There are very few strictly "safety problems." But there are many leadership and organization effectiveness problems that show up in accidents, sickness, and other symptoms of organizational ineffectiveness. Like incompetent doctors, ineffective managers often make people sicker. Research shows that workers are three times more likely to experience accidents in a depressing workplace. Workers involved in accidents or with higher levels of sickness have lower levels of job and organizational involvement and input. And a high stress workplace correlates with higher levels of sickness and injuries. The quality of supervision and leadership is a key factor in determining workplace stress levels.
Numerous experiences with service/quality improvement programs like Total Quality Management, Continuous Quality Improvement, Six Sigma, and the like have shown that it's both expensive and much less effective to try "bolting-on" or "inspecting in" quality later in the process. Ever higher quality while continually lowering costs comes from building continuous improvement into all technical, management, and leadership processes and practices. Research is clearly showing that the same is true with health and safety.
The "Courageous Leadership for Health and Safety" workshop draws from Jim's almost 30 years of research, six international best-selling books, and work with hundreds of management teams and organizations. He challenges and shows participants how to provide the leadership that aligns processes and people for healthier, safer, and more effective organizations.
Workshop Menu
Each workshop is tailored to the audience and organizational circumstances. Following is an overview of the main sections that Jim can draw from in customizing a session for each Client.
Why Most Health and Safety Efforts Fall Short
The Performance Balance
For a brief overview of the material covered in this section click here and here.
Pathways to Higher Health and Safety
While some health and safety efforts may shift a few short-term performance indicators, many initiatives fail to change the very character and fabric of the team or organization. These efforts often make surface-level changes. But few are integrated with a systematic and strategic approach to high performance.
Transformation Pathways
The Pathways Framework has evolved over many years of best practices research and very successful use with hundreds of management teams. The process used here is a highly iterative one. It is tailored to the main areas that participants want to focus upon or feel they need to address in more depth.
Here's the typical process used in a one or two-day workshop:
Pathways Framework
For an overview of the "compass model" used in this section and more depth on each Pathway click here.
Focus and Context (Vision, Values, and Purpose)
Customers/Partners
Strategy and Direction
Measures and Rewards
Processes and Systems
Learning and Development
Timeless Leadership Principles for Team and Organization Success
Unimproving managers rarely develop improving organizations. Safe and healthy workplaces and leadership are closely related. Part of changing "them" involves changing me. High performing cultures are only possible through high-performance leadership. High performing health and safety leaders are well-rounded and constantly expanding their personal "leadership wheel" across the "Timeless Leadership Principles."
This section builds on Jim's bestselling book, The Leader's Digest: Timeless Principles for Team and Organization Success and may also draw from the accompanying Practical Application Planner.
Depending upon the length and focus of the workshop, the process typically used starts with an overview of each of the following Leadership Principles. Participants then assess their team/organization. From here, small breakout discussion groups or the whole group (depending upon workshop size and objectives) review application exercises and brainstorm potential application ideas. The workshop usually finishes with setting practical action plans.
Focus and Context: Points of Origin
Responsibility for Choices: From Victim to Victor
Authenticity: Let's Get Real
Passion and Commitment: All Fired Up
Spirit and Meaning: Matters of the Heart
Growing and Developing: All That We Can Be
Mobilizing and Energizing: Inspiring Peak Performance
Workshop Options
Customizing any "Courageous Leadership for Health and Safety" workshop starts with defining the key objectives and outcomes of the session.
Half–Day
For Management and/or Frontline Staff
This is generally an interactive and inspirational workshop that reinforces or provides participants with an "edutaining" overview of the keys to improving safety and building healthier workplaces. A few assessment and application exercises may be selected on the basis of preworkshop discussions and customization.
One–Day
Participants complete a greater number of the assessment and application exercises from The Leader's Digest: Practical Application Planner and/or extensive Courageous Leadership for Health and Safety workbook. Participants may assess personal, team, or organizational effectiveness across the Transformation Pathways and/or the Timeless Leadership Principles. This helps determine which Pathways or Principles they want to complete as a whole group or in small discussion groups (depending upon the key issues and number of people in the session). The amount of time and depth in each agenda area is determined by preworkshop discussions and customization.
Two–Day
For Management Staff and/or Blending with Staff (see next option)
Participants typically complete all assessments and application exercises in The Leader's Digest: Practical Application Planner and may start selected ones in Growing the Distance: Personal Implementation Guide. They get deep into the key leadership issues that need to be addressed and develop detailed action plans. Key priorities, next steps, and follow-through processes are established.
Progressive Blending for Staff and/or Various Management Levels
This starts as a half or one-day session for staff and management together with organization or team assessments, issues to be addressed, and implementation brainstorming. Everyone gets the same message, develops common language, and gets involved in the improvement process (which dramatically increases commitment to change). Jim then facilitates a senior management team priority and action planning session the afternoon of the second day to make decisions and begin implementation. Sometimes the progression is first a half-day with everyone, continuing with a day including all management, and a final half-day with just the senior management team.
Confidential Preworkshop Web-Based Assessments (Optional)
These assessments can be built around the questions in The Leader's Digest: Practical Application Planner and/or Transformation Pathways. All or selected assessments (depends upon the half, one, or two-day version) are completed confidentially and anonymously by each participant before the session begins. Scores are tabulated and a summary report is brought to the workshop for discussion, prioritization, and action.
This option provides:
To view the Transformation Pathways assessment click here ../models/models_pathways.aspx.
What You and Your Team Can Expect From This Workshop
Let's Get Practical
For almost thirty years, Jim Clemmer's practical leadership approaches have been inspiring action and achieving results. His 2,000 plus presentations and workshops/retreats, seven best-selling books, columns, and newsletters are helping hundreds of thousands of people worldwide because they are inspiring, instructive, and refreshingly fun. And most of all…because they work!
Jim is constantly distilling his exhaustive research, extensive experience, and collection of best practices into easily understood, highly energizing, and practical applications. His workshop is so effective because it inspires action and provides "how-to" steps that — when used as directed — dramatically boost results.
