Episode Transcript:
We’re here at another episode of Tuesday thoughts. We’re gonna jump inside my head and today we’re gonna talk about trust. I’m really excited about this topic today because it is one that can really cement your program and drive it home, make sure that you’re getting the best out of it and elevate you to one of the elite statuses of risk management. So let’s talk about trust. I went out with a New York client of mine this– recently, I’d say recently, and I was blown away by their level of commitment and trust that they had built with their site staff. Amazing. Amazing. And a lot of times when I go out I don’t see that.
So let’s talk about trust. I went out with a new client of mine recently and I was blown away by their level of commitment and trust that they had built with their site staff. Amazing. Amazing. And a lot of times when I go out I don’t see that. I see a lot of animosities, I see a lot of pushback, a lot of questions and it tells me one thing right away and that is that they don’t trust the person that they’re in front of. That they have no faith, no vote of confidence in the program that the risk manager has built, it’s just the way it goes. And the way I like to run the program is I’d like to keep my word and if I say I’m gonna do something, I’m gonna do it. So you gotta build the trust and we’ll get into how to do that.
I wanna give you another example of what the little things, the little things that eat away at the trust that help deteriorate the program itself and your view, why people look at you and the way they react to you. So I’ll give you an example. The other evening I’m driving down to downtown LA and it says that the exit is closed. Okay, so I go all the way around and the next night I’m driving down to downtown LA again and I see that it says the exit’s close but it’s not actually close. Okay, so now I don’t know what to believe. So the next time that I’m going to downtown LA it says the exit’s closed and I don’t necessarily believe it but then I found out that, oops, it actually is closed and I go all the way around but then I’m gonna have to get off and get back on the freeway and it says that the exit’s closed but it clearly is not. And so I don’t know what to believe and I see this a lot with businesses. They say that they’re open from 9 am to 9 pm and you show up at 8:50 because you’re gonna run in buy something quickly and they’re closed. So next time, are you gonna believe that they’re open till 9? Probably not. So that you start to deteriorate and I see this a lot with the signage that you have throughout your facilities, right?
So jumping back into the risk management piece here now. You walk around the facilities and you have signage up and it’s old and it’s incorrect and it’s no longer pertinent. You don’t have the right phone numbers and the programs. It says that you’re going to review your IIPP annually. You haven’t done it in five years. It says you’re gonna review your comprehensive safe school plan annually. You haven’t done it. It’s past due. You’re not holding up your end of the bargain and you’re deteriorating your trust. You say you’re gonna do something and it doesn’t get done. And so you can’t blame people for not putting that level of faith in you or actually having confidence in you to get the job or the task done. And so when they do have a problem, they don’t come to you. And then you wonder why your risk management program is falling apart or it won’t work or people don’t get on board quickly and easily and that’s the bottom line. It’s the trust.
So how do we build trust? Well, it starts with discipline. Listen in to hear the rest……