TRANSIT SAFETY CULTURE: FOSTERING AUTHENTICITY AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN THE TRANSIT INDUSTRY
TRANSIT SAFETY CULTURE: FOSTERING AUTHENTICITY AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN THE TRANSIT INDUSTRY.
BY
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LEVERN MCELVEEN
A literature review on leadership in America draws a dark conclusion. Leadership is mostly a failure and at an all-time low. I reviewed approximately 50 sources on multiple topics regarding leadership to support this theory: defining leadership, incompetent leadership, leadership inability to manage people, emotional intelligence, managing self, innovation, diversity, inclusion, resilience, strategy, leading teams, accountability, and responsibility, and change management.
Dr. Barbara Kellerman defines leadership in the 21st Century as ineffective, incompetent, unethical, and self-interested. She cites, "Ineffective leaders are incompetent, rigid, and intemperate. Unethical leaders are callous, corrupt, insular, and evil. In her book "Bad Leadership," she highlights the problem with leadership in the 21st Century: leaders are largely not connecting with followers for the common good. To achieve a common objective, power must be shared, and leaders must connect with followers to be successful. Leadership metrics are described as being subjective versus objective”. She further concludes, “training for today's leaders is inadequate."
America needs visionary leadership like historical leaders. Visionary leaders are bold and have big dreams and aspirations, they are critical thinkers and understand their own emotions and that of their followers and those they serve, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, A Phillip Randolph, and Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (Mother Teresa). Their leadership style creates excitement, positive momentum, and longevity in the groups they served.
Visionary leaders are influential at leading teams toward achieving a common goal (vision). Visionary leaders promote organized learning, creativity, and the development of strong relationships within the team. Creative leadership is useful for groups and organizations focused on the future and possess an entrepreneurial spirit. Not only are visionary leaders intelligent in the traditional sense of the word, but they are also emotionally intelligent. They understand the power of feelings and can show empathy to those around them.
Visionary leaders have a knack for inspiring others to action to create a better future and solve problems in new ways. Their leadership style creates excitement, positive momentum, and longevity in an organization. Visionary leaders thrive on innovation and change. These leaders encourage creative thinking and problem-solving skills in employees. A visionary leader embraces change and views the use of new ideas and processes as progress (Kinsey, 2018)
As I stay abreast of activities in the transit industry, I have observed with excitement several African American females becoming CEOs of transit systems. I used the term excitement because they are breaking glass-ceilings, addressing white supremacy and systemic racism that has plagued the transit industry historically, and they could become and perform as visionary leaders moving forward. Although I was in the industry for 45 years, I do not know many new CEOs. I write this article to share my experience with these successful African American women, women of color and men, future transit leaders, and all transit leaders. I hope to impress upon you the need to lead with authenticity and engagement.
Fostering Authenticity and Employee Engagement: Case Study
I was compelled to write this article after listening to a Harvard Business Review Podcast with Professor Toney Mayo, titled Fostering Authenticity and Employees Engagement at John Deere. The podcast was a case study on Rosalind Fox, an African American woman employed with John Deere at the senior level. The professor began his class by asking students to score from 1-10 how difficult it must have been for Rosalind Fox to be successful at John Deere based on reading the case study (concept mapping), and I will add John Deere long history of systemic racism.
As the first Black female factory manager at John Deere, Rosalind Fox must figure out how to build a relationship with her staff, mostly white men. Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer Toney Mayo discusses Rosalind Fox's pressure to assimilate into the dominant culture, her decision to lean into her authentic self, and the deep connection between employee engagement and authenticity in his case study, titled “Rosalind Fox at John Deere."
Rosaline Fox was one of six children and the first to go to college in her family. She grew up on the outskirt of St. Louis, Missouri. Her father worked at an Aerospace Engineering Firm and wanted her to become an engineer because he saw how much respect engineers received in the workplace. She wanted to become a nurse, but to honor her father's request, she studied engineering. She did not have the prerequisites to pursue an engineering degree; therefore, she had to take multiple Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) classes for readiness.
Rosalind Fox earned a bachelor's and a master's degree in engineering. During her senior year in college, she did an internship with the 3M Corporation. That led her into a post-graduate rotational leadership role at 3M Corporation for three years, working worldwide. During one of her assignments, she met and explored being a factory manager and decided on the spot; I want to be a factory manager.
