention." ORC HSE

In December 2008, Fred Manuele wrote a definitive paper in Professional Safety titled, Serious Injuries and Fatalities. A call for a new focus on their prevention . Along with this article from Dr. Tom Krause and numerous, readily available resources from organizations such as ORC HSE , ASSP, and The Campbell Institute , one would assume we would be making progress on the injuries and illnesses that cause the greatest loss and human suffering. Yet, we're not.

There seems to be near consensus across the profession that the factors that cause and result in high severity incidents are fundamentally different than those that cause and result in minor injuries. But is there? It seems obvious that for the "traditional", outdated view of injury prevention to hold, whether an error or other system failure results in a fatality, serious injury, or minor cut is simply a matter of odds; i.e., all other factors remain the same.?This is clearly not so. Differing levels of energy input into the system, lead to differing results (injuries and illnesses) as an output of the system.

As Manuele, Krause, and others have correctly pointed out, the factors that lead to, and result in severe injuries are uniquely different from those associated with minor, frequent injuries, with energy level being the fundamental difference.?The majority of mishaps do not have the potential to become severe, so the assumed mathematical relationship (300-29-1) and assumption that reducing frequency in turn reduces severity is therefore debunked. Frequency does not breed severity. The precursors to papercuts are not the same as amputations. Preventing slips, trips, and falls and their resulting injuries at the same level clearly won't prevent falls from height and their resulting implications.

Or, as stated rather bluntly here , "people do not die because coffee drinkers are walking around with?cups without lids . Similarly, minor incidents do not, in general, escalate into or predict major incidents."

None of this should be new to us. We've been challenging the "frequency breeds severity" concept for years. But it is vital we keep this conversation at the forefront. Nearly 20 years ago, in 2003, James Johnson, a managing director at Liberty Mutual Insurance Company stated:

"I’m sure that many of us have said at one time or another that frequency reduction will result in severity reduction. This popularly held belief is not necessarily true. If we do nothing different than we are doing today, these types of trends will continue."

It seems they have...but they don't have to. We must continue to declare war; not on all injuries, but on the injuries and illnesses that cause the the greatest loss and human suffering , while viewing each pSIF (potential SIF) as a learning moment. We could be one breakthrough, one study, one conversation, one courageous organization's micro-experimentation away from stepping off the plateau we've found ourselves trapped on for decades, and onto a new platform. A platform of progress.

But progress takes time. The war on cancer for example will never cease, even if the data indicates that "when it comes to lung cancer, when it comes to pancreatic cancer, when it comes to colon cancer, or breast cancer, we're in the same situation today we were in 1970. That’s pretty depressing when you consider how much progress has been made in cardiovascular disease since that time." The fight must rage on, whether it be cancer or SIF prevention. Because one breakthrough, one study, one courageous organization or conversation...

When it comes to SIF prevention, we don't need any more motivation - our profession is deeply passionate on the subject - but we do need behavioral modification. We need more anteambulos. Those courageous enough to clear the path, to lead the way.

Say it Seven Times | Or...

There's an old fable that begins with a pastor ministering to his congregation. This particular pastor was a brilliant speaker, and a wise man. People came from miles away to hear his inspiring messages; and they loved him. One Sunday, after five consecutive weeks of delivering the same exact sermon, some of the elders became concerned that the pastor was losing his touch. So they approached him after the service and asked if he was aware that he had been preaching the same sermon for the past five weeks. He calmly responded:

Oh, I’m glad you noticed. I’m going to keep preaching the same sermon until everyone starts applying it...

It seems, based on results that some of the audience we're intending to reach hasn't been listening, or is it that we haven't been communicating?

In marketing circles, there's an adage that speaks to the necessity of repeating key messaging in multiple ways across multiple platforms: "say it seven times” the adage goes. One of my favorite leaders at 3M often reminds me that in today's world we need to say it "seven times 77 times." I agree. The only way we move from plateau to progress is not necessarily to "keep preaching the same sermon," (that would be rather off-putting). But instead to double down on communicating, teaching, and implementing the critical concepts of SIF prevention.

