How do you persuade people to be safe at work? Really, how do you persuade people to do anything? I put those questions to one of America’s top safety advisors, Carl Potter.
“Leaders who understand how to persuade know that they must provide motivation,” says Potter. “The cheap way to motivate is through threats, but great leaders use inspiration and encouragement.”
Potter is the founder and CEO of the Safety Institute, a group of safety educators that works with organizations who want to create workplaces where it is difficult to get hurt. I caught up with Potter when I was asked to speak on persuasion in June at the group’s annual conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“The basic challenge of persuasion is that people are rebels by nature,” says Potter.
“When you tell someone to put their seat belt on because it is the law, they tend to resist because as humans being rebellious comes naturally,” says Potter. “If, however you remind your formula one race car driver to buckle-up, he or she may think, ‘Well of course, I am a professional driver and I understand the benefit of staying in the safe confines of the protective cage.’”
Potter’s experience as a safety professional has shown him that people are truly safe by first obtaining knowledge, then taught skills, guided through coaching, and then persuaded with motivation, inspiration, and encouragement.
After 17 years of working in the risky world of electric utilities, in 1992 Potter began a career of helping organizations prevent workplace injuries. Since then he has written more than 12 books, developed dozens of programs and spoken to thousands of leaders and employees on the topic of taking responsibility for safety.
“Knowledge is a key factor to creating a foundation for understanding what it means to be safe,” says Potter. “Being safe means that we have taken steps to reduce the risk of an event taking place that can lead to injury.”
According to Potter, to truly persuade a human to be safe requires them to be given the knowledge, taught to do the skill, and then shown and corrected to perfect their ability.
“An individual will do what they want to do if they think the action will result in their desired outcome,” says Potter. “A great leader can persuade by lifting the individual or group by giving them a vision of what can be obtained.”
People will identify with a vision of being elite or amazing at what they do. When a leader can transfer that vision to the individual or group persuasion has begun. According to Potter, to keep it moving the leader must continue to inspire. Having a vision is essential.
Potter’s vision for the Safety Institute is to have 100 expert safety educators positively impacting the lives of 100 million workers in the next ten years.
“A vision for safety is key to inspiring and encouraging when the goal is to develop a workplace where it is difficult to get hurt,” says Potter.
