Leadership in safety – Ethics

by the late George Robotham

I do not want to comment on the moral issues but it is fair to say the Monica business got American President, Bill Clinton, a lot of bad press. While I am not a student of American politics I am told Bill Clinton was poised to be recorded in American history as one of the greatest leaders of that country. Some say that despite the massive adverse publicity his leadership skills were such that a lot of people still believed in him.

The sporting world in Australia has no shortage of leaders who have been found lacking in the ethics area. Footballers are a problem, issues frequently occur in Australian Rules and Rugby League, less commonly in soccer and rarely in Rugby Union(Being an ex-Rugby Union player I know we are generally made of sterner stuff)

The Australian business landscape is littered with otherwise highly effective leaders who have failed through ethics issues.

Credibility is the foundation of leadership. You must do the right thing and be seen to do the right thing if you want to prosper as a leader. If you do the wrong thing you will be found out eventually and your credibility will be destroyed.

To be an effective leader people must trust you.

Introducing OHS change inevitably upsets the established order in organizations and forces people to question their existing role in the organization. Often people will be asked to do something that is different from the norm and to do that which they do not agree with. Persons introducing and leading OHS change must ensure they are trusted by those they are seeking to join them in the OHS change journey.