ABSTRACT
Leadership tends to be described in ways that make it seem global and fixed: give rewards, apply punishments, present a vision, develop a genuine relationship, be charismatic and a ‘hero’ to inspire our people, a role model of what people expect to see (‘walk the talk’), and inspire our team with positive words. A charismatic leader can also be detrimental to a team and an organisation. Charismatic leaders can discourage independent and creative thinking, instead preferring to take this task on themselves and creating a group of blind followers rather than proactive self-leaders. Safety leadership is about resolving or reconciling important trade-offs. In the modern workplace, we are bombarded with a tonne of different work goals, some of which compete or conflict with each other. The final idea of LEAD is the bundles of practices. These get to the heart of LEAD, as they are the practical things we can actually do as safety leaders to influence work outcomes.
