APM Team,

Hopefully over the holidays you got time to relax, connect with family and friends, and enjoy some holiday traditions. One of our traditions is watching great Christmas movies like It’s A Wonderful Life and Die Hard and The Christmas Story. If you have seen the last one, you know exactly the context of the above exclamation from the hero, Ralphie. When asked by his saint of a mother, “Where did you hear that word?”, Ralphie’s inner voice responds, “Now I had heard that word at least 10 times a day from my old man.”

I had a similar experience with our son Doak over the holiday break. He began saying a word one day. His sister came to me to complain. I asked what he was saying. She told me. I did not have to ask where he had heard that word. I knew. His old man – ME – had said that same word multiple times. Convicted!

Now, this was a great reminder for me of two powerful lessons.

1. Drift is real – small indiscretions do add up and will come back to haunt you one day.

2. Behavior is contagious – and leading by example requires a daily focus.

I encourage you, as we enter 2021, to begin by reflecting on those lessons and ask yourself two questions.

1. What one expectation have I allowed to drift?

2. What one example (think action) do I want to set for others? [Reads like a good challenge to set a CBS commitment. 😊]

Attached below is the Module 4 – The Practice of Leadership from “Managing Safety Performance – Tools for Supervisors & Managers” by our good friend and partner, Paul Balmert. I encourage you to read it (or re-read it) as a refresher on why followers mimic the behaviors of their leaders, and why leaders have the responsibility to be better role models.

– Jake