What #SafetyLeadership really is about

Being a #SafetyLeader is a role you easily step in and out to achieve certain results at a respective time. A word or two daily on #safety is all it takes to show your conviction and commitment as well as to convince others to strive in a certain direction. Your priorities are to please your boss and your boss's boss by achieving specific lagging KPIs. It is not more about than making others to serve or deliver? Not at all!

?

? A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.? John Maxwell American author, speaker and pastor

… ? and knows as well as shows WHY he goes the way.? Me

?

Note: this article builds on my last article on #leadership - please find the full article here: About the A-B-C or W-H-Y of leadership | LinkedIn

Accordingly, I would like to start with a brief recap/ extract and refer to that article in phases.

?

(recap/extract)

?A JOURNEY WITHOUT MEANING AND #VISION? - THE INFLUENCE LEADERS HAVE ON OUR CULTURE

?? Where there is no vision, there is no hope.? George Washington Carver American agricultural scientist and inventor

To be honest, the quote sounds quite dramatic at first. However, if we let it have its effect, the true core becomes apparent: a flight without a destination, building a house without a concept and raising children without a value system seems like restless madness. I, at least, would neither get on this plane, nor start building this house, nor start raising this family.

A vision, a target picture of what we want to achieve and build is the compass that guides our decisions and actions - without this vision, we are lost "trudging in the dark".

?

Nevertheless, it is not the sparkling and shining visions that convince and inspire people - it is leaders. People ? […] buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.? (John Maxwell - American author, speaker and pastor)

People long for role models with clear ideas, lived values and the self-perception of being servants of the big picture. They want to be convinced and inspired by honest actions and lived integrity and be part of the path of such leaders. They want to follow because of sharing the same values. They buy into the WHY leaders go the way.

So, how much influence/leverage do leaders have on their followers?

?

? I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.? Alexander the Great king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon

?

Why does an army of sheep led by a lion sound so fearsome? The clear majority are just sheep - sheep that we find outside in the pasture chewing grass and giving us disinterested looks. But are they really (still) these sheep? Or do we now suspect a lion beating in every sheep's heart?

?

?

?

FOLLOW THE ? UNDYING BELIEVE IN YOUR COURSE ? (SIMON SINEK) – HOW YOU AWAKEN THE SAFETY LION IN THE HEARTS OF OUR SHEEP?

So safety is your core value? Therefore, the unsafe behavior of your colleagues, family and friends gives you a stomach ache? Unsafe conditions at work, on the street or at home drive you crazy? Then you are a perfect lion! ....

... And every new sheep makes your path a little bit more complete. To awaken the safety lion in the heart of your sheep, it takes you as a convincing leader to follow the “undying believe in your course”.

?

But what is the “undying believe in your course” exactly? And how do you follow it correctly?

To me, the “undying believe in your course” is the unwavering confidence in a safe cultural target state, or the incessantly confident adherence to the desired safety image/ culture you are striving for.

Safety culture is defined as ‘[…] the produce of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behavior that determine the commitment to, and the style and proficiency of, an organization’s [and group] health and safety management.’ (HSE) And do you know what's brilliant about #SafetyCulture? Leaders have the greatest leverage to shape it.

So how do you, as #SafetyLeader, live up to this responsibility? In a nutshell – as a successful safety leader you don't motivate people, you inspire motivated people to be part of your larger vision. That’s how this might look like in detail:

?

1 | LEADERS INSPIRE PEOPLE TO BE PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER

Do you see your task in providing meaningful added value? Are you driven by your contribution to a safe and #accident-free future? You want people to return home safely? Without question! Your duty of care is love to care. You make identifying and sharing #SuccessfulPractices your new discipline and #motivate your colleagues to learn from others without envy as well as to proudly spread controls. Colleagues feel you tapping energy from your contribution to everyone's safety - they want to be around you.

?

2 | LEADERS ARE AUTHENTIC AND WILLING TO STAND OUT

Sharpening of legal requirements through own safety standards, wearing #PPE and being aware of your #PersonalSafetyCommitment are your smallest exercises to demonstrate authenticity. You include safety in every decision, safety is your value that shapes and marks your path. Talk openly and honestly about challenges, successes and setbacks. Openly show feelings and conviction to fight for your goals. It demonstrates to your colleagues that your vision is worth it.

?

