June 6, 2025 • 20 mins
In this episode, Dr. Mark French explores the importance of onboarding new safety professionals through a leadership-focused lens. Reflecting on his experience guiding a newly hired safety team member, he emphasizes that onboarding should go beyond teaching technical safety skills. The real value lies in mentoring new professionals on how to apply their knowledge through effective leadership and influence, rather than relying on authority.
Mark shares his personal leadership development journey and underscores that true leadership success is realized when one can help develop others into capable leaders. He explains that his approach centers around influence, empathy, and understanding workplace culture before initiating action. Central to his onboarding philosophy is the 30-60-90 day framework: in the first 30 days, get to know the people; by 60 days, understand the risks; and by 90 days, begin crafting a risk-reduction plan.
He argues that these early days are critical for building trust and gathering context, not solving everything immediately. Leadership starts with listening, being present, and learning about the organization and its people before implementing change. Mark notes that even seasoned professionals typically require six months to a year to reach full effectiveness in a new role. By encouraging authentic relationship-building and observation early on, leaders set the stage for sustainable influence and long-term impact.
The episode closes with a reminder that leadership onboarding should be intentional, people-centered, and focused on developing both trust and strategic insight.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Unknown (00:01):
Welcome to this episode of the leading and learning
through safety podcast. Thisweek, we're going to talk about
onboarding. How is it that a newsafety professional comes into
the environment and what's mostimportant that we pass along?
Let's talk about that this weekon the podcast. You mark,
(00:35):
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
(00:57):
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,Bucha, hello and welcome to this
(01:32):
episode of the leading andlearning through safety Podcast.
I'm so happy you've joined methis week, and actually, the
past couple of weeks, I have hadthe distinct pleasure of
onboarding a relatively newsafety professional, and it
opened my eyes to just how farI have come in my career, good
(01:56):
or bad, it's been a distanceI've traveled. And what is it
that we do to really makegood impact on the future of the
safety profession through goodleadership? Because it's one of
those items that we often hearthat you haven't really proven
(02:16):
yourself as a leader until youhave produced a leader who can
produce a leader. And not sureI've ever done that to be
perfectly, I'd like to think Imaybe have had some impact
there. But now that I'm actuallydoing it again for the first
time, kind of a startupsituation, new safety
(02:37):
professional out in the field,been around, certainly completed
their education, have done someinternships. I mean, not
completely new, new, but newenough. And spent two weeks
doing some onboarding. And itmade me think about what is
important to us in theprofession of leaders. Because
(02:59):
what I discovered was I wasn'tteaching safety, because the
knowledge was there, the abilityto find the information, the
ability to figure out theinformation. What it was was,
how do we apply that informationin a way that creates good
leadership, that createsinfluential leadership within
the team? Because we all know,in a lot of cases, our power as
(03:21):
influencers is way moreeffective than any authoritarian
power we're ever given throughan org chart. If we can
influence people, then we trulyhave made the difference that we
need to make as people who leadin an organization. And the
question that I got stuck on,and it was a brilliant question.
(03:43):
I'll be perfectly honest, it wasa great question was,
if you were in my situation,what would you need to know, or
what would you learn?
And there I got stuck, becausein my career, when I go back and
I've shared this many times, ofwhat has my career looked like.
(04:04):
It started off with being aclerk. It moved to a night shift
position, wherereally understanding that
dynamic of day shift and nightshift and who's around who's
not, and how do you create that?
Now I really goofed it up earlyon, but kind of found my
footing. I went into a startupsituation. I went into a full
(04:27):
fledged turnaround situation,another startup style, like
restart up situation, clean up,into just maintaining, into
creating again. So a lot ofturnaround and startup and
creation is kind of been mybread and butter in the safety
world. And again, it's not aboutsafety. It's about leadership.
(04:50):
It's about how do you create theinfluence to get what needs to
be done, to get it done. It's,I've spent a lot of time there,
and a lot of it, yeah, I'vebeen, I've worked.
With a lot of really amazing andtalented people. I have also
been mentored by a lot ofamazing and wonderful people.