Rosalind Fox had a challenging experience at 3M Corporation because she did not see people who looked like her and did not see a path forward in her career, which is a challenge for many African Americans and people of color because of white supremacy and systemic racism. She began the process of looking around and found an opportunity at Ford Motor Company.
Rosalind Fox left the 3M Corporation and went to Ford Motor Company, where she found diversity and inclusion beginning with the interview. She found excitement working at Ford Motors, where she participated in rotational leadership programs and had a desire of during a career and no intention of leaving.
Rosalind Fox received a call from a recruiter suggesting that she would be a good fit for John Deere, based on her experience. She went on the interview and was offered a position, which she turned down.
Rosalind Fox later received a call from Toney Worthington, an older white gentleman from John Deere. He requested her to reconsider the offer, and he would personally serve as her mentor, guarantee her a path forward and navigate her success at John Deere. Of course, she was a bit leery, but she took his word and went to John Deere. In the case study interview, Rosalind Fox shared that Toney Worthington was true to his words. He supported her in every way, and she believes his peers pressured him for mentoring her.
Rosalind Fox worked at John Deere for five years, intending to become a factory manager. She was then approached by leadership and offered a role to become the Global Diversity and Inclusion Officer. She made it clear that she did not have expertise in diversity and inclusion and was concerned about why they wanted her to take the position. She accepted the job with the promise that her primary objective is to become a factory manager. She used the situation to her advantage by taking the opportunity to step into her authentic self and own her vulnerabilities. For so long, she had spent years adjusting to John Deere's culture, such as dressing a certain way, styling her hair, and conforming to John Deere’s culture.
The new role allowed her to view diversity and inclusion holistically, examine John Deere's diversity and inclusion statistics, bring more African Americans and people of color to functions, and most importantly to encourage employees to bring their authentic self to work through engagement. Rosalind Fox realized that for the longest, she was not bringing her authentic self to the job. She scheduled a meeting with Toney Worthington and discussed the issue of authenticity and engagement. She consulted with him about her desire to change her hairstyle and wear an Afro. He supported her and told her to lean into her authentic self. The experience was a defining moment for Rosalind Fox. She returned on Monday wearing an Afro hairstyle, fostering authenticity and engagement.
After two years as the Global Diversity and Inclusion Officer, she was offered the Factory Manager position in North Carolina in 2012. This factory manufactured lawn care equipment to include lawnmowers, golf carts, and other products. She was the first African American female promoted to a Factory Manager position in a company organized in 1837. She was remarkably successful as a factory manager in North Carolina with engagement and high production numbers to the point that she was attracting attention among the senior leadership. She was offered the position of factory manager in the Midwest. In this position, she was responsible for 4 product lines and reported to 3 different Vice Presidents. Again, she went to her trusted mentor Toney Worthington for advice.
Rosalind Fox accepted the position in Des Moines, Iowa. She stepped into the role overseeing 1600 employees, of which 62% were unionized. As a new and the first African American female to lead that factory, Rosalind Fox did what many leaders would do. Rosalind Fox held a series of open house and listened to sessions across three different shifts. She got grilled! She got grilled on the various product lines, and Rosalind Fox did not have the answers. Note, she also got grilled because she was an African American female entering a white male dominant culture! She felt terrible and had to step back and do serious reflection and own her vulnerability: Am I in the right position? Will I be successful? Why was I not better prepared?
Toney Worthington and her three VP supported her by advising her to switch her leadership style and role from operations strategies to strategic analysis. She was informed that her job is not to know the answers to operations questions. The operations managers should know the answers. However, her role was to create conditions for her operations team to be successful. She realized that she needed support. She had to own her vulnerability, and she did. She built her teams by creating collaborations, built trust, met regularly, and allow her managers to lead in meetings, rather than being the first to speak. These are characteristics of being a servant leader.
Why did I share Rosalind Fox's case study/story with new transit CEOs, females, and others? I want them to know that there is a strong connection between authenticity and engagement. You must bring your authentic self to your role. A failure to bring your authentic self to your new role will not only be a failure to your employees, community but a failure to yourself as well.
The case study revealed Rosalind Fox's courage, strength, and vulnerability. As new transit leaders, you must be courageous; you must be strong, be caring, and create the condition for all employees to succeed. I have worked under many transit leaders at the system, state, and Federal levels during my 45-year career in transit. I want you to know that many did not bring authenticity (true self) to their leadership role.
