May 9, 2025 • 20 mins
In this episode, Dr. Mark French dives deeper into the psychology of listening, reflecting on how powerful it is to be truly heard—and the responsibility that comes with listening effectively. He explores how our personal biases, distractions, and assumptions can distort communication, and stresses the value of active listening, including recapping and confirming understanding to ensure clarity.
French highlights the importance of meeting people "where they are" in conversations, especially when emotions or urgency are involved. Drawing from a tragic safety incident in North Carolina, he shifts focus to organizational listening—questioning whether warning signs or complaints were previously overlooked and whether leaders truly listen to feedback from internal and external sources. He emphasizes that listening must be paired with action and closure—even if the action is simply acknowledging the concern.
The episode continues with a candid story about a minor workplace complaint (a fish oil smell) to underscore the need to validate all feedback, even if the issue doesn’t warrant major change. French reflects on the importance of closure—not just acting on feedback, but following up to ensure people feel heard and see results. He admits personal missteps in communication follow-through and discusses rebuilding trust.
Ultimately, the episode encourages leaders to view listening as a two-way commitment: hearing, understanding, taking appropriate action, and looping back to ensure closure—all while striving to improve through imperfection and empathy.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Unknown (00:01):
This week on the leading and learning through
safety podcast, we're continuingour discussion on listening
because I felt like we shouldlisten some more to me talking
about listening.
So we're going to take it alittle deeper this time, the
psychology of listening. Thisweek on the leading and learning
through safety podcast.
(00:36):
Welcome to the leading andlearning through safety podcast.
Your host is Dr Mark French.
Mark's passion is helpingorganizations motivate their
teams. This podcast is focusedon bringing out the best in
leadership through creatingstrong values, learning
opportunities, teamwork andsafety. Nothing is more
(00:58):
important than protecting yourpeople, safety creates an
environment for empathy,innovation and empowerment.
Together, we'll discover meaningand purpose through shaping our
safety culture. Thanks forjoining us this episode and now
here is Dr Mark French,hello and welcome to this
(01:36):
episode of the leading andlearning through safety podcast
this week, we're continuing ourdiscussion on listening, so I am
honored that you are listeningto my podcast right now.
Oh, the buns, the puns.
(01:57):
Oh, but what is why am I takingso much time talking about
listening, because it really inthe past few weeks, has hit me
very strongly about how powerfulit is to be heard, and also then
that power you have in return oflistening to when someone else
is communicating.
(02:19):
I look back and I realized thereare so many times that I could
have done better. I could haveturned things off, I could have
shut things down, and I couldhave listened better, and I
could have recapped and like Isaid, part of listening is just
confirmation, because we allcome in to any conversation. We
(02:40):
each bring our biases. Andunless you know the person
exceptionally well, you may notknow what biases they're
bringing. Even if you know themexceptionally well, you may not
know the biases that they arebringing in, the cognitive
issues that are coming in withthat conversation. Have you ever
felt like you're talking tosomeone and you kind of join
them, like they start talking,or even you like I have done
(03:02):
this, I'll start telling someonesomething, and they'll go, whoa.
I feels like I've joined mid,like, mid conversation here,
because you're already, like,four steps ahead and, oh yeah,
you didn't experience that withme. I just came from this big,
traumatic or big, excitingevent. I'm telling you about it.
I didn't even fill you in onwhat you need to know to be able
to catch up to why I'm soexcited, it feels like you've
(03:25):
joined the midway.
So when we're communicating,being able to recap, being able
to hear what is being said, totruly listen and then go, here
is what I think you're tellingme. Here is what I am hearing.
Is that right? I want to makesure I get it right, because
it's important, and I know I'venever seen anyone get upset when
(03:48):
I do that, that I go, Hey,that's what I'm hearing. Is that
true? Did I answer your questionappropriately, or did I miss the
mark? Or if I truly think I knowand I answer, I'll ask is, is,
does that make sense? Did Iactually answer your question?
Did I hear what you were tryingto convey to me? Did I give you
reasoning of why I made thedecision that I made, or doing
(04:08):
the thing I'm going to do that'swhen I do it right now that
that's not as awesome at all.
It's not as it doesn't happen asoften as it should when I'm
doing that.
So we come in with this bias.