"If more information was the answer, then we'd all be billionaires with six-pack abs," and SIFs would be declining. How can you put the following information to use? Where can you implement in order to impact SIFs in your organization?

• If you manage the small incidents effectively, the small incidents improve, but the major incident count stays the same, or even slightly increases
• The premises on which the pyramids, the triangles or the specific ratios (e.g., the 300-29-1 ratios) were built are not valid, or at a minimum, like an iceberg we need to look below the water line for understanding
• Frequency reduction does not necessarily produce equivalent severity reduction

I understand you "already know this stuff." But this conversation may not just be about you. Do your senior leaders understand? Are your operational leaders engaged in the conversation? Do the majority of organizations, both the large and long-tail small to mediums (who employ more than 58 million Americans) understand? Have you made it your mission for everyone to understand?

Nearly half of all Americans - 47.5% - are employed by small businesses. This means that?58.9 million employees?in the United States work at a small business and businesses with less than 100 workers employ the largest share of American workers.

Additionally, is your organization practicing these principles? Or, simply aware of them?

Clearly, it's not just "more information" as the answer. Information alone rarely leads to implementation. We need something deeper, something "stickier." We need a new paradigm to understand and guide prevention efforts for SIFs, and part of that paradigm begins with identifying the precursors to serious injuries and fatalities (SIFs) within your organization.

Preventing SIFs | S#*! That Can Kill You (STCKY)

When it comes to most forms of cancer, we know that two of the answers to living longer are prevention, and detection. We know that not smoking and being metabolically healthy are, hands down, the two biggest things we can do to prevent cancer. Then, the next step is "how aggressively can you screen and stack different levels of screening technologies on top of each other," leveraging the Swiss cheese approach. "You want to be able to stack a whole bunch of things on top of themselves, so you get to where only one pencil can fit through." Dr. Peter Attia

When it comes to SIF prevention, we know that identifying the situations that have a greater likelihood of resulting in a SIF is one piece of the complex puzzle to managing risk with high severity potential. Thus, a necessary step forward in SIF prevention logically, is detection. One of the most engaging approaches we've come across to uncovering (detecting) and managing (preventing) risk with high severity potential is from Paul Levin and Sundt Construction.

The S#*! That Can Kill You (STCKY) strategy to protecting people and preventing SIFs focuses on those tasks with high severity potential. As Levin writes, "we believe the industry’s emphasis on TRIR and EMR data does not provide a full view of safety on the jobsite. We absolutely need to focus on the real S#*! That Can Kill You (STCKY)." I agree.

• Has your organization identified the S#*! That Can Kill You (STCKY)? Doing so through frontline engagement - asking new and original questions of those who understand work as performed (versus work as planned), refraining from the exhausted, unimaginative question I've been guilty of asking far too many times, "do you have any safety concerns?"

The most effective communicators, whether we're referring to conversational competence, or uncovering where SIF potential resides within our operations are proficient in asking original, open-ended questions. Are you asking the right questions of the right people? Original questions trigger original thought. "Traditional" questions will only trigger memory and recall, leaving us with "traditional" answers, and thus traditional results.

What is one thing you can do today to uncover the precursors to SIFs that exist within your operations? How can you help redefine how your organization thinks about SIFs? Who do you need to be in order to make that happen? What would that person do? We often take our expertise for granted, not realizing how many can benefit from it. Furthermore, we often take their expertise for granted. Often the frontline knows what keeps them up at night and are waiting for someone to ask the right question - walking with them, working with them to find a solution. What insights do you have, what expertise does the worker have that can progress the conversation and execution of SIF prevention?

Could it be that our progress won't be dictated by "preaching the same sermon," but instead, by asking the right questions? Consider asking:

• What are the high-hazard activities your workers are performing today?
• What are the critical controls needed during those activities?
• What are the consequences if those controls aren't leveraged, or they fail?

I don't have the answers. But, your workers do. You likely as well. Questions are our pickaxes and competitive advantage. Imagine where we can go if collectively we begin, and then continue asking the right questions; asking with curiosity, and listening with humility. We need a new paradigm for SIF prevention...

