Some people have a “talent,” you might say, for contributing to your safety processes. How do you find and support that talent in order to sustain your safety efforts? It’s not easy, especially given some popular management myths that I believe can be detrimental.

The title of a 1999 Simon & Schuster book by Buckingham and Coffman sums up what needs to be done: “First, Break All The Rules.” The conclusions of these authors are quite consistent with other books on leadership, and with the leadership gurus I’ve heard at day-long workshops, including Tom Peters, Stephen Covey, and Ken Blanchard.