Both sides of it. I've been beenvery fortunate there to to have
(05:14):
interacted with people like thatcontinuously and but a lot of it
has been where I have I'm a verystrong individual contributor.
When I feel like things need toget done,
I need to be better at and I'mlearning. We always keep
learning. But I have a highsense of responsibility. I have
a high sense of introversion, sotherefore, I usually put my head
(05:38):
down, dig in and figure out whatneeds to happen, and I get it
done through that. But certainlydo, I don't like I feel like I'm
in an interview here where Ihave to give you the opposite to
that. Like I understanddelegation. I understand giving
others the chance. Understood mymy base way of doing things is
(05:59):
to fall into my put your headdown, get it done, and knock it
out and just get done with it.
Not not a lot of inclusiveness,my natural inclination, but I
know that doesn't always work.
Well. I felt like I needed thedisclaimers there.
I guess I don't. But why notwhen I'm doing that. I now, when
(06:20):
I was asked that question, and Istarted really thinking, like,
Okay, what isthere's madness in that. There's
a method within the madness. Howdo I describe it? How would I
tell someone that maybe hasn'tdone that before or been in one
of those situations, how do youexplain what I'm doing and why
(06:43):
I'm doing it the way I'm doingit? And of course, with any good
onboarding, what do you do? Youcreate a 3060, 90, maybe a 120,
and I kind of stop at the 90. Ifeel like that. You know, by the
time you get to 90 days, it'sstill a lot of learning and and
(07:04):
doing like the learning doingcurve starts to transition some
you're really not and I'll behonest, even I don't start to
really hit my stride and in anew position. I've done this for
better or worse, I've been in alot of new positions in my
career. For better or worse, Isee myself hitting my stride at
around six months and reallygetting into what the truth is
(07:26):
within a year. So even forsomeone that we would say have
experiences like I have, it'snot an immediate like I walk in
in 30 days, and magic hashappened and just pouring out
everywhere, no six months to ayear, and usually it's the year
point where I'm reallyunderstanding and really
starting to be highly effectiveand moving into really getting
(07:51):
the sustainable processes inplace. Six months I'm feeling
good. A year, I'm in the groove.
And so how do I explain that?
Like, at 90 days, I'm reallyjust getting into my I'm at 90
I'm really preparing for the sixmonth mark. At the six month
mark, I'm trying to find theright, like, really, really,
super sweet spot at the year.
And that sounds so easy when Isay it. But how did I get there?
(08:15):
How do I start to create aleadership program that pushes
me into that methodology. And soagain, a 90 day plan, to me, is
most effective with leadership,because beyond the 90 days,
you've either found where youwant to go for your six month or
you haven't. And now on theother side of it's mainly a
(08:37):
doing task. You probably need a120 a 180 review to real mid
year, full year, to look at theskills and the technical part of
what's going on, and are youperforming up to the level. But
when a leadership position, ifat nine in again, my opinion, if
you're hitting the 90 day markand you're you're still on not
sure of where you're heading tothe to the six month mark,
(09:02):
there's some concern there forsure of what is happening and
where are you starting to reallyfeel around and get yourself
into where you need to be to bean effective leader. Because
you're really spending the first90 days of strong, strong
learning. It's the greatopportunity to truly feel out
(09:23):
where you are. Put your fingerson the pulse of the culture, and
I'm using a lot of buzz words,the pulse of the culture. You're
feeling out where you're at.
You're getting a sense of who isthe leaders. What is the
process, how is it flowing, andeven the cadence of what is the
(09:45):
normal cycle of processes andprojects and work that's going
on? But let's move into theleadership 3060, 90 plan and how
to implement that, or at least,my opinion, in my.
Feelings on that coming up inthe second half of the leading
and learning through safetypodcast, you are listening to
(10:09):
the leading and learning throughsafety podcast with Dr Mark
French,dsda Consulting. Learn you lead
others the Myers Briggs TypeIndicator is an amazing tool.