Topic #2: Vaccine Mandates | A Failure in Influence?

"What are they going to do, quit? Every other company will be requiring the vaccination too."

I am going to assume most of you are aware that the U.S. federal government recently announced two unique, federal mandates:

1. A directive by the Biden administration to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to establish an emergency temporary standard (ETS) mandating U.S. based companies with more than 100 employees require their U.S. employees be vaccinated, or tested for COVID-19 weekly. As you also likely know, this federally driven mandate is not yet in effect and companies across the country anxiously await further guidance from the government.
2. An Executive Order by the Biden administration that requires U.S. federal government contractors mandate their U.S. employees be vaccinated. The Executive Order does not allow the option of weekly testing for those who choose to refrain from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Any domestic company doing business with the U.S. federal government is required to comply.

I am also going to assume you understand the bind this puts thousands of companies, and millions of workers (people just like you and I) in. It is estimated that ~44% of workers would consider leaving their jobs if forced to get the vaccine.

It's not anyone's "fault," but it is all of our responsibility to acknowledge that we have made this conversation one of high politicization and hyper-polarization, with opinions and perspectives as wide and deep as the ocean. Thus, it must also be our responsibility to lend a hand, apply our expertise, and be a part of the solution.

"The future - indeed, maybe even your future self - is going to look back on this moment and evaluate. Will it find that you were part of the problem or part of the solution? Did you step up, or shrink back? Did you do your duty? Were you in the game, or on the sidelines?"

If the people around us are not feeling seen, heard, and respected, regardless of their position on vaccines and vaccine mandates, we have not done our duty. If we're going to be in the game, which we all are like it or not, we have an obligation to play it well; to honor and serve.

For these reasons, we've chosen to engage Keith Mercurio, CEO of Ethical Influence Global on the topic – seeking an external, neutral perspective unbiased by political association, professional designation, or company representation.

If you, your organization, or those in your life are impacted by these mandates, or, if you find yourself in a position where your leadership and influence will determine the direction your organization drives during this time, I cannot encourage you enough to review what follows. Our ethical influence is needed as much as ever, and there’s not a person we’ve come across who is stronger at teaching, coaching, and training on the subject than Keith.

The AIHA agrees with our assessment, which is why they’ve invited Keith to deliver a half-day PDC on the subject November 9, 2021 and partnered with him to facilitate the upcoming AIHA Future Leaders Institute (FLI) being held in Tampa, Florida in March of 2022. Applications for FLI 2022 , the most progressive leadership development opportunity available for safety and health professionals today, are live now.

Navigating Vaccine Mandates Through "Ethical influence." Keith Mercurio

The premise of ethical influence is learning to influence people in a way that honors and serves them. This means enhancing our ability to communicate in a way that compels and inspires action, while speaking truth from a place of love for fellow humans. And so in this way, mandates are the lowest form of influence.?

Mandates are draconian. They fundamentally declare, “I know better than you and you’ll do as I say or else…” (from the Latin manus: to force by hand).

Now don’t confuse this with my opinion on the vaccine. I’m strongly in favor and have taken it myself. But in this current climate of these mandates being forced upon businesses by the federal government, I think businesses have a real opportunity to show up as the true leaders we need in this divisive world right now.?

Diversity, equity and inclusion also means being inclusive of diverse beliefs. Certainly what we choose to place in our body falls under that same protection. Right now businesses have the opportunity to say to their people, “we believe strongly in your right to make choices for yourselves, and so although we will follow the guidelines of the OSHA enforced mandate, we want to make every effort to allow for those of you who choose not to get vaccinated to pursue a path of testing so as to protect that right.”

Now it’s perfectly reasonable that those employees be expected to incur the cost of testing and likely be held to a 1 or 2 strike termination policy for failure to comply considering the enormous risk of financial penalty under the mandate. But businesses have a chance to tell their people that their beliefs matter and to really engage their workforce (and possibly attract others who are looking to flee those businesses that just tow the line).?