Please understand that I am not suggesting that your leadership style should be that of a visionary leader. However, you must define your leadership characteristic because other types can be just as effective, such as servant, transformational or charismatic. Your transit leadership style should be about transforming self-interest into a shared interest. The starting point is not your self-interest but others' self-interest (employees, customers, and community). That requires you to lead with empathy. However, empathy alone is not enough to coach others; you will also need courage. It is not about having "no fear"—instead, it is to "know fear." We need courage—mainly when that means choosing the "least bad" of brutal actions (Burnison 2021).
The Chief Executive at Korn Ferry, Gary Burnison’s article titled "A Coach in Our Corner," cited "Empathy is not an act, it is about fulfilling others' needs. We must meet people where they are—to understand what they are facing, personally and professionally. That connection comes from our life struggles and difficulties—and we all have them. I have never met anyone who went through life carefree. These experiences can either harden you or soften you—but they always teach you”.
An old Greek proverb notes, society grows great when older men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit under. We find our most profound meaning and purpose when we move beyond self-interest and self-fulfillment to make room within ourselves for other people to whom we are not personally close--when we connect ourselves purposefully to our employees, the transit community, and society at large, it is then that you will begin to find genuine authenticity and engagement (Kets de Vries, 2021).
I share these things with you because I know that front-line workers in the transit industry are hurting, and they are in pain. Front-line employees are in pain and suffering from the fear of COVID-19, long-standing systemic racism, and a lack of a defined safety culture. All employees want to feel that they belong at work, but many employees feel physically and emotionally isolated because of COVID-19 and systemic racism. Many do not think transit leaders are providing them with appropriate safety measures. Deep insecurities exist in transit workplaces, and transit leaders must begin developing and implementing a sustainable safety culture as a strategy that will address these insecurities and current reality.
Culture and Cause
Safety culture development and implementation is now a priority in the transit industry, now more than ever. Front-line employees are looking to leadership to improve the workplace safety culture. Safety culture should be embedded into transit systems and must focus on a holistic approach. Transit leaders, I believe the safety culture “future" must begin now. The new strategy to ensure safety that I envision in the transit industry includes authenticity, engagement, collective responsibility, diversity, and total inclusion throughout the system (equity), mental health and well-being considerations, flexibility and resilience, innovation, and sustainability.
Transit safety culture requires top-to-the-bottom adaption of new ways of thinking, measuring, and valuing what leadership seeks—i.e., new approaches like the multi-level model offered in my article Transit Safety Culture: Getting The Safety Leadership Respect Employees Deserve. In the end, transit leaders must develop a workforce that takes full ownership of the services provided. Excellent customer service translates into "Goodwill" for the transit system and employees who will take pride in executing their duties and responsibilities when a sustainable safety culture is in place.
Accidents and incidents will continue to plague the industry; employees will continue to create massive lawsuits and cost the American taxpayer millions of dollars in tremendous payouts. These payouts will have a direct impact on transit system bottom lines and will impact service delivery. Transit systems will continue to have high absenteeism and turnover rates in employment given the current toxic safety culture.
Employees will continue to be unwilling to report adverse events and unsafe conditions because of the fear of reprisal or belief that reporting will not result in any changes due to ineffective communication between rank and file and senior leadership. Employees will continue to view themselves as just workers with no voice; they feel leadership/management is not just, they do not feel empowered to perform critical thinking, and they do not feel a commitment to the vision and mission of the system (Detert and Edmondson, 2007).
New transit leaders must understand culture and causes because a key to developing and implementing a sustainable transit safety culture is to have a culture based on a firmly held and widely shared set of beliefs supported by vision/mission/purpose, strategy, and structure. When an organization has a strong culture, three things happen: Employees know how employers want them to respond to a given situation, employees believe that the expected response is the proper one, and employees know that they will be trusted and rewarded for demonstrating and supporting transit core values.
According to Arkadi Kuhlman’s article, “Culture-Driven Leadership,” leaders must possess six fundamental attributes:
1. A calling.
The leader must have a sense of purpose that is aligned with the company's vision.
2. The guts to make the calling personal.
It must come from a real place. Otherwise, authenticity is missing, and no one sees the leader “walking the talk.” The leader cannot be an invention of the marketing department or the face of carefully scripted talking points. The leader must be the author of the mission and feel a passion for it.
