What a great time to be a Safety Leader! Yes, you read that right. Let me repeat, what a great time to be a leader in a Safety Professional role! Are you a leader just because you’re in a leadership role? In my opinion, NO. I know many in leadership roles that for the life of me I cannot figure out how they got there.
True safety leaders possess certain traits and attributes that make them successful. There are certain things that leaders are good at and do well. I believe there has to be something that sets them apart from the rest of the organization.
What if there was something that would make you more successful, more efficient, and make your job easier? As leaders, we must learn what it takes to become both effective and successful. These two things, being effective and successful, can have lasting impacts.
This blog will provide you with the must-haves to be a balanced productive and successful safety leader. Your ability to create a balanced approach to safety will ensure your success.
What led to the creation of these top must-haves? After much deliberation, they were the result of a personal need to try something new. More specifically, I was failing as a professional. What I did for many years did not work. I had good performance on occasion, but it wasn’t sustainable. I discovered that a personal approach to leadership was what I needed. One of the things I noticed in many leaders was a general lack of character and an ability to effectively balance our approach based on individual situations. Many safety professionals are regulatory driven. There is an absence of managing the situation from a balanced approach. From this, I saw a personal and professional need to create a balanced approached to the safety professional. This motivated me to develop these “5 Must-Haves”.
Balance is essential, no it is critical!. You never want to go too far one way or the other. Learning to balance your thoughts, approach and interaction with people and situations require continuous, delicate adjustments to maintain a balanced, practical approach. Balance is stressed in every aspect of our lives — from learning to ride a bike to eating a balanced diet. It should be no different in our interactions with employees and others in the organization.
Maintaining a balanced approach to the safety of employees will ensure our ability to influence their behaviors and drive the continuous improvement in safe practices.
The 5 Must-Haves for a Balanced Safety Leader are:
- Must have an unwavering PASSION for the profession.
- Must have a great ATTITUDE
- Must be a PROBLEM SOLVER
- Must take INITIATIVE
- Must have HUMILITY
Here is a brief description of each.
1. Must have an unwavering PASSION– Love your profession or leave it!
I am so tired of meeting professionals that hate their job, hate their profession, or those who merely chose their job because they vie wit as easy. If that is you, go find something else to do. All you are doing now is creating a toxic environment for yourself and the employees in the organization. Find something you love and build your passion around it.
Passion fuels will-power as a leader. Without it, you’ll lack the drive to change and overcome obstacles. Look, being safety professional is not easy. It takes patience, a caring heart and the ability to work through the barriers. Let’s face it, we are here because we care about people. Passion is what drives me to learn more and work hard every day so that I can rest easy when my employees make it home safely from work.
2. Must have an excellent ATTITUDE– A great attitude is a positive attitude.
I think it was William James who once said, “The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes.”
Our attitude determines how we interact with others and the way we communicate determines our influence. Safety professional’s have daily interactions with all levels of the organization. If we approach an employee with a bad attitude, the outcome tends to be riddled with talk of discipline, loss of job and discouragement. On the other hand, a right or positive attitude can motivate an employee to recognize their at-risk behaviors and identify what needs to change to ensure they stay safe.
If you have a poor attitude, stay locked up in your office. If you have a right and positive attitude, be present and bring the sunshine where ever you go! Success will follow!
3. Must be a PROBLEM SOLVER – Can’t let your problems be a problem
Safety Leaders are good at identifying problems, issues, and concerns. Whether it is a condition or behavior, they can determine enough issues to fill a novel. The question is, are you good at solving the problems? Be a problem solver and influence! A good rule of thumb, provide at least two solutions to every problem you identify.
4. Must take INITIATIVE – READY………FIRE………AIM.
My staff hears it all the time. What does it mean? Shouldn’t you aim first, then fire? No. Just identify the problem, fix it, and then make the necessary adjustments later. At least you did something. If you never take the initiative to do something, things will never get done! If you identify a problem or something that needs to be done, who is the best person to initiate the solution? YOU!
5. Must have HUMILITY – Humility is better than humiliation
I always have to include humility in any discussion I have on leadership, regardless of whether I am focused on the Safety Profession or leadership in general.
