Dear Safety Colleague and Friend,
My career in safety started over 25-years ago and I have never regretted a minute of it. But I do have to tell you this little secret - it hasn't been without its trials and tribulations. At times, I felt like crying, giving up, and starting all over in a new field. But it's worked out and
I am happy that I stayed in safety.
We work in an honorable field and can impact lives in
a very positive and direct way (unlike others who have made different career choices). We work in one of the most rewarding areas of business, and like many of you, I have dedicated much of my life to helping people stay safe and whole.
I Personally Know and Understand Safety . . .
You may not know this but I'm the son of a steel worker,
a laborer. For more than 20-years my father worked as hard as any human being in the world! Dad worked as a grinder and bundler in one of the largest and most productive steel mills in America. That mill was right in my hometown of Donora, PA. Dad used to tell me stories of injuries and fatalities that happened while he was working but production went on. No matter what! It was a "production first" culture and nothing got in the way of getting steel to the customers. These stories and memories helped me to make my career choices. Those memories of Dad, his stories, and his co-workers still drive me today.
Donora's steel mills where Dad worked for almost 25-years!
Things Have Changed Since the 1940's
In 1948, Donora and its Mills were the focus of the worst air pollution disaster in American history, where 20 people were asphyxiated and over 7,000 were hospitalized.
Today, in many industries, production and safety are viewed as one in the same. They are seen as collaborative partners - not competitive enemies. Many of you are realizing this and reaping the rewards of people like my dad, your dad, our grandparents, and great grandparents. These people paid the price with their health and have given their very lives to build this country and world!
The Safety Turning Point for Me and Why
I am So Passionate About Safety. . .
|
In the early 1980's, I was working on my first master's degree in safety management at West Virginia University (WVU). At WVU, as a football player, I had some great coaches and teammates, and as a student, some great professors.
During my graduate work in safety, I met a professor who greatly influenced my thinking and career. His name was Dr. Jim Weber and he often discussed leadership, culture, and climate. It was really interesting to me and I got excited! My interest and reading in this area really took off and I had a whole new perspective about safety. I began to realize that the "compliance stuff" was important but the "leadership and culture stuff" was - WOW! From then on, until this day, I am so glad that my mind and career were opened up to leadership, culture, climate, organizational behavior, and organizational psychology in general - it totally changed my career! The Light Bulb went ON!
After leaving graduate school (the first time) I worked as a safety professional at the Kennedy Space Center, for United Airlines, and later for TRW. Now I have been the president and founder of David Sarkus International since 1996. I travel the world as a speaker, consultant, and leadership coach - this is what I have always wanted!
My 25-years of experience and formal education allow me to look back at my jobs in a completely different way. Some of those jobs were as a laborer in steel mills, mine preparation plants, and as a summertime construction worker. That's why I
can relate to the worker and the leaders who drive your safety culture. I've been there and have stood in their shoes - even in your shoes!
So Much of Safety Is About
Leadership and Culture. . .
In the early 1990's, I began helping more and more supervisors and managers influence the attitudes and actions of their workers. Not in a "top-down" or "my way" type of influence. But in an "our way" kind of coaching style that really worked well - I saw great results in terms of reductions in accidents and workers' compensation costs where millions of dollars were saved! Now, I was using my experience as an athlete and coach at WVU to motivate, communicate, persuade, and influence others in a very positive and powerful way! But I still needed more - more education, more learning, and more application. That's when I met a second great mentor and coach - another Jim. This professor's name was Jim Temple. He was really smart and knew more about influencing attitudes and actions than anyone I ever met before. He had the academic part down pat and I had the practical "real world" part down real well, so I put that knowledge together.
You Reap the Financial Benefits of My
Hard Work, Two Master's Degrees and
25-Years of Experience!
During the time I worked through my second master's degree in organizational psychology I saw more and more really great things happening where I worked for TRW. The results were occurring because of what I was learning in school, from my athletic background and from my industry experience. I was applying more of my new thinking at work. Yes, you have to step out and apply what you are learning!