3. A powerful enemy
If there is no one to fight, there is no job for the white knight. Having a dark force against which to fight creates a highly effective leadership goal. The thought or image of an enemy transforms competitors into dragons to be slain by all employees. You believe that you are one of the “good guys.” For workers, this makes coming to work every day more heroic and more of an adventure.
4. An inner circle
Picking a core team is one of a leader’s most fundamental responsibilities. Unfortunately, it is not easy to find and select people who would join a mission. The typical recruitment process does not work, nor does the personal address book of colleagues. Your network and search for the right people, many of whom are found in unusual places and circumstances. Character and motivation are the two qualities that separate loyal, enthusiastic workers from mere jobholders. Lots of people can put together good-looking curriculum vitae. Often, though, the best hire is someone who has experienced failure and has something to prove to themselves and the world.
5. The possibility of failure.
Working in a constant state of imminent crisis is not for the faint of heart. It can, however, create a company-wide sense that the organization and everyone in it is potential prey for an outside force. Without the risk of failure, everyone will grow complacent, and the corporate ego will become the silent killer. A sense of crisis keeps the enterprise in an energetic, startup frame of mind.
6. An aura of mystery.
A leader cannot make everything appear too mechanical. To drive the passion of your company, you must create some mystery around you. You need to appear in some small, humble way as different as those that look to you. Team members want to follow, but they need a reason. It must work like pixie dust.
Managing Yourself
Melody Wilding's article How to Stop Overthinking Everything cites, "Thoughtful deliberation is an essential leadership quality that can help you make better decisions and produce better outcomes. However, it can also devolve into overthinking, which can be paralyzing. Here are three ways to avoid a thought spiral that can slow you down:
Curb your perfectionism. Perfectionism is one of the biggest blockers to swift decision-making because it operates on faulty all-or-nothing thinking. To curb this tendency, ask yourself questions like: What is one thing I could do today to bring me closer to my goal? Or what is the next step based on the information I have right now?
Pay attention to your intuition. When it comes to difficult decisions, your gut reaction is often a critical data point, particularly when time is short or when you do not have all the information you need. Research shows that pairing intuition with analytical thinking helps you make better, faster, and more accurate decisions and gives you more confidence in your choices than on intellect alone.
Construct creative constraints. Determine a date or time by which you will make a choice. Put it in your calendar, set a reminder on your phone, or even contact the person who is waiting for your decision and let them know when they can expect to hear from you.
Deliberation is an admirable and essential leadership quality that undoubtedly produces better outcomes. But there comes the point in decision-making where helpful contemplation turns into overthinking.
Creating Racial Equity In Transit
To create racial equity in the transit industry, the fundamental steps must begin with you, new transit leaders. Your transit systems must focus on good intentions to concentrate on good results that measure against a demanding standard: equity. Racial equity for African Americans, indigenous, and people of color in transit will no longer exist when they have the same power, access, and influence as White individuals. Equity necessitates an intentional focus on the needs of the historically marginalized. It requires deliberate and often courageous actions that acknowledge and eliminate the societal inequities ingrained in people, processes, and systems (Deloitte, 2021). Transit leaders must set those standards and embed the practices and application into the transit safety culture.
Transit leaders must commit to examining and redressing the bias and racism built into everyday decisions, which may appear fair on the surface, and which may have even been designed with good intentions but ultimately have disparate effects on racial and ethnic minorities other marginalized identities groups. And just as transit leaders focus on financial and operational outcomes rather than only inputs, transit leaders must also focus on the results of their efforts to drive systemic change. Transit leaders must be willing to transform their beliefs and values and then change their decisions and behaviors to achieve racial equity. That work should start inside the transit system and extend to the full range of their external relationships (Boards, Secretaries, Department of Transportation) in the workplace and the community (Deloitte, 2021).
Janet Foutty, Chief Executive Chair of the Board Deloitte US cites,
In the months since we have seen Black Americans die from COVID-19 at far higher rates than their White counterparts, we have watched the pandemic take an outsized economic toll on Black communities; and we have felt racial disparities in connection with the insurrection at the US Capitol. These experiences have crystallized the urgency of deepening our understanding and taking meaningful action. That is why we have dedicated ourselves to learning about the systemic bias and racism that plague the Black community, reimagining what an equitable future looks like and beginning to take the bold actions needed to reach it.
