by Doug Gray | Nov 14, 2012 | Business, Coaching, Employment, Leadership, Managers, safety
In some business sectors there is mystery about what works. Consider medical research. Consider financial projections.
There is little mystery in the safety profession. You may work in insurance, preparing audits or claims. You may work in construction, manufacturing, or production. These 5 proven techniques can help your work team.
Consider this slide from a recent CII study:
The Relative Importance of 5 Safety Techniques.
Now ask at least the following:
1. How well is your work team doing each of these 5 proven techniques?
2. What technique do you need to increase?
3. How can you do so?
Unlike medical research or financial projections, these are 5 proven steps that you can implement TODAY. So, what is preventing you from implementing them?
If you need help from Action Learning Associates, Inc please call us at 704.895.6479 TODAY. There is no reason to wait.
by Doug Gray | Nov 14, 2012 | Business, change, Coaching, Employment, energy industry, Leadership, Managers, nuclear, safety, Success
There are many approaches to safety, depending upon your training or job title or perspective. Some are listed below.
But before looking at this data, answer this question: How powerful are your co-workers?
We know that peers influence us. Look at Fantasy Football. Look at gambling behavior. Look at rumors. Look at your children…
Which leads to the question: are co-workers more powerful than, say, management commitment or situational awareness? The short answer is yes.
Consider this slide from a recent CII study:
What are your conclusions?
I notice the following:
1. The higher the correlation coefficient (the more red), the more important the safety climate factor. Co-worker relationships has a red highlight (more than 0.7 correlation coefficient. As any statistics student knows, o.5 is considered statistically significant.) Co-worker relationships are a higher factor than ANY of the other factors.
2. Few project sites provide coaching and training that modifies co-worker behaviors. Over time. Those senior leaders are “missing the boat.”
3. Some smart companies are investing in changing leader behavior. For instance, Shaw Power Group has hired Action Learning Associates to work at a construction site with 33+ safety professionals. That team is defining co-worker relationships at the frontline with supervisors and foreman. And the result is profound on their key performance metrics.
Your company can modify leader behavior by focusing on co-worker relationships. We can help you do so. Call us at 704.895.6479.
What are you waiting for?
by Doug Gray | Nov 14, 2012 | Business, change, Coaching, Employment, money, Personal Development, strengths
…is as smart as eating pasta without a fork. You can get something done. But it’s messy.
Assessments define coaching success for several reasons. At an organizational level, we define patterns, norms, needs, oddities. At an individual level, we determine job fit, strengths, career path, succession, potential value.
Recently I met a consultant (with an undergraduate degree from Harvard College) who stated, “I don’t need to use assessments in my work.” I discarded his opinion. Rubbish.
We always use assessments. The data is invaluable for coaching and consulting.
How about you?
by Doug Gray | Nov 13, 2012 | Business, Coaching, Leadership, Managers, Personal Development, safety, strengths, Success
Reason #11. Graduate School.
When doing my graduate research at Dartmouth College I was obsessed with risk-taking behavior. Key questions included: Why do we intentionally embrace a known risk? What causes us to embrace more risk in academics or business or interpersonal choices? How do we encourage constructive risk tolerance, risky shift, and risk taking behavior?
At the time I was teaching high school English in a boarding school in New Hampshire. Like every faculty member, I was required to embrace the “triple threat” requirements as a teacher, dorm parent, and a coach. I supervised a dormitory house with 12 9th grade boys. I coached soccer and x-c skiing. I taught rock climbing, whitewater canoeing, winter camping, outdoor adventures. I ran a January program that was designed to “foster risk taking” in academics and socially constructive outdoor adventures, which included a 3-day mandatory winter camping expedition called “Sophomore Wilderness.” And I met a lovely woman that I was not supposed to date– because she was on the faculty. And we dated. Got engaged. Then married, on Lake Winnepausaukee. Some 23 + years ago. Like the students and other faculty, I embraced risk.
My research required that I develop an assessment of adolescent risk taking behavior. Based upon recent related research and validated approaches. Then test the questions on hundreds of adolescents at summer camps, and at two independent high schools.
I found that adolescents described self-esteem in multi-dimensions (such as physical, social, academic, etc.) But adolescents did not discriminate between types of risk in that way. They only discriminated between socially constructive risks (helping others, talking to a teacher, etc) or socially destructive risks (taking drugs, sexual activity, etc.)
Some 25+ years later I remain fascinated by several facts:
1. Adults act like those adolescents. Adults discriminate between socially constructive and socially non-constructive risks.
2. That instant between a stimulus/trigger and a response/action defines our career success.
3. Coaches/consultants can help adults determine what is safe or risky, and what is productive or not.
4. I remain continually surprised and puzzled by that opening question: Why do people intentionally embrace a known risk?
What do you think?
by Doug Gray | Sep 24, 2012 | Business, change, exercise
Happiness is elastic.
Like a giant rubber band. Thankfully, we can stretch and create more happiness when we are intentional.
We experience happiness at different times, and some people are more happy than others. We know the reward mechanisms of the brain are reinforced when we do certain activities. And when we reinforce those behaviors, we can be happier. Some activities, such as mindfulness, are now being taught in MBA programs… so that people become more happy.
Here is step 5 of 5:
5. Give.
The happiest people give generously. They give time. They give talents.
John Maxwell, the “Leadership Guru of the Decade”, calls this the Law of Reciprocity. The more you give, without expectation of direct return, then the more you will receive.
In Rotary the motto is, “Service above self.”
The happiest people give because they choose to do so. And in return, those who give report tremendous feelings of altrusim and compassion.
Did you know that our brains are hardwired? When we do certain behaviors, we can see electrical and chemical activity in certain portions of the brain. For instance, consider this experiment. Imagine that we select two sets of people, randomly matched. What would happen if we gave $100 to each person? Anything different? Now imagine that the first set was asked to invest the money on others. The second set was not given any instructions, they could use the money in any way they desired. Now, would you expect anything different? What would their brain images indicate?
The first set of people, who were asked to invest $100 in others, had different brain images. They reported it as “happiness.” And we can see the impact on their brain imagery in bright colors. One conclusion from this study is that we are hard wired to the reward mechanisms in our brain. Another conclusion is that when we choose to give, we can create happiness in ourselves and others.
So, who can you give something to, today? What can you give away, today? How can you help someone else experience happiness?
A friend recently overheard someone state that he had a bicycle on layaway. He used the bicycle daily. So my friend quietly paid off the debt. Anonymously.
What can you give, right now?
Recent Comments