Reflections ... What is your WHY?

I recently was asked a question about culture, specifically safety culture, and what is the catalyst for change and improvement. Is the catalyst one big sledgehammer blow from the top? -or- Is the catalyst one thousand continuous hammers at all levels? I have reflected on that question a lot, especially this week for reasons I detail below. My answer is YES.

The organization needs a purpose. This rallies and aligns the organization, and it starts from the top with a leader that states the organization's purpose with clarity. For APM, our purpose is to empower people that power life. We fulfill that purpose via our Safety Keystone mentality – All Home Safe 100%. WHY? Think of our APM Purpose Equation: 8K = 100K = INFINITY. All 8K team members of APM have families and teammates counting on them, which quickly multiplies the 8K into 100K. And when you consider our influence and impact in our communities, that quickly multiples to a countless number. Every one of those need us to work safe and come home safe to deliver for them and keep the lights on. That is our APM WHY!

Yet to really impact the entire organization daily you need the individuals in the organization to be able to articulate the WHY in their words, their story. I often use naval imagery (thank you to my grandfathers that served). I think of it as a large ship. The ship is pointed in the direction by the captain at the helm, and the one thousand sailors are rowing in that same direction. If the individuals sailors are rowing in different directions, it doesn’t matter where the captain points the ship.

This week I was reminded that we do indeed need both catalysts – the leaders that clearly set the direction and the operators who continuously live that direction daily.

First, let me share an example of how blessed we are with our APM team dedication. We processed roughly $1.5M in payroll the last two days for just under 1K employees. Of the 7 folks processing, two have burst pipes, went to other homes and continued to work. Two more had power out and went to other homes to work. We called up two after hours specialists to help. Major dedication to the Field and great example of the servant heart. Our Payroll team understands their contribution to our WHY – their ability to process payroll accurately on time keeps the Superintendents on the deck (not in the trailer) coaching the crews so they all work safe and go home safe 100%. Yes, APM Payroll rocks!

Second, I saw a post from one of our Nuclear Superintendents, Greg Gibbs. Greg leads his crews with his WHY front and center – literally. Upon sharing his WHY with pictures of his family, Greg was approached by one of his crew, Zylphia Hansley, who offered to make a badge for him to carry his WHY with him on the deck. Every time Greg looks at his 1 minute matters (or two minute drill) card, he is reminded of his WHY. And he can again share that WHY with others. Now the leadership of Greg (the sledgehammer blow) and the creativity of Zylphia have spread to the crew, and badges are being made for multiple crew members who equally want to share their WHY (the 1K hammers daily hammering). Great leadership by example that is infectious. Thank you Greg and Zylphia!

So … What’s your WHY!? Last blog I shared a reflection from one of our new Superintendent courses – the Safety Keystone (CBS). In the course our Katie Maldonado walks the Superintendents through an exercise to help them develop their WHY! We have included a video of that at this link. I encourage you to watch the video and reflect on your WHY! And I would love to see you share your WHY! with me, but more importantly with each other.

So … What’s your WHY!

-Jake