Walking the Talk

Workplace safety works when everyone follows safety rules and practices. That means the CEO down to the person sweeping the floor must follow the rules. They must also follow the same discipline. If you have rules for hearing protection, head protection, eye protection and others for personal protective equipment, everyone must follow those rules.
Additionally, you should expect your fellow employees to remind you when you need to get better and forget for a moment. Safety is everyones job. There is nothing worth getting hurt over.  We should be working to live. Our families send us off to work with our fingers, toes, eyes (whatever form we are in) and expect us to return home the same way. 
Do not put yourself at risk for injury because you decide to climb on something instead of find a ladder. You forgot your safety glasses and you should be okay walking through the maintenance shop this one time.
Read the labels, follow posted warnings, question people on the hazards in your work area.
You must talk safety and walk safety. Most people learn by watching and doing.  In training use real photos of equipment and practices. Take training walks through your facility. Train your eyes to see hazards and train others to see them also.
If people see the boss follow the rules, then they will be more likely to follow. Be the picture of safety and set the standard. Raise the bar, eliminate risk, eliminate at risk behaviors, eliminate accidents.
I know manufacturing plants that have gone over a year, in some cases multiple years without a recordable injury.  I had the privilege of managing a facility that drove down accidents from 20 per 100K hours worked to less than 1. It can be done, if you challenge the process and be the change that you want to see.

Be safe,
Rudy
rudy@powerinlearning.com

Community Emergency Response Team

Recently, thirty five adults attended a three day course at our local fire department to prepare ourselves to be able to assist the fire department and EMT's in case of an emergency or disaster.

We trained on FEMA's training on incident command and the structure that provided uniformity of command across the nation and across districts and across various government agencies. The goal is to provide the greatest good for the greatest number.

We had classroom and hands-on training to certify. Training was provided in removing heavy objects that had fallen on individuals. Basic lifesaving techniques to assess breathing, blood flow and mental capacity. Scenarios were staged and various people stepped into the leader or command position.

In event of a natural disaster, flood, fire, earthquake, hurricane, tornado, the emergency forces will be overwhelmed. It will be up to the citizens to protect themselves and then their neighbors. Would you be up to the task? Could you make life and death decisions?

Do you know where the shut off is for your gas, your electric, your water?

Has your family prepared and practiced your emergency plan?

Have you prepared a 72 hour or 7 day or 10 day supply of food and water?

Now is the time to be ready. You will help yourself, your family, your neighbors, your town, your country.

Take the lead.

Rudy Westervelt
rudy@powerinlearning.com

Carpe diem

In honor of those who have given their lives to protect others and to protect the United States of America, I challenge each of us to seize this day to make a choice. That choice will be either to accept things as they are, or to question and challenge status quo.

There is so much for us to learn and only one shot at this time in this body. Today can be your day to make a difference.

Perhaps if we truly learn from history, we can avoid repeating the same mistakes. Our loved ones gave and died, so that we have the freedoms given to us by our founding fathers.

Read a book. Read to a child. Read to an adult. Attend a memorial service. Put your hand over your heart and recite the pledge of allegiance. Laugh, love, cry. Most of all, as a leader, decide to make a difference and then do it.

Learn something knew each day. Wake up with a great attitude and lead by example.

Dedicate your life to a greater mission.

We debate issues such as global warming. What if the non-believers are wrong, do we want to continue to destroy our planet? Can't we do the right thing and be good stewards of our environment, our communities, our businesses, our families?

Open your mind, your eyes, your heart, your ears. Take in all the information that your brain can process and more. And then speak from your heart, with sincerity, about those issues that are most important.

Draft your family members, your friends, your associates, your employees. Your new corps will lead us in peace, prosperity, greater health for each of us and generations to come.

In memory of all our fallen heroes, I salute you. We will use the freedoms you have given us to make our country and our world a better place, when we leave it than when we entered.

In silence.....and in thanks...

Rudy
rudy@powerinlearning.com

Earth Day---Volunteer Week

In our mountain community, some years ago, local contractors got together and used their own monies to repair homes of those in need.
That program today is Rebuilding Together. This Saturday, the date for the work on five mountain homes, coincides with Rotarian at Work volunteer day.
Trade people will repair roofs, paint houses, pour concrete, repair plumbing and wiring. Their labor and much of the materials are donated. Volunteers clean, paint, rake and do wonderful work for the community.
For information http://rimoftheworld.net/columns/neufeld/rebuilding_day_christmas

This link reaches our mountain website. And yes if you look at the pictures, you will see me on a ladder. My wife and I are volunteer leaders on a house again this year.

Who wins when the community takes on this role? It inspires the volunteers, the recipient and those who see the work happening. It causes neighbors to clean up and fix up their property. It helps to raise home values in the community.

In the end, trimming trees, raking yards, cleaning up trash, repairing leaks, help our planet earth and the people who live on it.

Get out and volunteer. Make a difference, just to make a difference and put a smile on someones face.

I have ears, but can I hear

When I was waiting for a flight recently in the Ontario airport, I was seated facing a book store. On the back wall were a variety of catchy sayings. One saying caught my eye.

I believe it was written or spoken by Mark Twain and it said "Is the man who is able to read and doesn't any better off, than the man who cannot read?".