Problem is that it can be easilymisinterpreted. Dr Mark French
is MBTI certified and ready tohelp you discover your inner
(10:31):
strengths. The MBTI assessmentcan help with team building,
stress management,communication, conflict
management and so much more,individual and group sessions
are available to help youdiscover what makes you great.
For more information, visit uson the web, AT T, S, D, A
consulting.comand welcome back to the second
(10:53):
half of our leading and learningthrough safety podcast this
week, talking about onboardingin the leadership of that
experience, of how do we notjust set someone up for
technical success? How do we setsomeone up for leadership
success? And so here I'vepreviewed this for as long as I
can, and now I've actually gotto put something here for you,
(11:20):
the 3060, 90 plan. So when Iwrote the words 3060, and the
numbers on a board, and I said,here are the three goals that we
have for these milestones.
At the end of your 30 days, knowthe people at the end of the 60
days, know the risk. So know ourjob. Know the job of the safety
(11:41):
professional, which isquantifying and working through
risk. At the end of 90 days, theplan for how to reduce risk
within the organization. So wethink about a leadership role
the first 30 days, what I askedfor was know the people, and not
just leadership, not just thetop level leadership. Know, the
(12:02):
people go out into the field getjust have build a rapport to
where there's opencommunication. You're not out
there trying to solve worldhunger, you're not boiling the
ocean. You're not trying todo everything at once and get
everything done. You're outthere getting the early wins of
(12:23):
building communication as simpleas, hey, what's happening? What
can I do? I'm new. What are somethings you'd like to see
different? What are some thingsyou really love about being
here? Do you mind if I just walkaround and see what you're
doing. I just want to observe,because I'm new and I don't
know, and I'm not here to judgeanything. I'm here to just do
(12:47):
and listen and be here in thismoment with you. Now it's not
again. You'll hear that insomeone, and I know I can
envision the person, because Iknow them. I know this person.
I've met them, and they go,Well, what about if something
bad were to happen? Or what ifthey ask you for something? Do
(13:09):
you just ignore it and you'rejust there to meet the people?
Of course not. If we seesomething critical, just like
any any key leader, if you sawsomething that was going to burn
the business down, or a firestarting, you do something.
You're not just there to learn.
You do something. Or if someoneneeds something, and you can
give some help, you give somehelp that that is basic. I'm not
(13:33):
surewhere that other piece would
come. I know it's maliciouscompliance. I know what it is.
Still don't understand whypeople, some people do that. But
anyway, not the pointdistraction.
The first 30 days, I think, arethe most critical, because it's
when you as a new person in anyorganization, as a leader, can
(13:54):
really get in there. And theexpectations of performance are
there, of course, but there's athere's an understanding of
learning, and so you have theability to go in, sit with the
team, and just be present.
There's something Zen about thattoo, of just be in the moment,
be there with them, whereverthey are at that moment, and
(14:17):
begin to create theunderstanding of who is here,
who's out there, doing the work,who's leading the work, who's
administrating the work, who'sdoing some of the even any job.
What are they? How are theyparticipating in this
organization, within this thisecosystem of work, get to know
(14:39):
them, understand who you arearound, and that that 30 day
plan easily rolls into your 60day plan, because as you have
been there in that moment for 30days, and you've allowed
yourself that time to be presentwith the people.
(15:00):
Now with eyes and ears wideopen, not spending a lot of time
pontificating on safety, doingthe right thing, saying some
things, putting things outthere, but just being and
listening and seeing andobserving you have brought in
the information you need to besuccessful with whatever your
plan is going to be. In the caseof safety, it's risk. We focus.
(15:23):
We're not here toto do a lot of the other things
that we see ourselves getwrapped up into that seem to be
organizational importances.
Ultimately, we can quantify andwe can reduce risk, and we can
do that. Of course, there's noway you do it without people.
(15:44):
We put the first things firstthe people, and then we look at
how the risk interacts with thepeople. But by going into it,
eyes and ears open, ready tolearn, ready to observe, we walk
away with the understanding ofwhere we begin to build our
plan. How else would you do it?