Sometimes we're looking forsomething that confirms what
we're seeing. Sometimes we'realready thinking about other
things or letting our influencebias us with what we're hearing.
(04:30):
And we need to, again, as weended the podcast last week, we
need to meet the person wherethey are. What are you bringing
to me in this moment, let memeet you there, hear you for
what you were bringing, andaddress it that way.
(04:52):
I came across a news story, andit was of course, safety
fatality that caught.
My attention, and I got tothinking about
just a few things, and more thanindividual listening, but
organizational listening. Andthis one here was in North
Carolina, and there was a dumptruck that
(05:14):
ran a stop sign, evidentlydidn't even slow down.
It killed four people andinjured three others.
There were some men working onpower lines in the area,
and this dump truck just blewright. Never saw them, blew
right through a stop sign, andjust ran into their work area
(05:38):
and killed four.
And so what does that have to dowith listening? Mark, yeah, I'm
sure you're asking thatquestion. I the first question I
ask is ask myself. I mean, thefirst one was like, was there
drugs or anything like thatinvolved, of course. But from a
bigger perspective, I wonder,has did this driver ever have a
(06:00):
history of poor driving record?
What was the history?
And I'll tell a story of onetime we had some fleet vehicles,
and someone was so upset overone of the drivers that they
looked up our phone number inthe phone book, gave us a call
(06:20):
first went into main secretariesand eventually came to me super
angry about our drivers, and Igot to thinking about, well, how
do we open up the chain ofcommunication for when, if our
people are in the public, howdoes the public be able to
communicate back effectively?
Are we opening it up? And then,of course, not, thought about,
(06:42):
what do I see on the road? Ofsome trucks is the like one 800
number, how's my driving? Givethem my code. And so we did that
so that we could get effectiveopen community the best way we
could to understand if we had anissue. Now, there's other things
you can do nowadays. You dotelematics, you can do dash
cams, you can do a lot of thingsto evaluate driving, but one of
(07:05):
the biggest pieces of feedbackis to hear what's happening in
the public, what is happeningout there on the roads. Are
there things that are happeningand if, if there's certain
someone, or a certain driverthat continually, continually
has calls about aspects of theirdriving. I have to say there may
(07:26):
be something there.
It very crude and rudimentary,but if there's smoke, there's
fire, if you're hearing all ofthis noise about someone, there
is a likelihood that there issome truth in there somewhere.
And so I wonder, was it, did theorganization want to hear? Did
(07:48):
they hear and had they taken anyaction? Or was this the first
time? I don't know, but when Iread these stories and these
faith, I ask myself questions ofwhat could have been done, what
should have been done, and am Iactually, if I do, I have
similar risk that I should beaddressing. And last week, I
(08:10):
told about a story where I heardabout a hazard, but I didn't
know what to do, and so I didn'ttake action. And then had to go
back eventually and rethink,like when I kept hearing, and it
finally hit me that I didn'ttake action that and I wrote
down in my notes during atraining,
(08:30):
I see, I hear, I am told I amgiven, I am written to. And then
I put a big arrow and I said,What was the outcome, what was
the action? And then from that Itook it. What does closure look
like for that person who broughtit? For that person that said, I
(08:51):
saw this, I heard this, I wroteyou this, I brought you this, I
did this for you. There will bean action that should come from
it. Even if it's acommunication, there should be
an action. If you were brought apiece of communication, I know
I'm talking about in a veryabstract way, if someone writes
emails, talks to you, sends youa message, puts in a an event
(09:13):
into your reporting system. It'scommunication. It isn't. It's
coming to you. It's it's hearingit, it's reading it, it's taking
it in meeting them where theyare. I think that's the best way
I can put it, is that you'remeeting them where they are.
There needs to be an action, anevaluation, something. Maybe
(09:36):
it's something bigger. Maybe youdo really need to go do
something about this. But thenthe other thing I realized that
I'm not good at and I've got tofigure out how to do this, and
we're going to take this journeytogether, because we're a team,
you and I, we're a team, andwe're going to do this together.
We are going to find a way todefine closure.
(10:00):
Her and what that would mean.
Let's talk more about that onthe next half of the leading and
learning through safety podcast.