Interesting comment.

It made me think of a different comparison. "Is the person who has two ears and can hear, but doesn't LISTEN, any better leader than who has two ears, but cannot hear?"

A great deal of leading and understanding in business and life occur when active and effective communication is happening. Part of communication is speaking, part is listening and part is questioning to ensure that what you are speaking and hearing is understood by both parties.

Effective listeners are rated as great communicators. Effective listeners interact with the speaker so that they truly are involved with what is being said and ensure they have heard it correctly and understand its meaning.

Next time you meet with your associates, your friends, your family, take an extra moment to let the sound of their voices and words reach your brain before your tongue engages and blocks the input that your ears are receiving.

Be a champion listener on your way to being an effective communicator.

Walking the Talk

For the past two years, our Rotary clubs in Lake Arrowhead have sponsored a program for students. This program is Challenge Day. It is diversity training for the students with the goal of showing them the similarities they have. The adult volunteers learn as much as the students. It is a tremendous program.

One of the things a good leader must possess is integrity and character. You show this in your actions. If you see someone make fun of another then you have to speak up and stand for the right thing.

Some years ago, I was invited to play in a golf tournament. Industry suppliers hosted the event. My wife and I were invited. We met the evening before the tournament for snacks and a get to know you time. There was only one other woman in attendance.

The next day while playing golf, I was told that I could attend the awards dinner after the tournament, but that my wife could not. Several of the men complained that this was to be a "men's" only weekend.

Needless to say, I bowed out of dinner and wrote a letter to leadership of the tournament. I made a statement that I would not attend or support an event that discriminated against anyone. I also let my vendors know that I expected them to be inclusive in their business practices.

The leadership of the tournament said that I was the first to complain. I later discovered that other attendees and vendors were in agreement with me.

The tournament was no longer held, supposedly for lack of attendance.

As a leader and as an individual, you have opportunities to make a difference. You have the opportunity to show what you stand for and stop discrimination. Speak up. You will be surprised by the support that you will receive for making a statement.

Make a difference, today and every day.

Thank you for doing the right thing.

Rudy
rudy@powerinlearning.com

Teach Yourself a Lesson

This week I was in Petaluma on assignment and went for lunch at a family restaurant.

A woman arrived and was seated a few booths from me. When her waiter came up, she berated him on the condition of the seat back on the booth that she sat in the last visit.

He said that several were broken.

She went on placing her order and complaining that they did not have cream in a pitcher and only in the small containers. When she was finished placing her order, she stopped the waiter and said, "Let me start again. How are you today? Is everything going okay?" After a short discussion she again placed her order.

How many times do we approach an employee, an associate or a friend and before greeting them begin with an order or complaint? In today's hurry up world, where verbal communication is at its worst, we need to back off and think about how we would like communication to begin when someone addresses us.

Take a moment to engage the person. Ask how they are or what's new or just extend a hand and say hello and nice to see you today..or how's the family or how is your son doing in college.

Make communication a personal issue. I knew a manager who used 5 pennies and two pockets to improve his skills. He started each morning with 5 pennies in his right pants pocket. In his walk around throughout the day, he greeted and talked to people and looked to observe someone performing their job well or doing someone correctly. He would then take to time to acknowledge this and thank them. Then, he would move the penny to the left pocket. His goal was to get all 5 pennies into the left pocket before the end of the day.

Soon this developed into a learned behavior for him and he spent more time looking for the good in people than the bad. His teams tried harder for him and he continued to have good success in his business.

Whatever you use to improve your verbal communication skills, remember to greet people politely and get to know them before you unload your problems on them.

And treat people as you would like to be treated!

Have a positive day,
Rudy

Leading the Generation after the next Generation

I was hiking today with my great-nephews (and they are terrific). They are 35 and 39 years YOUNGER than me. We chose hike #8 from the San Bernardino Mountain Trails book written by John W. Robinson.

The hike started at highway 18 and wound down towards the top of a smaller peak which has the arrowhead on the front. It is about a six mile hike with moderate elevation gain.

The challenge of the hike was not the distance, elevation gains or elevation. The challenge was to find the entrance to the trail which was overgrown and to stay on the trail because of brush that had filled the trail.

It gave me a chance to talk about life and the future and seeing the world with your eyes wide open. I led the way on the way down and talked about nature and the trails and switchbacks and how to read the trail to find your way through the sharp thorns and the sticky leaves and the loose rocks. I let them lead on the way back.

We talked about using the hike not just to strengthen your body, but also your mind.

The hike was very similar to the challenges we face in our personal and business lives.

When you set a goal and develop a plan in order to achieve it, you must execute the plan. In the process of executing, you will be faced with small rock slides, when someone has put an obstacle in your way. It could be a customer complaint or an employee issue or lack of funds. But, the leader that moves forward toward the goal is the one that never loses focus on the goal, even when something pops up with more immediate needs.

Look for the path that others have followed and achieved success. Most often the path to success is difficult to follow. It is important to teach our young people about the challenges that lie ahead and how to confront them in order to achieve their goals.

We have a great opportunity to shape the future leaders, sometimes one or two at a time. Take the time to make a difference in someones life and do it today.

Share your talents.

Rudy