While diversity and inclusion efforts are necessary to create that future, our current focus is on equity. Because equity is not just about efforts, it is about results: measurable and meaningful outcomes in the lives of our people, our communities, our country, and our world. Systemic bias and racism are what we are against; equity is what we are for. Fighting systemic prejudice and racism—tearing down the age-old systems and challenging the long-held beliefs that harm the Black community—is necessary to achieving equity. But dismantling alone is insufficient. To reach equity, we also must build it. As we build, we should consider the environment.
The facts are clear that systemic racism impacts African Americans, indigenous and people of color at a rate greater than any other groups. While many businesses have become diverse and inclusive, their efforts have yet to change the economic and social outcomes for millions of African Americans. That is why a focus on equity is critical. Equity is not an initiative or a program—it is an outcome. Equity will be the result of many mutually reinforcing actions that dismantle systemic racism and inequity. And while equity for all identity groups is essential, a critical place to start is with racial equity, and specifically equity for African American people, who have suffered the consequences of systemic racism in the United States for more than 400 years Deloitte, 2021).
Summary and Reflections
Our nation is facing a leadership crisis. Across the country, across politics, business, and public institutions, trust in leaders is dramatically declining. The transit industry is facing a crisis. The transit industry is in urgent need of leaders who put serving others at the heart of what they do. Visionary leaders have a way of inspiring their organization to rally around a shared vision. This alignment gives the team a competitive advantage. Innovative leaders are inspirational, they can tap into emotions, and they ignite passions throughout their organization. Through the power of empathy, visionary leaders connect with the hearts and minds of those that follow their vision.
Transit Leaders cannot and will not develop and implement a sustainable transit safety culture alone. They must have a talented team that can work together. By becoming visionary leaders, fostering authenticity and engagement, transit leadership can inspire followers to harness their unique gifts and strengths to innovate and find creative solutions to everyday safety problems.
Visionary leaders create an open environment where people learn to trust each other by being inclusive and inviting others to own the vision. Transit leaders must attract talented people who are passionate about what they do and who are inspired by the transit system’s vision/mission/purpose and capable of seeing a path forward.
Transit leaders must start with being present and listening and admitting the organizational failures of the past. Employees' safety values must be seen and heard. Workers want to feel that they belong in the workplace, and it is the leader's role to make it happens. Visionary leaders can create a culture of safety that allows workers to flourish. Authenticity is about people being real in the moment, bringing their true selves to the table.
Employees need to know that it is okay to be real in the workplace (psychological safety). They need to hear leaders say, I do not have all the answers. It is about being okay with allowing workers who are smarter than you to respond. When leaders behave authentically and engage, they permit other people to do the same thing.
Many employees recognize that the status quo in transit is unacceptable. The current perspective is that transit leaders have an opportunity and responsibility to do more in diversity and inclusion and equity. With bold action and sustained commitment, transit leaders can challenge beliefs, change behaviors, and create a more equitable future. “Yes, We Can.”
REFERENCES
Kinsey, A. (2018) What Is Visionary Leadership? bizfluent.com/info-8721665-visionary-leadership.html bizfluent.com/info-8721665-visionary-leadership.html).
Ashkenas, R, and Manville, B. (2019) You Do not Have to Be CEO to Be a Visionary Leader, Harvard Business Review April 4, 2019
Burnison, G. (2021), A Coach in Our Corner, Korn Ferry
Kellerman, B (2004), Bad Leadership: What It Is, How it Happens, Why it Matters, Boston, Harvard Business Publishing, 2004, 282.
Detert, J. and Edmondson, A. (2007), Why Employees Are Afraid to Speak, Harvard Business Review, https://www.hbr.org.
Foutty, J. (2021) The equity imperative: The need for business to take bold action now, us-the-racial-equity-imperative.pdf
Ibid
Ibid
Kellerman, B (2013), End of Leadership, Harvard Business Publishing.
Kets de Vries, M., (2021), Is Your Corporate Culture Cultish? Harvard Business Review, https:///www.hbr.org.
Kuhlman, A. (2010) CULTURE-DRIVEN LEADERSHIP, Ivey Business Journal, March/April Issue
Mayo, T. (2021) Fostering Authenticity and Employees Engagement at John Deere, The Rosalind Fox Case study. Harvard Business Review, https://www.hbr.org
Wilding, M. (2021), How to Stop Overthinking Everything, Harvard Business Review, https://www.hbr.org