That's where I've had, ofcourse, times where I have been
(16:05):
given tasks like, this is themost important thing. Get this
done. Close these actions, allthose things that come in with
like, Hey, this is why webrought someone in. I remember
the turnaround was like, one ofthem I did was, hey, we've had
six safety managers in fiveyears. The most important thing
you should be doing is creatingaction against these findings.
(16:29):
Okay? And one time it was handedto me, it was like, Oh, yeah.
And by the way, here's the OSHAcitations that we received
before you arrived, and we thinkthey might be overdue.
So I understood. But even withthat happening,
the goal was I had to understandthe people and how did this,
where did these OSHA citationscome from? What were the people
(16:51):
involved? How did it evolve theway it did? Even to close the
actions, it's not me going outthere and fixing things. I don't
know even who to talk to to getsomething fixed at that point.
It's about engaging with thepeople in learning who's there
and what they do and how you'regoing to interact with them for
the rest of your your time. Andthat's the first fund like
(17:15):
you're building, that foundationthat you're going to keep
building upon. It you're nevergoing to stop learning about
people, engaging with people,interacting with people. It
fundamentally is right there,and you're going to just keep
building off of that. At thesame time, you're starting to
get a feel for where do I needto really focus? Where are the
biggest gaps? Is itcommunication? Is it risk? Is it
(17:36):
process, flow? Is itquantification? Is it reporting?
Is it data? There can be so manypieces that you then understand
where you need to be, becauseyou've heard it firsthand from
the people that it will affectthe most. You're building
influence from day one. You'rebuilding it by going out and
(17:58):
being a part of what they're apart of, of joining them at that
moment of being there when theyneed you to be there. Isn't that
what we need just as people, weneed someone to be there with us
and understand where we are, tobuild empathy, to create action.
Oh yeah, that's where we're at.
Sowhen you're thinking about as a
(18:21):
leader, building those 3060, 90plans for the next, future
leader that you're developing, Iencourage you highly to think
about those first 30 days as theopportunity of not only what
they should be doing, who shouldthey be meeting, where should
they be going? Where should theyjust go and be? Not that it has
to be an active back and forth,but where do we go to really get
(18:44):
a feel for the organization?
Thanks for joining me on thisepisode, and until next time we
chat, stay safe. You.
Announcer,thank you for listening to the
(19:04):
leading and learning throughsafety podcast. More content is
available online at www dot tsdaconsulting.com
all the opinions expressed onthe podcast are solely
attributed to the individual andnot affiliated with any business
(19:26):
entity. This podcast is forinformational and entertainment
purposes. It is not a substitutefor proper policy, appropriate
training or legal advice youi This has been the leading and
(19:57):
learning through.
Safety podcast you.
Welcome to this episode of the leading and learning
through safety podcast. Thisweek, we're going to talk about
onboarding. How is it that a newsafety professional comes into
the environment and what's mostimportant that we pass along?
Let's talk about that this weekon the podcast. You mark,
(00:35):
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
(00:57):
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,Bucha, hello and welcome to this
(01:32):
episode of the leading andlearning through safety Podcast.
I'm so happy you've joined methis week, and actually, the
past couple of weeks, I have hadthe distinct pleasure of
onboarding a relatively newsafety professional, and it
opened my eyes to just how farI have come in my career, good
(01:56):
or bad, it's been a distanceI've traveled. And what is it
that we do to really makegood impact on the future of the
safety profession through goodleadership? Because it's one of
those items that we often hearthat you haven't really proven
(02:16):
yourself as a leader until youhave produced a leader who can
produce a leader. And not sureI've ever done that to be
perfectly, I'd like to think Imaybe have had some impact
there. But now that I'm actuallydoing it again for the first
time, kind of a startupsituation, new safety
(02:37):
professional out in the field,been around, certainly completed
their education, have done someinternships. I mean, not
completely new, new, but newenough. And spent two weeks
doing some onboarding. And itmade me think about what is
important to us in theprofession of leaders. Because
(02:59):
what I discovered was I wasn'tteaching safety, because the
knowledge was there, the abilityto find the information, the
ability to figure out theinformation. What it was was,
how do we apply that informationin a way that creates good
leadership, that createsinfluential leadership within
the team? Because we all know,in a lot of cases, our power as
(03:21):
influencers is way moreeffective than any authoritarian
power we're ever given throughan org chart. If we can
influence people, then we trulyhave made the difference that we
need to make as people who leadin an organization. And the
question that I got stuck on,and it was a brilliant question.