Additionally, by simply providing objective, well-researched educators and panels on vaccine safety and the virus (i.e. Marty Stern at Colgate-Palmolive partnering with Mt. Sinai doctors), you’ll see a significant uptick in vaccine adoption by means of allowing people to access information without pressure and by protecting their choice. In doing so, more people will choose to adopt the vaccine path on their own, some may not, but in the end, you will have honored, served, saved and preserved lives, and maybe even some liberty.

Consider, whether you’re one of, or even the person within your organization, regardless of your title or hierarchical position to help your leadership navigate this crucial conversation. To bring forward both the tangible tools and actionable strategies to bring clarity and composure to the chaotic conversation of mandates. To lead with heart, not just another FAQ. People will only listen, if they know they're being listened to.

Yet again, an opportunity to be an anteambulo. To clear the path for those above you, and certainly in this scenario, those around you. To honor and serve. To listen, to lead with respect. Will you take it? Will you choose to be part of the solution? A solution that looks like empathy, compassion, open-mindedness, and understanding. Part of the problem looks like leaders who fail to recognize the reverberating impact words like this have:

"What are they going to do, quit? Every other company will be requiring the vaccination too."

Whether your organization chooses to be part of the solution, or chooses otherwise will have lasting effects; especially as it relates to topic #3.

| Click here for more information and to register for the upcoming AIHA PDC on November 9th with Keith Mercurio, Ethical In?uence: The Art & Science of Inspiring Change . |

Topic #3: The Great Resignation

"Poor managers keep people trapped in dead-end jobs. Good managers create opportunities for people to grow and advance. Great managers encourage people to pursue growth and advancement, even if it means leaving for another organization."

For anyone who doubted, the data is in. The Great Resignation is real and it’s happening. The?U.S. Department of Labor reported that between April - June 2021 a total of 11.5 million workers quit their jobs. According to?Gallup research , 48% of employees are actively looking to make a change, and according to?Personio research, ?nearly 1:4 will do so in the next six months. For those looking for new opportunities, let's just say things are looking up. In June, the U.S. hit an all-time high of?10.1 million job ?openings, 4,000 of those in the genre of safety and health alone.

To understand how companies need to adapt, it’s important to understand why people are quitting. A recent?Gallup article? coined it nicely by saying, “It’s not an industry, role or pay issue. It’s a workplace issue.” Companies have an engagement problem. "Many organizations have inadvertently designed out the things that create engagement and instead have created stagnate, disconnected workplaces." According to Gallup the three most common reasons employees disengage are:

1. Not seeing opportunities for development
2. Not feeling connected to the company’s purpose
3. Not having strong relationships at work

So, how do we design back in the things that create engagement? Here are three ideas from Aubrey Daniels International companies can begin using now to help create a more engaging organization.

With that, can we agree that people generally stick with companies who provide consistent development opportunities, connect their people to purpose, and systematically design in moments to authentically engage with, and deepen relationships with colleagues? We need not overcomplicate things, nor do we need another study on "The Great Resignation" to acknowledge that far too many companies have failed to deliver for their people long before the pandemic. Could it be that some companies are simply reaping today what they've been sowing (profits over people) for years?

Expectations Have Changed | So Must We

We must acknowledge that through this unique moment in time, employee attitudes and expectations have changed. Not just in safety and health, but broadly. There is a new set of expectations around the role we play in leading our teams and the impact we have not only on their work experience, but on their life. The leader, the manager who is able to operate with compassion, empathy, consistency, and understanding; the person who can cultivate meaningful and lasting relationships and considers the whole person and the well-being in their whole life, that’s the type of manager employees are willing (and yearning) to follow today.

The challenge we have is most leaders are ill equipped and unprepared to lead their teams into the future. Leaders are having a crisis of confidence in themselves with only half reporting they are well-equipped to lead their organization in the future.

Anchor that in for a moment. What was good enough to lead, more specifically what was good enough to lead safety and health over the last ten years is not going to get you where you need to be over the next ten months and beyond. This pandemic has been an accelerant, and the skills and competencies required to lead effectively are skills we must develop; and develop immediately.