You are listening tothe leading and learning through
safety podcast with Dr MarkFrench tsda Consulting. Learn
you lead others. Traditionaldevelopment focuses too much on
(10:20):
weaknesses. They make youbelieve that the only way to
find success is throughimproving your faults. Strengths
based coaching instead focuseson creating success through
using your natural talents. DrMark French at tsda Consulting
is an authorized CliftonStrengths Coach, your customized
report and a personalizedapproach help bring out the best
(10:43):
in you and your team. For moreinformation, visit us on the web
at tsta consulting.comWelcome back to the second half
of the leading and learningthrough safety podcast. This
week, we're continuing ourconversation on what I'm calling
listening, but it's actuallycommunication, and it's closing
the communication.
(11:08):
So in the case of I hear, I see,I'm brought I have this
communication, I need to take anaction, and from that action
there should be a definedclosure. What is it that would
bring closure to the otherperson? Is it something being
fixed? Is it a training event?
Is it just communication backsaying we hear you, but we're
(11:29):
not really sure there's anythingwe can do, or maybe there's
nothing we will do, becausethat's maybe not a concern we
really need to hear about. And Ialways laugh about hearing the
story of where there was asafety meeting and, and this was
actually my safety committeemeeting, and it was a big, big
deal. And, and we were there,and the safety committee person
(11:52):
stood up and said, Here is thebiggest concern I have. This is
what is the most this is, thisis the thing that is going to
revolutionize safety for thisorganization. I mean, they
really did play it up. I'm notbeing sarcastic here. It was,
like, a big deal. Like, I'dprepped in Monster the right
people there, because they hadthis information. I was very
(12:13):
young, so I didn't ask you aheadof time, like, Hey, what are you
going to bring up? Like, if Ibring the plant manager and all
these other people to hear thisbig concern that you want to
talk about, what is it?
I didn't do that? Well, boy, didI learn a lesson. And we got
there, and the person stood upand said, You know what?
So and so on our line takes alot of fish oil supplements, and
(12:37):
they smell like fish, and it'sdriving me nuts.
Hmm? Hear you loud and clear,that is not going to
revolutionize safety for thisorganization,
but thank you. Thank you forbringing that up.
(12:58):
So yeah, there are times wherethe communication is
has to be just addressed that Ihear you and and,
but yet I'm just going to tellyou that we're we're just
closing it, and if there'sadditional information later, I
want you bring it to me. I don'twant you to stop talking to me.
(13:18):
But for this item, for thisevent, for this thing, that's
what we're going to do whenthere is something, when there
actually is an item, that weshould do.
I I have never considered theidea of what does closure look
like for the other person? I'vealways thought of it as that. I
feel like I heard you. I knowthe action I need to take we've
(13:41):
talked about it, but what wouldthat really close? It is that
real closure? Did that satisfywhat you brought to me, and now
I'm starting to think more andmore about what is closure
criteria? What does it mean totake the to hear the person
make the action and thenactually bring it to closure.
(14:04):
And even closure can be closingthe loop, going back to the
person and saying, Hey, did yousee the new safety glasses? Did
you see the new safety material?
Did you see the new practice weput into place? Did you see
those things that we're doing?
And do you feel like thathelped? What do you think about
it? Now, some organizations dothat exceptionally
(14:27):
well, but it takes a lot ofpractice and a lot of systems to
sometimes do that. And even withthat, it doesn't it still can
have issues, because there'sjust so many ways that we
communicate, and there's alwaysso much communication, I'm sure
you as a leader or a safetyperson, or whatever it is that
(14:47):
you're out there, I'm sure youare getting all kinds of
communication all day long, andeven trying to think about
prioritizing and.
Actioning and closure becomesvery overwhelming, no doubt in
my mind, and we are going tohave misses. And that's okay
(15:07):
too, because we are human, wewill not be perfect. We we are
nowhere near that. As humanbeings. We can always try to
improve, and that's our goal.
Together, we underst understandwhere we are, where do we stand
right now, and which path is itthat will help us make some
improvement? It's one step at atime. It's one thing at a time.
(15:28):
And so even as I say all this,and I make it sound so simple,
hey, if you get a piece ofcommunication, write down the
action, and then write down whatit would take to close that
action that sounds so wonderfuland so easy and magical and oh
my gosh, I've waved my magicwand, and all of our
(15:49):
organizational issues havedisappeared because of good
communication. Yeah, that's amagical world, and we are
constantly going to battle it,but we can get better, and we're
going to try to get better.
