Safety Leadership Coaching: Tying it All Together

tying it all together: safety-leadership coachingOver the past few videos we’ve looked at how to coach safety leadership behaviors and performance; and we looked at how to do that using the G.R.O.W. coaching model.  Here are some key summary points for getting this to work for you. First, accentuate the positive.  Remember to praise what they did well before suggesting improvements.  If you lower their walls of defense first they’ll be much more receptive to those improvements. [content_protector password=”coach-05″ identifier=”coach-05″]

Second, focus on behaviors, not on the person.  Avoid any phrases that will put the person you’re coaching on the defensive.  Instead of “Tom, I think you’re an ineffective safety-meeting leader,” try “Tom, I think there are some things we can do to improve the quality of your safety meetings.”

Third, push back on any inflated self-assessment.  If they rate themselves a 9 on a scale of 1-10, but they’re really more like a 3, let them know you disagree, and be ready to cite specific gaps between their performance and the expected performance.

FCTC OnlineFourth, practice persistence and patience.  Development is not something that happens overnight.  It takes regular and frequent site visits and coaching sessions before you can expect improvements to become second nature.

Fifth, transfer ownership for improvements to them.  This means less talking on your part, more talking on theirs.  Focus on open-ended questions, like, “what do you think needs to happen to take this to the next level?”  Get their input and write out their responses.  Then re-state their responses back to them in the form of a plan of action.

Sixth, set specific expectations for improvements and get a commitment.  Be assertive, be clear, be specific; but above, all get their commitment to turn their suggestions for improvement into their actual practice.

Well there you have it; the G.R.O.W. coaching process and some general guidelines for making it work well.  If you’re viewing this on the safetyBUILT-IN website then be sure to download the G.R.O.W. Coaching Worksheet in the link just below this video.  That’s all the time we have for this edition of Recordable INSIGHTS.  Until next time, be sure all your safety initiatives are built-in, not bolted on.

~ES

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About the Author

Eric Svendsen
Eric Svendsen, Ph.D., is Principal and lead change agent for safetyBUILT-IN, a safety-leadership learning and development organization. He has over 20 years experience in creating and executing outcomes-based leadership development and culture change initiatives aligned to organizational goals, and he personally led the safety-culture initiatives of a number of client organizations that resulted in “best ever safety performance” years for those companies.