Why? Because so many leaders struggle with it. They’re under the impression that you must be strict, authoritative, and all-knowing in every situation. I’m aware of this because I used to lead that way.
However, through my many leadership mistakes in life, marriage, parenting, and work, I realized that leadership is about knowing what you know, and more importantly, recognizing what you don’t know. Not only is there intrinsic value in admitting you don’t know all things, but it is also clear importance amongst employees who sense your humility.
Here’s the truth. Employees know things that you don’t know. They may not say it to your face, but trust me; they are talking about you behind your back.
I love what C.S. Lewis and Lou Brock have to say on the subject of humility and pride:
C.S. Lewis said, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.”
Lou Brock said, “Show me a guy who is afraid to look bad, and I will show you a guy you can beat every time.”
A lack of humility makes us vulnerable. Without it, we open the door for negative things. People don’t want to follow arrogant leaders. They want to support someone whom they believe in and connect with. A lack of humility withholds honest connections with others; therefore, we must act as humble leaders.
CONCLUSION
Here’s a recap of the must-haves for leadership.
- Must have an unwavering PASSION for the profession.
- Must have a great ATTITUDE
- Must be a PROBLEM SOLVER
- Must take INITIATIVE
- Must have HUMILITY
This is only an introduction to what it takes to become a productive and successful balanced safety leader. Throughout the years, these five must-haves have helped me become a successful leader. Evaluate your current leadership style and identify what will complement your personality and enable you to lead more effectively and bring you success.
Take time and research each of these must-haves and learn how to apply them in your current position. I am confident that you will become a more effective balanced safety leader because of it.
Relate – Regardless of position, we must find ways to relate to people. To accomplish this, one must first decide to pay attention to others by listening to their wants, needs, and challenges. Adapt your approach to fit their needs. Interacting to relate with others takes time, care and attention. You may need to get out of your comfort zone and put someone else’s interests ahead of your own.
Accommodate – This really involves your ability to communicate clearly and efficiently with others. Once you have a clear understanding of the person’s needs, wants and desires, make necessary accommodations to see them succeed. I think many of us feel we know the best way to achieve what we or someone else wants to achieve and we tend to move in that direction. However, when we are focused on helping others succeed, then we must support their desires and take action to see them succeed.
Alleviate – When committed to helping others succeed, you must actively help alleviate any challenge or obstacle the person may encounter. Use your experience, knowledge, and expertise to coach the person through each challenge or obstacle.
Facilitate – I think we must learn how to facilitate a person’s success. I’m aware that you cannot control other’s actions. You can help people fix an attitude of “can’t” but you cannot help one of “will not.” However, I do feel there are things we can do to help others succeed. First of all, make sure you clearly communicate expectations, responsibilities, and priorities. Make sure they understand the sense of urgency for crucial expectations; not necessarily time, but in priorities. Look for opportunities to help them progress toward their desired result. Lastly, communicate their commitment and performance to others.
The Attitude Indicator depicts the position of the airplane in relation to the real horizon. It shows whether the wings are level and if the plane is climbing or descending, or flying straight and level. A pair of wings represents the attitude of the aircraft in relation to the sky (blue) or ground (brown). Basically, if the wings are in the blue, the plane is climbing, if they are in the brown, the plane is descending. The attitude of an airplane indicates its performance. To modify the performance of an airplane, you must change the attitude.
eflect upon my parents, youth leaders, pastors, coaches, and career professionals who imparted wisdom, knowledge, and experience to me. Without them, I wouldn’t have known how to navigate through life’s challenges. Mentors have been influential in life, impacting both my marriage and my career. In fact, I can recall an individual whom I still lean upon for guidance in my safety career. He has directed, advised, and even scolded me when needed (unfortunately that’s often). Additionally, he has pointed out when I’ve had ideas of significance or times when my attitude needs an adjustment. Everywhere I turn and in almost every conversation, there seems to be an opportunity to either mentor someone or to be mentored myself. I came across this statement the other day; “It’s hard to improve when you have no one to follow but yourself.” To me, this quote reiterates the belief that influence develops through experiences with others.
LEADER INFLUENCE 