That's what I love about what wedo every day, that we walk in
together and we figure it out,and we try to drive a little bit
(16:12):
of improvement in some of theways that we do that is by
looking for the ways that we canthe one really promoting the
wins when we're able to, hey, weheard and we fixed, or even that
one person who felt like theyweren't heard before, or maybe,
(16:32):
and I have done this, I've hadto do this where I didn't hear
them first time afterapologizing, you know, I I
didn't hear it right? Imisunderstood. I thought I did
what you needed. I wascompletely wrong, or maybe I
completely forgot. And morelikely than not, there have been
many times, many times thatsomeone has come back to me and
(16:53):
said, Hey, what's the status ofthis item I brought you? And I
go and huh, they'llsay it, and they'll say it, and
I'll say, I am so sorry. I knowexactly what you're talking
about now I remember it. Andguess what I have to do. I like,
kind of like in a in arestaurant, when something's
forgotten, they, they put thatone as the they, they move it to
the front. We're going to getthat one faster. That's the one
(17:15):
I have to now get faster becauseI have, I have depleted some
trust, and now I've got tosalvage or rebuild it,
which is also an item that Ialways bring to and I'm talking
to to partners of any kind ofbusiness partners or like, when
(17:36):
I'm going to enter a serviceagreement or something like
that, it's always about, hey,everything sounds great, But how
do you react when it whensomething's not so great? How
fast are you able to dosomething when we have problems,
because there will be problems,and where we really test the
ability to hear and to do iswhen we have an issue, because
we're going to have one. And allI want is to know that we're in
(17:59):
it together, and we're going togo after it together, and we're
going to find the best find thebest path together to fix it.
That's what a good businesspartnership looks like when we
work well. We work well. When wehave an issue, we go after it
and we fight for it and fix it.
So thanks for joining me on thisepisode of the leading and
learning through safety podcast,I've really enjoyed talking
(18:22):
about listening and hearingcommunication. It's clarifying
for me to say it out loud andto be able to share experiences
about just what we do every dayin trying to manage the volume
of communication and the peopleinteraction, but also how
important it is and how safetyis that front line. If your team
(18:45):
is willing to communicate aboutsafety and we're willing to take
action, it builds the bridge toall the other communication
within the organization. So onceagain, thanks for joining me,
and until next time we chat,stay safe.
(19:15):
Thank you for listening to theleading and learning through
safety podcast. More content isavailable online at www dot tsda
consulting.comall the opinions expressed on
the podcast are solelyattributed to the individual and
not affiliated with any businessentity. This podcast is for
(19:37):
informational and entertainmentpurposes, it is not a substitute
for proper policy, appropriatetraining or legal advice. You.
(20:07):
This has been the leading andlearning through safety podcast.
You.
This week on the leading and learning through
safety podcast, we're continuingour discussion on listening
because I felt like we shouldlisten some more to me talking
about listening.
So we're going to take it alittle deeper this time, the
psychology of listening. Thisweek on the leading and learning
through safety podcast.
(00:36):
Welcome to the leading andlearning through safety podcast.
Your host is Dr Mark French.
Mark's passion is helpingorganizations motivate their
teams. This podcast is focusedon bringing out the best in
leadership through creatingstrong values, learning
opportunities, teamwork andsafety. Nothing is more
(00:58):
important than protecting yourpeople, safety creates an
environment for empathy,innovation and empowerment.
Together, we'll discover meaningand purpose through shaping our
safety culture. Thanks forjoining us this episode and now
here is Dr Mark French,hello and welcome to this
(01:36):
episode of the leading andlearning through safety podcast
this week, we're continuing ourdiscussion on listening, so I am
honored that you are listeningto my podcast right now.
Oh, the buns, the puns.
(01:57):
Oh, but what is why am I takingso much time talking about
listening, because it really inthe past few weeks, has hit me
very strongly about how powerfulit is to be heard, and also then
that power you have in return oflistening to when someone else
is communicating.
(02:19):
I look back and I realized thereare so many times that I could
have done better. I could haveturned things off, I could have
shut things down, and I couldhave listened better, and I
could have recapped and like Isaid, part of listening is just
confirmation, because we allcome in to any conversation. We
(02:40):
each bring our biases. Andunless you know the person
exceptionally well, you may notknow what biases they're
bringing. Even if you know themexceptionally well, you may not
know the biases that they arebringing in, the cognitive
issues that are coming in withthat conversation. Have you ever
felt like you're talking tosomeone and you kind of join
them, like they start talking,or even you like I have done
(03:02):
this, I'll start telling someonesomething, and they'll go, whoa.