(03:43):
I'll be perfectly honest, it wasa great question was,
if you were in my situation,what would you need to know, or
what would you learn?
And there I got stuck, becausein my career, when I go back and
I've shared this many times, ofwhat has my career looked like.
(04:04):
It started off with being aclerk. It moved to a night shift
position, wherereally understanding that
dynamic of day shift and nightshift and who's around who's
not, and how do you create that?
Now I really goofed it up earlyon, but kind of found my
footing. I went into a startupsituation. I went into a full
(04:27):
fledged turnaround situation,another startup style, like
restart up situation, clean up,into just maintaining, into
creating again. So a lot ofturnaround and startup and
creation is kind of been mybread and butter in the safety
world. And again, it's not aboutsafety. It's about leadership.
(04:50):
It's about how do you create theinfluence to get what needs to
be done, to get it done. It's,I've spent a lot of time there,
and a lot of it, yeah, I'vebeen, I've worked.
With a lot of really amazing andtalented people. I have also
been mentored by a lot ofamazing and wonderful people.
Both sides of it. I've been beenvery fortunate there to to have
(05:14):
interacted with people like thatcontinuously and but a lot of it
has been where I have I'm a verystrong individual contributor.
When I feel like things need toget done,
I need to be better at and I'mlearning. We always keep
learning. But I have a highsense of responsibility. I have
a high sense of introversion, sotherefore, I usually put my head
(05:38):
down, dig in and figure out whatneeds to happen, and I get it
done through that. But certainlydo, I don't like I feel like I'm
in an interview here where Ihave to give you the opposite to
that. Like I understanddelegation. I understand giving
others the chance. Understood mymy base way of doing things is
(05:59):
to fall into my put your headdown, get it done, and knock it
out and just get done with it.
Not not a lot of inclusiveness,my natural inclination, but I
know that doesn't always work.
Well. I felt like I needed thedisclaimers there.
I guess I don't. But why notwhen I'm doing that. I now, when
(06:20):
I was asked that question, and Istarted really thinking, like,
Okay, what isthere's madness in that. There's
a method within the madness. Howdo I describe it? How would I
tell someone that maybe hasn'tdone that before or been in one
of those situations, how do youexplain what I'm doing and why
(06:43):
I'm doing it the way I'm doingit? And of course, with any good
onboarding, what do you do? Youcreate a 3060, 90, maybe a 120,
and I kind of stop at the 90. Ifeel like that. You know, by the
time you get to 90 days, it'sstill a lot of learning and and
(07:04):
doing like the learning doingcurve starts to transition some
you're really not and I'll behonest, even I don't start to
really hit my stride and in anew position. I've done this for
better or worse, I've been in alot of new positions in my
career. For better or worse, Isee myself hitting my stride at
around six months and reallygetting into what the truth is
(07:26):
within a year. So even forsomeone that we would say have
experiences like I have, it'snot an immediate like I walk in
in 30 days, and magic hashappened and just pouring out
everywhere, no six months to ayear, and usually it's the year
point where I'm reallyunderstanding and really
starting to be highly effectiveand moving into really getting
(07:51):
the sustainable processes inplace. Six months I'm feeling
good. A year, I'm in the groove.
And so how do I explain that?
Like, at 90 days, I'm reallyjust getting into my I'm at 90
I'm really preparing for the sixmonth mark. At the six month
mark, I'm trying to find theright, like, really, really,
super sweet spot at the year.
And that sounds so easy when Isay it. But how did I get there?
