Chapter 3The Practice of Leadership
What leaders do to lead others in all walks of life boils down to “use words” and “take action.” Every follower on the planet knows “actions speak louder than words.” That's because actions are things that followers can actually see a leader do—like following the rules and fixing a problem. Still, a substantial portion of leadership activity involves words. Using words—more formally, language—to communicate is a far more complex leadership process: not as important as taking action, but still very important. Words are a leader's way of explaining, eliciting, exciting, and engaging followers.
One very important leadership tool involving words is the “Stump Speech.” A Stump Speech is a concise statement of a leader's beliefs, values, advice, and expectations about working safely. It need not be long, but should have enough meaningful content to make it more than just a slogan.
Preparation Questions
In order to develop your Stump Speech for safety, you need to give some thought to its content—what is the message to your followers about working safely? Here are four questions that can help you get your arms around your message:
- What are the most important reasons the members of your team should work safely?
- What are the most important things the members of your team should consider or do in order to work safely?
- What is your best advice about how to work safely?
- What are the important things you will do as the leader to make sure no one gets ...