I feels like I've joined mid,like, mid conversation here,
because you're already, like,four steps ahead and, oh yeah,
you didn't experience that withme. I just came from this big,
traumatic or big, excitingevent. I'm telling you about it.
I didn't even fill you in onwhat you need to know to be able
to catch up to why I'm soexcited, it feels like you've
(03:25):
joined the midway.
So when we're communicating,being able to recap, being able
to hear what is being said, totruly listen and then go, here
is what I think you're tellingme. Here is what I am hearing.
Is that right? I want to makesure I get it right, because
it's important, and I know I'venever seen anyone get upset when
(03:48):
I do that, that I go, Hey,that's what I'm hearing. Is that
true? Did I answer your questionappropriately, or did I miss the
mark? Or if I truly think I knowand I answer, I'll ask is, is,
does that make sense? Did Iactually answer your question?
Did I hear what you were tryingto convey to me? Did I give you
reasoning of why I made thedecision that I made, or doing
(04:08):
the thing I'm going to do that'swhen I do it right now that
that's not as awesome at all.
It's not as it doesn't happen asoften as it should when I'm
doing that.
So we come in with this bias.
Sometimes we're looking forsomething that confirms what
we're seeing. Sometimes we'realready thinking about other
things or letting our influencebias us with what we're hearing.
(04:30):
And we need to, again, as weended the podcast last week, we
need to meet the person wherethey are. What are you bringing
to me in this moment, let memeet you there, hear you for
what you were bringing, andaddress it that way.
(04:52):
I came across a news story, andit was of course, safety
fatality that caught.
My attention, and I got tothinking about
just a few things, and more thanindividual listening, but
organizational listening. Andthis one here was in North
Carolina, and there was a dumptruck that
(05:14):
ran a stop sign, evidentlydidn't even slow down.
It killed four people andinjured three others.
There were some men working onpower lines in the area,
and this dump truck just blewright. Never saw them, blew
right through a stop sign, andjust ran into their work area
(05:38):
and killed four.
And so what does that have to dowith listening? Mark, yeah, I'm
sure you're asking thatquestion. I the first question I
ask is ask myself. I mean, thefirst one was like, was there
drugs or anything like thatinvolved, of course. But from a
bigger perspective, I wonder,has did this driver ever have a
(06:00):
history of poor driving record?
What was the history?
And I'll tell a story of onetime we had some fleet vehicles,
and someone was so upset overone of the drivers that they
looked up our phone number inthe phone book, gave us a call
(06:20):
first went into main secretariesand eventually came to me super
angry about our drivers, and Igot to thinking about, well, how
do we open up the chain ofcommunication for when, if our
people are in the public, howdoes the public be able to
communicate back effectively?
Are we opening it up? And then,of course, not, thought about,
(06:42):
what do I see on the road? Ofsome trucks is the like one 800
number, how's my driving? Givethem my code. And so we did that
so that we could get effectiveopen community the best way we
could to understand if we had anissue. Now, there's other things
you can do nowadays. You dotelematics, you can do dash
cams, you can do a lot of thingsto evaluate driving, but one of
(07:05):
the biggest pieces of feedbackis to hear what's happening in
the public, what is happeningout there on the roads. Are
there things that are happeningand if, if there's certain
someone, or a certain driverthat continually, continually
has calls about aspects of theirdriving. I have to say there may
(07:26):
be something there.
It very crude and rudimentary,but if there's smoke, there's
fire, if you're hearing all ofthis noise about someone, there
is a likelihood that there issome truth in there somewhere.