(08:15):
How do I start to create aleadership program that pushes
me into that methodology. And soagain, a 90 day plan, to me, is
most effective with leadership,because beyond the 90 days,
you've either found where youwant to go for your six month or
you haven't. And now on theother side of it's mainly a
(08:37):
doing task. You probably need a120 a 180 review to real mid
year, full year, to look at theskills and the technical part of
what's going on, and are youperforming up to the level. But
when a leadership position, ifat nine in again, my opinion, if
you're hitting the 90 day markand you're you're still on not
sure of where you're heading tothe to the six month mark,
(09:02):
there's some concern there forsure of what is happening and
where are you starting to reallyfeel around and get yourself
into where you need to be to bean effective leader. Because
you're really spending the first90 days of strong, strong
learning. It's the greatopportunity to truly feel out
(09:23):
where you are. Put your fingerson the pulse of the culture, and
I'm using a lot of buzz words,the pulse of the culture. You're
feeling out where you're at.
You're getting a sense of who isthe leaders. What is the
process, how is it flowing, andeven the cadence of what is the
(09:45):
normal cycle of processes andprojects and work that's going
on? But let's move into theleadership 3060, 90 plan and how
to implement that, or at least,my opinion, in my.
Feelings on that coming up inthe second half of the leading
and learning through safetypodcast, you are listening to
(10:09):
the leading and learning throughsafety podcast with Dr Mark
French,dsda Consulting. Learn you lead
others the Myers Briggs TypeIndicator is an amazing tool.
Problem is that it can be easilymisinterpreted. Dr Mark French
is MBTI certified and ready tohelp you discover your inner
(10:31):
strengths. The MBTI assessmentcan help with team building,
stress management,communication, conflict
management and so much more,individual and group sessions
are available to help youdiscover what makes you great.
For more information, visit uson the web, AT T, S, D, A
consulting.comand welcome back to the second
(10:53):
half of our leading and learningthrough safety podcast this
week, talking about onboardingin the leadership of that
experience, of how do we notjust set someone up for
technical success? How do we setsomeone up for leadership
success? And so here I'vepreviewed this for as long as I
can, and now I've actually gotto put something here for you,
(11:20):
the 3060, 90 plan. So when Iwrote the words 3060, and the
numbers on a board, and I said,here are the three goals that we
have for these milestones.
At the end of your 30 days, knowthe people at the end of the 60
days, know the risk. So know ourjob. Know the job of the safety
(11:41):
professional, which isquantifying and working through
risk. At the end of 90 days, theplan for how to reduce risk
within the organization. So wethink about a leadership role
the first 30 days, what I askedfor was know the people, and not
just leadership, not just thetop level leadership. Know, the
(12:02):
people go out into the field getjust have build a rapport to
where there's opencommunication. You're not out
there trying to solve worldhunger, you're not boiling the
ocean. You're not trying todo everything at once and get
everything done. You're outthere getting the early wins of
(12:23):
building communication as simpleas, hey, what's happening? What
can I do? I'm new. What are somethings you'd like to see
different? What are some thingsyou really love about being
here? Do you mind if I just walkaround and see what you're
doing. I just want to observe,because I'm new and I don't
know, and I'm not here to judgeanything. I'm here to just do
(12:47):
and listen and be here in thismoment with you. Now it's not
again. You'll hear that insomeone, and I know I can
envision the person, because Iknow them. I know this person.
I've met them, and they go,Well, what about if something
bad were to happen? Or what ifthey ask you for something? Do
(13:09):
you just ignore it and you'rejust there to meet the people?
Of course not. If we seesomething critical, just like
any any key leader, if you sawsomething that was going to burn
the business down, or a firestarting, you do something.
You're not just there to learn.
You do something. Or if someoneneeds something, and you can
give some help, you give somehelp that that is basic. I'm not
(13:33):
surewhere that other piece would
come. I know it's maliciouscompliance. I know what it is.
Still don't understand whypeople, some people do that. But
anyway, not the pointdistraction.
The first 30 days, I think, arethe most critical, because it's
when you as a new person in anyorganization, as a leader, can
(13:54):
really get in there. And theexpectations of performance are
there, of course, but there's athere's an understanding of
learning, and so you have theability to go in, sit with the
team, and just be present.
