ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. -- We all experience challenges every day and some employees are better at managing the five categories of risk – Safety, Chemical, Biological, Physical and Ergonomic hazards. What makes some more successful than others? To me, the answer is leadership.
Regardless of what position you hold here at the depot, you are a safety leader.
To help you understand what it means to be a leader, I would like to share with you the three “C’s” of leadership. This was sent to me by a friend who read it as a story from Col. Arthur Athens, the director of the Naval Academy Center for Ethical Leadership, in a discussion titled: “What’s Love Got to Do with It?”
As the story goes, people ask three questions about a leader:
1. Do you know your job, or are you striving very hard to learn it?
2. Are you going to make the hard, but right, decision, even if it costs you personally?
3. Do you care as much about me as you do about yourself?
That brings me to my three points of this article: Competence, courage and compassion.
Competence: Do you know your job, or are you striving very hard to learn it?
You aren’t expected to know everything here at Anniston Army Depot, but you are expected to grow daily as it relates to your position and stay safe while doing so.
Growing, learning, and adapting within your cost center or shop is integral to the future success of the command. Being at the top of your game daily is sometimes unrealistic, but failing to try at all can be catastrophic.
If you see something unsafe or something you are unsure about, stop and ask questions before pressing on. Never assume that you know it all.
At times, it’s important to acknowledge that someone else might have a better way to skin a cat, and we should listen.
Don’t fall into the trap of feeling like you need to have all the answers all the time. The last thing you want to do is execute on your ego or commit an unsafe act because you were unaware.
Remember your coworkers and always follow the proper process for assignments. Have the humility to be a student when you need to be and manage risk to be prepared when opportunity comes.
If there is not a process for what you do, and there are dangers or concerns about how to accomplish it without specific training, bring it to your supervisor so the proper process can be developed.
Courage: Are you going to make the hard, but right, decision, even if it costs you personally?
Courage is making a decision to do the right thing despite anticipated adversity.
One of the most common perils that leaders fall victim to is prioritizing likability over respect.
Culture does not change because we want it to, it changes based on the habits we create or allow.
Understanding you have control over these habits makes you the culture hub of your environment.
Just imagine if everyone looked at you as a person who cares about them and their well-being. If you want your employees or coworkers to work productively and stay safe, you must know the way, show the way and hold them accountable for going that way.
The biggest part of this question is the last part: even if it costs you personally.
Making decisions you know can or will negatively affect others is not easy.
Admitting fault in an effort to arrive at a solution is not easy.
Taking responsibility and true ownership for the actions of your team is not easy.
Your team watches how you handle these situations and answer the courage question. Create the culture you want by making the hard, but right decision, even if it costs you personally.
Compassion: Do you care as much about me as you do about yourself?
How likely is that you or your coworkers would stay on the job an extra hour to do the job right, represent the depot and Army with enthusiasm and create amazing workday experiences without having the true belief that their leader cares about them personally.
Former Xerox CEO, Anne Mculhay said, “Employees who believe that management is concerned about them as a whole person – not just an employee – are more productive, more satisfied, and more fulfilled. Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability.”
Compassion makes a supervisor or boss a leader. Understanding the needs of your team comes from shared hardship and genuine interaction.
From there, you depend on your competence and courage to act on priorities, which will enable the safety and success of the depot’s mission.
There are no 30-minute recipes for leadership, but I have been asking myself these very questions every day for the past decade.
I can tell you they have driven me to work daily at making myself more competent in my craft as a leader and more focused on the success and well-being of those who have entrusted me with their safety, time and hard work.
Regardless of your role at the depot, exercising the “Three C’s of Leadership” will enable your future success.
Focus on your personal safety and development as a leader. Focusing on the needs of your team will pay huge dividends toward mutual respect, safety culture and happy employees.
I will leave you with this thought: How are you utilizing the three “C’s” of leadership and have you seen these essential values demonstrated in what you do daily?
If not, I challenge you to begin using them today; not just at work, but in your personal life as well.
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