Leadership has been described as the "process of social influence in which one person is able to enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task"[1] In The human equation: Building profits by putting people first (1998), Jeffery Pfeffer notes that Japanese production plants provide 700% more training on first year new hires than their U.S. counterparts. After that, they provide more than twice the amount. And that training is not just about specialist skills, but also the type you will find in leadership programs, such as general competence and organizational culture. The point he brings out is that they normally plan on keeping their people longer, thus it makes more sense in developing them.
Often workers themselves will demand more training when they have the clout to do so. When programmers were in heavy demand during the Y2K problem, many were demanding at least 80 hours of training per year, not only in new programming skills, but also in leadership skills. As we will discuss later in this paper self recognition of training and development needs is actually a result of strong organizational leadership.
What this shows us is that those wishing to be effective safety leaders (at whatever level) take control of their own development. They seek out or demand training opportunities that will make a difference in their performance. Effective leaders look for training programs that will help them develop specific skills that they can use on the job. However, they need to pass through various organizational barriers before they can take up this role.
In fact, Leadership is not just for leaders anymore. Top companies are beginning to understand that sustaining peak performance requires a firm-wide commitment to developing leaders that is tightly aligned to organizational objectives. Organizations must find ways to cascade leadership from senior management to men and women at all levels(5) Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. Leaders carry out this process by applying their leadership attributes, such as beliefs, values, ethics, character, knowledge, and skills. Leadership differs in that it makes the followers want to achieve high goals, rather than simply bossing people around.
Human needs are an important part of human nature. Values, beliefs, and customs differ from country to country and group to group, but all people have similar needs. As a safety leader you must understand these needs because they are powerful motivators.
. A definition more inclusive of followers comes from Alan Keith of Genentech who said "Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen." [2] Students of leadership have produced theories involving traits [3], situational interaction, function, behavior, power, vision and values [4], charisma, and intelligence among others.