3 | LEADERS ARE CONVINCED THAT CHANGES CREAT WAVES

Success in the status quo is an incentive for you to take the next steps? Excellent! Consult your follower and engage them in making decisions: communicate openly about changes, their goal and possible challenges. Provide sufficient #resources to safely accompany the change as well as the target state and convince with attractive #SafeSystemsOfWork. Take away your colleagues' uncertainty by being accessible, trusting and open. Convince them of the value and benefits that the change will bring.

?

4 | LEADERS DEMONSTRATE INTENTIONALITY

You're convinced that intermediate goals only serve to achieve the big picture? Fantastic! Therefore, your KPI portfolio contains a balance of #lagging and #leading #KPIs as well as respective #FlightPaths. You also focus on prevention instead of reaction. As a result you constantly strive for the highest feasible level of #RiskControls (ERICSP or ESEAP). All of your decisions play together like signposts in the route. You know and constantly demonstrate your path.

?

5 | LEADERS UNDERSTAND RISKS AND FAILURE AS A STEP ON THE PATH OF SUCCESS

You continuously bring your key figures closer to the target values - even if in waves. And you are aware that this is part of the success. You determine the level of an #investigation based on the #WorstPotentialOutcome and the #likelihood of a reoccurrence of such an incident (#accident and #NearMiss). Your focus is on understanding and identifying #RootCauses, #UnderlyingCauses and #ImmediateCauses according to the #Multi-causalityTheory. Nevertheless, you do not lose your interest in prevention by high-quality #RiskAssessments and ‘‘What If’-inspections. They are the starting point of your safety management, the ground on which you build your house and raise your family of colleagues.

?

6 | LEADERS GROW PERSONALLY AND EXPAND THEIR THINKING DAILY

You know the necessity and chance of remaining curious and relevant in an ever-changing world. You want to understand the impact your safety decisions and their implementation have on others and whether they serve your overall vision. That's why you proactively solicit #feedback from colleagues, employees at all levels of the hierarchy, and affected third parties. You want your #RiskControls to be accepted and safety to be pervasive, comfortable and valued. You are the living example of open discussions, #ContinuousImprovement and #LifeLongLearning.

?

7 | LEADERS BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH TRUST AND LOYALITY

You take an interest in the opinions, ideas and concerns of your colleagues. You are always approachable, visible and open. You set a conductive style and tone of #communications. You reach out to colleagues and ask for their opinions. In this way, you create and support a #trusting exchange among colleagues as well as between colleagues and yourself - a #blamefree culture tries to understand causes as well as drivers and to develop solutions. Who is still interested in the question of guilt?

?

8 | LEADERS COACH PEOPLE TO EXPAND THEIR POTENTIAL

You trust your team and believe in their strengths? You know each individual, their interests and (undeveloped) #potential? Then be their benevolent father! Take them by the hand and show them how to run, help them up when they fall and stay in front of them when headwinds come. Mature personalities need space to grow and try out. Identify their #training needs, let them be part of your decision making or #InvestigationProcess and expand their potential through #AID-Feedback!

?

9 | LEADERS INSPIRE PEOPLE TO BECOME THEIR PATH COMRADES AND FANS

You maintain an open two-way communication exchange about your vision, successes and challenges. You inspire colleagues to actively support your path in #PerformanceDialogs. Colleagues who missed the exchange will find all the latest information on your #OHSnoticeBoard. However, you encourage them to contact you directly. Your site has a high level of safety energy and together you are looking for new #challenges. You #celebrate successes as a team.

?

(further information on leadership: Forbes.com)

?

?

?

THE AUTHENTIC, CLEAR PATH – ALL IT TAKES

?? The supreme quality of leadership is integrity. ? Dwight Eisenhower American military officer, Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force and 34th president of the United States

?

So, safety leaders are integer, have a clear vision and follow their "undying belief in their course". For this purpose, they use targeted supportive safety tools (as mentioned in the #9CharacterisicsOfSafetyLeaders) as a compass. They inspire motivated colleagues or people and are open as well as accessible. They promote a mature safety community through mutual learning and identification of potentials.

And the encouraging thing is that safety leaders are not born as such: they too learn through curiosity and from mistakes. On their way to success, they have to take risks and accompany change. They master challenges together with their sheep - not always at the first attempt, but certainly at the second. Together with their community, they grow into enablers who can pull out trees or move mountains.

?

Therefore, what is your next step on your safety course?

?

?

Safety is our core value. It is the way we do our business!