Don't Hate the Player | Nor the Game | Learn How to Manage It

The marketplace for talent has clearly shifted and we need to think of our employees like customers and put thoughtful attention into retaining them, while building a bridge for those who choose to leave. As you can imagine, this does not happen when people feel ignored in the companies fervor to hire new people, underappreciated for their efforts to move the organization forward, or overlooked because their manager is overwhelmed managing COVID, rather than making space for a world-class employee (customer) experience.

This is especially true for peak performers, who may feel as if their talents have not been on full display for months. Are we setting the top talent on our teams up to win? Giving them opportunities to deploy and display their unique skillsets and abilities? If we don’t give them the opportunity for growth, stretch roles and goals, and a stage with which to demonstrate their God-given abilities, they will find somewhere, and maybe more accurately, someone who will.

Clearing the Path

"Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center. Big, undreamed-of things - the people on the edge see them first." Kurt Vonnegut

The universe has granted us yet another opportunity - for you as an individual practitioner, and we as a collective profession to cauterize more "burdens" into blessings. But, we must choose wisely. Aiming to honor and serve; willing to lean into uncomfortable conversations, to really ask, and then really listen.

The challenge we all face is the fact we are biologically wired and chemically rewarded for telling and stating, versus asking and inquiring. When we express ourselves, our bodies release a cocktail of reward?hormones. The more we talk, the better we feel and in the process we can become blind to conversational dynamics. In other words, we may falsely believe we're speaking to each other, when we're really speaking?past?each other, unintentionally hurting those we are intending to be in conversation with.

How can you make a point, without a making an enemy?

During this time, as much as ever we have an opportunity to converse in question-led humble dialogues, rather than engaging in frustrating (often unintended) monologues. We must find ways to make a point, without making an enemy in the process. It's important we understand that people will only listen, if they know they're being listened to. In order for us to clear the path, we must first understand why a particular path is being walked in the first place. We must be willing to get in proximity to our people, if we ever hope to understand. Distance creates distortion, but closeness creates clarity and connection.

My intent today was to engage you, the reader in asking original questions, with the purpose of unlocking new ways of seeing old things. What original questions need to be asked in order to step off the plateau of SIF prevention we still find ourselves on today? Whose original thoughts are you avoiding, or blatantly ignoring regarding vaccine mandates? How critical is your leadership in helping your organization navigate this time and the mind-bending reality that ~48% of people are currently, actively pursuing a change?

Imagine what's possible when we choose to really ask for perspectives outside our own, and then really listen. Could it be that the quality of the questions we choose to ask during this time, coupled with our willingness to listen will be in direct proportion to the efficacy of our leadership?

In order for us to clear the path, we must harness the courage to walk ahead. Keeping our eyes up and our ears open; seeking new ideas and seeing new things we can't see from the center.

In doing so, we will improve our organizations' ability to identify, and then prevent SIFs, deepen trust with the workforce, leave people feeling seen, heard, and respected (whether they choose to stay or not), and just possibly, support our bosses in getting some sleep tonight.

Clear the path for others, help them get to where they most desire; and in the process don't forget to get clear on yours. The moments when your own path is at its most ambiguous, that's when the voices of others, the distracting chaos in which we live, begin to loom large and threaten our progress. Get out on the edge, and in motion. Remove the distracting chaos. Quiet the discouraging voices. The person who clears the path ultimately controls its direction. Become an anteambulo. Listen hard, then lead from the front.

With over a decade of experience with the 3M company in a variety of technical and leadership roles, Jason Kunz demonstrates his passion for the safety and health profession across multiple platforms. A forward-thinker, with the objective to elevate the health and well-being of all workers, Jason uses his voice to amplify the profession and the professional. His life journey, blessings, and struggles have inspired a commitment to building professional communities that ensure an empowerment of their people. Jason is a husband, co-founder, speaker, coach, and community advocate. He's a CIH and CSP, but mostly grateful to have a J-O-B and work with some of the most passionate and compassionate people on the planet.?Married since 2019, Jason and his wife Malia call Minneapolis home.