December 06 2021
By: Shawn M. Galloway
On a global chemical company project, they wanted to help all people-leaders be more effective in their role, specifically with coaching employees for safety behaviors. They looked to our Leadership Safety Coaching workshops. As we were collaborating with leadership on how to best customize the approach and experience for maximum returns, I discovered something interesting we could use.
Sales-driven individuals led this company. At most levels, promotions occur based on sales performance. New salespeople attend a week-long training session on how to coach the customer to close the sale, to me, a novel approach to sales training. When looking at the coaching methodology used, it was appropriate. I knew introducing ProAct Safety's coaching models and methods could create more confusion, so I had a proposal - use the internal coaching models to show leaders how to extend this to coaching for employee safety behaviors.
As we eventually rolled this out through the company, when introducing why we were there for this one-day workshop, leaders would ask, "remember the sales coaching training we all received? We are going now to use those skills to coach in other areas." Attendees immediately got it. It made sense. Coaching wasn't an entirely new thing to teach leaders; it was an evolution of what they already knew and an opportunity to exercise these coaching skills in other areas. It was wildly successful. If you want to minimize resistance to change, look for ways to minimize the perception of it. Unless in crisis, busy people tend to support evolution over revolution.
"The shock of the way I mix patterns and fabrics can be disconcerting, but what I am trying to do is provoke new ideas about how pieces can be put together in different ways." - Jean Paul Gaultier
"Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."" - Sun Tzu
Shawn M. Galloway is CEO of the global consultancy ProAct Safety. He is a trusted advisor, professional keynote speaker, and author of several bestselling books on safety strategy, culture, leadership, and behavior-based safety. He is a monthly columnist for several magazines and one of the most prolific contributors in the industry, having also authored over 700 podcasts, 200 articles, and 100 videos. Shawn has received awards and recognition for his significant contributions from the American Society of Safety Professionals, National Safety Council's Top 40 Rising Stars and Top Ten Speakers, EHS Today Magazine's 50 People Who Most Influenced EHS, ISHN Magazine's POWER 101 - Leaders of the EHS World and their newest list: 50 Leaders for Today and Tomorrow, Pro-Sapien's list of The Top 11 Health and Safety Influencers and is an Avetta Distinguished Fellow.
