You'd want your co-workers to make the right decisions if you were the boss of them. Well, you are the boss of you. So how about you act like you're in charge?
Stop using the word leadership to describe management. We have all worked for managers who had zero leadership skills. You don’t call them your leader. You call them your boss. Leadership and management have little to do with each other.
You don’t have to be in management to be a leader. Employees have far more influence when it comes to getting their fellow employees to safety-up. Peer-pressure makes work-sites safety-conscious more than management intervention.
A bad boss is a pain to work for granted. But one person can’t force the collective safety culture to deteriorate. If one person can make it deteriorate, there never was a real safety culture - just the illusion of one.
Safety certification doesn’t make you a leader. Titles don’t make you a leader. Position doesn’t make you a leader. It's influence, demeanor, conscientiousness and selflessness that makes leaders. Leadership is a mindset - how you approach your role in the world. Leadership, natural leadership, doesn’t need courses or schooling. Leadership is not something you get in exchange for money.
Every employee makes decisions each day that are either in alignment or out of alignment with the safety program. Safely or unsafely: that is the choice in every moment. Management or supervisor, you make that same choice each day. You can be a leader in your own life in safety - or you can take your orders from the boss.
Here are three reasons why you should embrace personal leadership and take control of looking out for your own safety:
1Reduce Conflict. This has nothing to do with avoiding a bar fight. This is everything to do with getting your boss off your back. Everyone hates being told what to do. Your boss tells you what to do when the decisions you make conflict with the safety program. When you do something outside of safety, you make it clear that you do not accept safety as one of your guiding principles. That means, your boss is going to crawl all over you until you do it the right way; the safe way. Once you buy-in to safety as one of your personal values, your decisions align with the safety processes. Once you buy-in, you stop getting yelled at, singled-out, chastised and scolded. Then you don’t hate your boss as much and your dinnertime conversations stop being so negative. No one ever yells at you for being safe.
2Increase Job Security. Safety managers and supervisors are responsible for the safety record. That means they track the numbers. What the numbers can divulge is safety performance by department, work crew and even down to the actual employee. Numbers can highlight where there are higher rates of incidents and near-misses. Management reports show which employees are easy to work with and also those who are difficult to work with. No one wants to keep working with an employee who is hard to get along with, creates conflict and takes unnecessary risk. Nor do they want to work with someone who contributes, either directly or indirectly, to higher incident numbers. If you want to keep working, make it easy for the company to keep you working. No one wants to lose a valued employee who wants to be safe, keeps others safe and one who does an excellent job.
3Get A Raise Or Promotion. What boss would ever recommend that an employee who takes unnecessary risks get a raise in pay? Employees who ignore safety procedures don't get promoted. People who buck the system don't get promoted. To get promoted, your values have to align with the company’s values - especially in safety. The most intense safety regulations in history are in the workplace today. People who follow the rules get promoted to a position of trust. Team players get promoted. To get promoted, prove your leadership ability. Convince others, or at least guide them, to making the right choices on the job. The people who get promoted are the example for others to follow.
You wouldn't insist on injuring a co-worker. You would want them to be safe. You'd want them to make the right decisions if you were the boss of them. Well, you are the boss of you. So how about you act like you're in charge?
Read the Blog post Top 3 Arguments for Safety for more ideas on this subject. Safety is the thing that connects cash-flow, long-term investments, family security and your legacy. Besides, your natural state is not being injured. But, any choice outside of safety means you allow luck to determine your legacy. Choose safety. It will keep you healthy, prosperous and secure.
Kevin Burns delivers a high-energy, fun and positive presentation at safety meetings. Get him to change some minds in your workplace now. Click "Get Kevin" or call him direct: 403-770-2928.
