Leaders, by title or by nature, identify concerns, find solutions, and lead the way to success. They are often early to adopt new ideas, to try new strategies, and get to the heart of problem. The best ones lead with purpose and imagination, clearly articulating and rallying others around a shared vision.

But leadership can be daunting. One of the things that can holds us back as leaders is fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of being wrong, fear of hurting someone, or more.

To me, fear is an acronym. False Evidence Appearing Real. Ninety-plus percent of the things we fear never come to fruition. Yet fear is the thing that can hold us back. To lead successfully, it’s critical to stay motivated and to keeping moving past your trepidation—to take risks.

As we all know, successful salespeople understand this well. For every 10 people you call, some won’t respond, some will say, “No,” and maybe one or two will say, “Yes.”

Similarly, when you look at the workforce, 97 percent of the population will be completely fine with what they do in their job and the roles they have, and that’s the way it is. Two percent are managers, people leaders, and directors. And that final one percent? They are the CEOs, the business owners, the thought leaders, and billionaires.

They are more willing to take risks and step out of their comfort zone. Their willingness to confront their fear and not let it hold them back is much more developed than the rest of the population. That doesn’t make them great, but it does put them in a category of being more persistent.

It’s the same in safety. If you’re having success as a safety leader, it’s because you are doing your homework. You are stepping out of your comfort zone to highlight what’s not working. To recommend changes to make your workplaces safer.

Where you see risk, you may be more inclined to challenge the way things have always been done for years, even if there’s never been an incident, not yet. And by doing so, you are doing the work to make your workplace safer for all.

Let’s not let the lack of an incident lull us into complacency. Let’s not let our own hesitancy be the factor that allows the risk of injury stand. Let’s not let luck be the driver of who gets to go home safely.

Remember, the risks we take as safety leaders pale in comparison to the risks our teams take every day in unsafe working conditions, whether they know it or not.

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Written by Wayne Arondus | CEO

Wayne joined the Manufacturing Safety Alliance of BC in 2019, bringing his passion and commitment of manufacturing excellence to help build strong connections with the 3,000+ member manufacturers supported by MSABC. As Chief Executive Officer, his focus remains member value centric: ensuring members receive quality health and safety guidance, direct onsite support, educational training, and industry expert consultation.