Why I Believe in Felt Leadership

People often ask me: “Mike, what is the difference between a good and a great company when it comes to safety?”  There are many factors, but I believe that felt leadership is one of the top differentiators between a good and great safety culture.

Repeatedly, I have watched companies transform – true cultural transformations – because their leaders practice felt leadership. The first step in felt leadership is establishing safety as a core business value and integral to the very existence of the organization. This acknowledgement has a profound effect on employees; they begin to see that their own accountability can have a direct effect on their financial well-being as well as their physical well-being. They become an active part of building a safety culture.

Felt leadership starts at the top. I’ve always liked the fact that at DuPont, our CEO is also the Chief Safety Officer.  His active involvement sends a clear message that leadership is not only about driving revenue and contributing to shareholder value – it is about helping preserve and protect an organization’s most valuable resource – its employees.

Felt leadership goes far beyond talking about safety.  To create a great company, top management must get personally involved in high potential and serious incident investigations and review reports to ensure appropriate action and communication have taken place to prevent recurrence. They need to ensure all injuries and significant incidents are reported and data is compiled and presented just like production and cost data. They should set their own personal goals and objectives, and establish expectations and accountabilities for line management.

In summary, I’d like to share with you 10 leadership principles that we use at DuPont and our trainers and consultants use to guide thousands of organizations on the path to felt leadership and safety greatness: