Tag Archives: leadership

Why the Human Factor is as Important as Your Technology

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In 1979, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) held a workshop at which it presented research demonstrating that the root cause of most aircraft accidents was human error and worker performance relating to poor critical thinking, lack of leadership, and miscommunication. The presentation was a response to the crash of United Airlines Flight 173 in Portland, Oregon in 1978, in which a landing gear problem forced the crew to circle the airport prior to landing. The captain focused on the landing gear problem for over an hour, missing frequent communications from his crew that the fuel supply was running low. The captain only realized his lack of situational awareness moments prior to the plane running out of fuel and crashing only a few miles short of the runway. Two crew members and eight passengers were killed. 

NASA therefore developed the practice of crew resource management (CRM). CRM addresses the human factor in teams … Read more...

Change Your Culture by Making Employees a Part of Safety Strategy

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New webinar explains why employees support proposals and programs they help to create and offers guidance on achieving employee buy-in for your safety management initiatives.

For excellence in any operational category to be recognized, it is imperative employees make decisions and behave in alignment with the intended strategic direction. Strategy is a framework of choices an organization makes to determine how to capture and deliver sustainable value. How value focused are your efforts, and do the customers of your safety strategy agree with this? 

In a new September 25 EHS Today-hosted webinar, sponsored by Intelex, Terry Mathis, the founder and CEO of ProAct Safety, an international safety and performance excellence firm, explain why safety is not a standalone strategy within a business; it must be an integral part of the overall operational plan. The webinar is scheduled for 2 pm on Sept. 25, and registration is open now.

Mathis … Read more...

Flip the Leadership Pyramid

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There’s much to be said for the “power of We.”

Over the past several years, I have written articles and lectured on numerous occasions about effective leadership and management systems. There’s inherently one important idea always floating in the back of my mind, and it serves as the foundation for most any actionable content I create.

I learned about the inverted leadership pyramid on the first day of my first corporate-level job in the mid-1990s. I had assumed the role of Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) leader for a large chunk of the company’s business portfolio. My boss, a guy who would become a mentor and coach, sat me down and drew a triangle that displayed Vision & Mission / Strategy & Goals.

It looked like this: 

It was the standard pyramid used to explain the organizational structure. He drew dividing lines; splitting the triangle with the upper one-third reserved … Read more...

Elements of Leadership and the EHS Professional – Part Two

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In Part One, we looked at the role of a EHS professional and some key attributes I believe every EHS professional needs to possess to have sustainable success in their organization and career. In Part Two, let’s look at a few more.

The Affiliative Leader is another attribute closely related to supportive leadership. It is the ability of the EHS professional to bring together groups of people when team building is important. While I do not believe this style can be used alone, there is plenty of evidence to support that our ability to leverage collaboration and teamwork is a pivotal leadership attribute to a well-balanced and sustainable EHS process. It’s the ability to take a management dependent or independent workforce to one of interdependence; where employees and leaders work together to both implement and promote a “values” based system that is built on the premise that ‘no-one gets … Read more...

Elements of Leadership and the EHS Professional – Part One

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In an article published in the Harvard Business Review titled, “Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?”, the author explores the difference between “leadership” and “management.” “It takes neither genius nor heroism to be a manager,” he wrote, “but rather persistence, tough-mindedness, hard work, intelligence, analytical ability and perhaps most important, tolerance and goodwill.” Granted, one would be hard pressed to deny that these are not admirable qualities, but it is doubtful that these qualities would ever deliver sustainable EHS performance in a complex and dynamic organization.

Over the past 25 years of my career, I’ve spent most of my time working in local and corporate level positions striving to improve EHS process and performance. Over the years, I discovered that organizations best optimize their efforts when they provide strong well-balanced leadership. Strong and well-balanced meaning that it does not lie strictly on a regulatory focus, but considers employee capability and … Read more...

Measuring Safety, part 1 – The Relevance of Outcomes

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The other day I received another self-praising message in my news-feed, one of Norway’s major construction contractors was celebrating their one year anniversary since their last lost time injury incident, making their LTIF now “Zero”.

While reading James Reason’s latest book, “Organisational Accidents Revisited” I noticed the quote: “The road to Hell is paved with falling LTI frequency rates”,  illustrated by major cases like DWH and Texas City.

I believe it is good when no one has been injured as a consequence of their work. At the same time, this has again turned my attention to something which has been keeping me busy for many years;

why are people so focused on outcomes, when they mean so little in terms of improvement, especially in safety?

 Obsessed About Outcomes

When an incident or accident happens, it’s generally the consequences that attract great attention. From a humanitarian and … Read more...

Head of Intelex recognized by peer CEO group for leadership

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We Intelexians couldn’t be more proud of our President and CEO Mark Jaine.

AceTech Ontario, a group of more than 50 CEOs in the technology sector, handed Mark a unique leadership award during its annual retreat in Ontario’s Blue Mountains last week. Four CEOs in the organization were recognized for their leadership and accomplishments. Mark was singled out for an aggressive and highly successful sales and marketing strategy.

“It is truly humbling to receive this unique award from a network of peers that I both respect and admire,” Mark said in response to receiving the award. “I have learned so much through my participation with AceTech Ontario over the years, so it is a great honour to be recognized in this way.”

Head over to our press room for more information about this significant accomplishment.

Congratulations, Mark! Smile… Read more...