There's something Zen about thattoo, of just be in the moment,
be there with them, whereverthey are at that moment, and
(14:17):
begin to create theunderstanding of who is here,
who's out there, doing the work,who's leading the work, who's
administrating the work, who'sdoing some of the even any job.
What are they? How are theyparticipating in this
organization, within this thisecosystem of work, get to know
(14:39):
them, understand who you arearound, and that that 30 day
plan easily rolls into your 60day plan, because as you have
been there in that moment for 30days, and you've allowed
yourself that time to be presentwith the people.
(15:00):
Now with eyes and ears wideopen, not spending a lot of time
pontificating on safety, doingthe right thing, saying some
things, putting things outthere, but just being and
listening and seeing andobserving you have brought in
the information you need to besuccessful with whatever your
plan is going to be. In the caseof safety, it's risk. We focus.
(15:23):
We're not here toto do a lot of the other things
that we see ourselves getwrapped up into that seem to be
organizational importances.
Ultimately, we can quantify andwe can reduce risk, and we can
do that. Of course, there's noway you do it without people.
(15:44):
We put the first things firstthe people, and then we look at
how the risk interacts with thepeople. But by going into it,
eyes and ears open, ready tolearn, ready to observe, we walk
away with the understanding ofwhere we begin to build our
plan. How else would you do it?
That's where I've had, ofcourse, times where I have been
(16:05):
given tasks like, this is themost important thing. Get this
done. Close these actions, allthose things that come in with
like, Hey, this is why webrought someone in. I remember
the turnaround was like, one ofthem I did was, hey, we've had
six safety managers in fiveyears. The most important thing
you should be doing is creatingaction against these findings.
(16:29):
Okay? And one time it was handedto me, it was like, Oh, yeah.
And by the way, here's the OSHAcitations that we received
before you arrived, and we thinkthey might be overdue.
So I understood. But even withthat happening,
the goal was I had to understandthe people and how did this,
where did these OSHA citationscome from? What were the people
(16:51):
involved? How did it evolve theway it did? Even to close the
actions, it's not me going outthere and fixing things. I don't
know even who to talk to to getsomething fixed at that point.
It's about engaging with thepeople in learning who's there
and what they do and how you'regoing to interact with them for
the rest of your your time. Andthat's the first fund like
(17:15):
you're building, that foundationthat you're going to keep
building upon. It you're nevergoing to stop learning about
people, engaging with people,interacting with people. It
fundamentally is right there,and you're going to just keep
building off of that. At thesame time, you're starting to
get a feel for where do I needto really focus? Where are the
biggest gaps? Is itcommunication? Is it risk? Is it
(17:36):
process, flow? Is itquantification? Is it reporting?
Is it data? There can be so manypieces that you then understand
where you need to be, becauseyou've heard it firsthand from
the people that it will affectthe most. You're building
influence from day one. You'rebuilding it by going out and
(17:58):
being a part of what they're apart of, of joining them at that
moment of being there when theyneed you to be there. Isn't that
what we need just as people, weneed someone to be there with us
and understand where we are, tobuild empathy, to create action.
Oh yeah, that's where we're at.
Sowhen you're thinking about as a
(18:21):
leader, building those 3060, 90plans for the next, future
leader that you're developing, Iencourage you highly to think
about those first 30 days as theopportunity of not only what
they should be doing, who shouldthey be meeting, where should
they be going? Where should theyjust go and be? Not that it has
to be an active back and forth,but where do we go to really get
(18:44):
a feel for the organization?
Thanks for joining me on thisepisode, and until next time we
chat, stay safe. You.
Announcer,thank you for listening to the
(19:04):
leading and learning throughsafety podcast. More content is
available online at www dot tsdaconsulting.com
all the opinions expressed onthe podcast are solely
attributed to the individual andnot affiliated with any business
(19:26):
entity. This podcast is forinformational and entertainment
purposes. It is not a substitutefor proper policy, appropriate
training or legal advice youi This has been the leading and
(19:57):
learning through.
Safety podcast you.
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