And so I wonder, was it, did theorganization want to hear? Did
(07:48):
they hear and had they taken anyaction? Or was this the first
time? I don't know, but when Iread these stories and these
faith, I ask myself questions ofwhat could have been done, what
should have been done, and am Iactually, if I do, I have
similar risk that I should beaddressing. And last week, I
(08:10):
told about a story where I heardabout a hazard, but I didn't
know what to do, and so I didn'ttake action. And then had to go
back eventually and rethink,like when I kept hearing, and it
finally hit me that I didn'ttake action that and I wrote
down in my notes during atraining,
(08:30):
I see, I hear, I am told I amgiven, I am written to. And then
I put a big arrow and I said,What was the outcome, what was
the action? And then from that Itook it. What does closure look
like for that person who broughtit? For that person that said, I
(08:51):
saw this, I heard this, I wroteyou this, I brought you this, I
did this for you. There will bean action that should come from
it. Even if it's acommunication, there should be
an action. If you were brought apiece of communication, I know
I'm talking about in a veryabstract way, if someone writes
emails, talks to you, sends youa message, puts in a an event
(09:13):
into your reporting system. It'scommunication. It isn't. It's
coming to you. It's it's hearingit, it's reading it, it's taking
it in meeting them where theyare. I think that's the best way
I can put it, is that you'remeeting them where they are.
There needs to be an action, anevaluation, something. Maybe
(09:36):
it's something bigger. Maybe youdo really need to go do
something about this. But thenthe other thing I realized that
I'm not good at and I've got tofigure out how to do this, and
we're going to take this journeytogether, because we're a team,
you and I, we're a team, andwe're going to do this together.
We are going to find a way todefine closure.
(10:00):
Her and what that would mean.
Let's talk more about that onthe next half of the leading and
learning through safety podcast.
You are listening tothe leading and learning through
safety podcast with Dr MarkFrench tsda Consulting. Learn
you lead others. Traditionaldevelopment focuses too much on
(10:20):
weaknesses. They make youbelieve that the only way to
find success is throughimproving your faults. Strengths
based coaching instead focuseson creating success through
using your natural talents. DrMark French at tsda Consulting
is an authorized CliftonStrengths Coach, your customized
report and a personalizedapproach help bring out the best
(10:43):
in you and your team. For moreinformation, visit us on the web
at tsta consulting.comWelcome back to the second half
of the leading and learningthrough safety podcast. This
week, we're continuing ourconversation on what I'm calling
listening, but it's actuallycommunication, and it's closing
the communication.
(11:08):
So in the case of I hear, I see,I'm brought I have this
communication, I need to take anaction, and from that action
there should be a definedclosure. What is it that would
bring closure to the otherperson? Is it something being
fixed? Is it a training event?
Is it just communication backsaying we hear you, but we're
(11:29):
not really sure there's anythingwe can do, or maybe there's
nothing we will do, becausethat's maybe not a concern we
really need to hear about. And Ialways laugh about hearing the
story of where there was asafety meeting and, and this was
actually my safety committeemeeting, and it was a big, big
deal. And, and we were there,and the safety committee person
(11:52):
stood up and said, Here is thebiggest concern I have. This is
what is the most this is, thisis the thing that is going to
revolutionize safety for thisorganization. I mean, they
really did play it up. I'm notbeing sarcastic here. It was,
like, a big deal. Like, I'dprepped in Monster the right
people there, because they hadthis information. I was very
(12:13):
young, so I didn't ask you aheadof time, like, Hey, what are you
going to bring up? Like, if Ibring the plant manager and all
these other people to hear thisbig concern that you want to
talk about, what is it?
I didn't do that? Well, boy, didI learn a lesson. And we got
there, and the person stood upand said, You know what?
So and so on our line takes alot of fish oil supplements, and
(12:37):
they smell like fish, and it'sdriving me nuts.
Hmm? Hear you loud and clear,that is not going to
revolutionize safety for thisorganization,
but thank you. Thank you forbringing that up.
(12:58):
So yeah, there are times wherethe communication is
has to be just addressed that Ihear you and and,
but yet I'm just going to tellyou that we're we're just
closing it, and if there'sadditional information later, I
want you bring it to me. I don'twant you to stop talking to me.
(13:18):
But for this item, for thisevent, for this thing, that's
what we're going to do whenthere is something, when there
actually is an item, that weshould do.
I I have never considered theidea of what does closure look
like for the other person? I'vealways thought of it as that. I
feel like I heard you. I knowthe action I need to take we've
(13:41):
talked about it, but what wouldthat really close? It is that
real closure? Did that satisfywhat you brought to me, and now
I'm starting to think more andmore about what is closure
criteria? What does it mean totake the to hear the person
make the action and thenactually bring it to closure.
