Behavior is motivated by its consequences, but we all interpret consequences differently. A consequence that motivates some of us to change behavior might not even be noticed by others.

Previously, we covered the True Colors® approach to understanding four basic personality types. Now lets target another person factor relevant to the human dynamics of injury prevention — individual sensitivity to rewards vs. penalties.

While the four-color typology seems useful to explain and resolve differences among individuals, and to assess team composition and balanced leadership qualities, I believe it’s chancy to assume one’s primary color is constant across settings. It’s likely many people alter their color rankings to fit current circumstances.

If you were asked to describe your personality, you could undoubtedly list a number of unique qualities you perceive in yourself as compared to others. The most prominent personality theorists and researchers, from Hippocrates to Carl Jung and Myers/Briggs, have classified people into four groupings.

One way to determine the quality of leadership is to evaluate the behavior of the followers. I want to underscore that point in this month’s column by describing to you the unity and fierce loyalty I witnessed by the Virginia Tech community in the wake of horrific tragedy.

The global competition of today’s business world requires people to work smarter. For this to happen, corporate decision-makers need more input from their employees. For safety performance to improve beyond current plateaus, hourly workers need to provide more advice, involvement, and interpersonal accountability.

Some business managers are stuck in the past. They believe we are still in the Industrial Age of top-down control. They do not appreciate nor embrace a paradigm shift in the 21st Century, identified by Peter Drucker as the “Age of the Knowledge Worker.”

This month, in the first of a series of columns on people-based leadership for safety excellence, I want to “LEAP” in — the acronym Steve Farber used to discuss leadership in his address at the 2006 Professional Development Conference for the American Society for Safety Engineers (ASSE) last June.