(14:04):
And even closure can be closingthe loop, going back to the
person and saying, Hey, did yousee the new safety glasses? Did
you see the new safety material?
Did you see the new practice weput into place? Did you see
those things that we're doing?
And do you feel like thathelped? What do you think about
it? Now, some organizations dothat exceptionally
(14:27):
well, but it takes a lot ofpractice and a lot of systems to
sometimes do that. And even withthat, it doesn't it still can
have issues, because there'sjust so many ways that we
communicate, and there's alwaysso much communication, I'm sure
you as a leader or a safetyperson, or whatever it is that
(14:47):
you're out there, I'm sure youare getting all kinds of
communication all day long, andeven trying to think about
prioritizing and.
Actioning and closure becomesvery overwhelming, no doubt in
my mind, and we are going tohave misses. And that's okay
(15:07):
too, because we are human, wewill not be perfect. We we are
nowhere near that. As humanbeings. We can always try to
improve, and that's our goal.
Together, we underst understandwhere we are, where do we stand
right now, and which path is itthat will help us make some
improvement? It's one step at atime. It's one thing at a time.
(15:28):
And so even as I say all this,and I make it sound so simple,
hey, if you get a piece ofcommunication, write down the
action, and then write down whatit would take to close that
action that sounds so wonderfuland so easy and magical and oh
my gosh, I've waved my magicwand, and all of our
(15:49):
organizational issues havedisappeared because of good
communication. Yeah, that's amagical world, and we are
constantly going to battle it,but we can get better, and we're
going to try to get better.
That's what I love about what wedo every day, that we walk in
together and we figure it out,and we try to drive a little bit
(16:12):
of improvement in some of theways that we do that is by
looking for the ways that we canthe one really promoting the
wins when we're able to, hey, weheard and we fixed, or even that
one person who felt like theyweren't heard before, or maybe,
(16:32):
and I have done this, I've hadto do this where I didn't hear
them first time afterapologizing, you know, I I
didn't hear it right? Imisunderstood. I thought I did
what you needed. I wascompletely wrong, or maybe I
completely forgot. And morelikely than not, there have been
many times, many times thatsomeone has come back to me and
(16:53):
said, Hey, what's the status ofthis item I brought you? And I
go and huh, they'llsay it, and they'll say it, and
I'll say, I am so sorry. I knowexactly what you're talking
about now I remember it. Andguess what I have to do. I like,
kind of like in a in arestaurant, when something's
forgotten, they, they put thatone as the they, they move it to
the front. We're going to getthat one faster. That's the one
(17:15):
I have to now get faster becauseI have, I have depleted some
trust, and now I've got tosalvage or rebuild it,
which is also an item that Ialways bring to and I'm talking
to to partners of any kind ofbusiness partners or like, when
(17:36):
I'm going to enter a serviceagreement or something like
that, it's always about, hey,everything sounds great, But how
do you react when it whensomething's not so great? How
fast are you able to dosomething when we have problems,
because there will be problems,and where we really test the
ability to hear and to do iswhen we have an issue, because
we're going to have one. And allI want is to know that we're in
(17:59):
it together, and we're going togo after it together, and we're
going to find the best find thebest path together to fix it.
That's what a good businesspartnership looks like when we
work well. We work well. When wehave an issue, we go after it
and we fight for it and fix it.
So thanks for joining me on thisepisode of the leading and
learning through safety podcast,I've really enjoyed talking
(18:22):
about listening and hearingcommunication. It's clarifying
for me to say it out loud andto be able to share experiences
about just what we do every dayin trying to manage the volume
of communication and the peopleinteraction, but also how
important it is and how safetyis that front line. If your team
(18:45):
is willing to communicate aboutsafety and we're willing to take
action, it builds the bridge toall the other communication
within the organization. So onceagain, thanks for joining me,
and until next time we chat,stay safe.
(19:15):
Thank you for listening to theleading and learning through
safety podcast. More content isavailable online at www dot tsda
consulting.comall the opinions expressed on
the podcast are solelyattributed to the individual and
not affiliated with any businessentity. This podcast is for
(19:37):
informational and entertainmentpurposes, it is not a substitute
for proper policy, appropriatetraining or legal advice. You.
(20:07):
This has been the leading andlearning through safety podcast.
You.
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