Even though I was seeing tremendous success in applying sports-related coaching techniques in my jobs throughout the 1980's; now in the 1990's, I was seeing even more fantastic results and I was excited! Also, I was also getting nation-wide and organization-wide attention from various leaders at work as they saw tremendous costs savings in workers' compen-sation, and from improvements related to morale and pro-ductivity. Oh, by the way, I was also getting a lot more support from all kinds of leaders at work! Something you likely want too.
With a great deal of sports experience (learning from some great coaches), over 25-years experience in industry, and two masters degrees; there are not many who can distill the knowledge I have and make it work for people like you.
That's why others started calling me The Safety Coach® more than 10-years ago. It stuck, it fits, and has worked really well! Some have even tried to steal and copy my brand from me!
From my college football days at West Virginia University, Old Mountaineer Field (Check out the hair!)
With all of my experience you and your organization can
reap great financial benefits. That's what this "Free Report" is about and what my speaking, coaching, and consulting are directed towards - helping YOU. We're in this "helping profession" together!
Safety is making great leaps forward because people like you and I have educated our leaders but more is needed.
We have shown them the cost-benefits of safety. We have helped to educate them in ways that make them realize that safety is not only the right thing to do (ethically) but it is the best way to improve morale, quality, and productivity. Leading the way with safety is all about improving relation-ships and improving your overall culture - making it a high-performance culture!
You Have to Do Something!
I have to tell you that I handout great advice all of the time but not everyone follows-up. Honestly, some people are just too lazy to get things started - to actually do something!
I can give you the best principles and advice that money can buy but you have to take action - you have to step-up and do your part! So I'll give you a warning - don't read any more of what I am giving you:
I'm serious - if you don't want the things I've mentioned above (and more) you should just erase this report - drop it in your trash and move on to something else!
But truthfully, I think you're reading this report for a reason and we're pretty much alike. We're in this profession because our nature is to help others. And our nature is to do the right thing within our professions and organizations.
I can help you get to world-class safety performance and stay there! You made a great first-step by starting to read this "Special Report." I hope that you will read the rest of it. Keep reading, I have a lot more for you - lots of information that's loaded with great content that you can put to work in your own organization - right away!
Thanks again for your time - I hope we can meet and speak face-to-face in the very near future!
Your Friend in Safety,


Deadly Mistake #1
"Not Knowing Where You
are Right Now!"
There's so much to know about safety but leaders seldom explore and dig enough to discover the most important information. Well, you're saying "yeah … sure - what's that?"
For the past 20-years I've been hammering my readers and clients about safety climate. You know, getting to understand the perceptions of your people towards safety - and measuring them. Believe it or not, their perceptions are stronger than reality and you need to work through their perceptions.
For all of us, occupational health and safety concerns in the workplace continue to gain more interest but practical solutions are often lacking. Solutions like understanding the safety climate and culture of your organization. For some organizations, performance in safety is a key indicator that relates directly to supervisory performance, morale, job satisfaction, and of course, productivity.What kinds of tools and solutions are available to help professionals like you intervene efficiently through practical forms of measurement - before injuries occur? One way is to request information and input from your employees through a survey. This type of strategy allows you to measure the "climate for safety" or employee perceptions regarding safety.
"Understanding Your Safety Climate
Will Help to Create the Right Safety Culture!"
"We Had Our Best Numbers Year Ever!" "With your climate and culture work we had our best numbers year ever!" |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|

| "(We) Had One of Our Best Years Ever!" "Your safety climate work
with our groups helped tremendously. It kept us focused and gave us the information we sorely needed. We achieved significant improvements in our safety performance and had one of our best years ever!"
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Organizational climate has been studied from as early as the 1940's. In fact, climate is a good overall reflection of an organization's culture.
And climate has always been viewed as critical to the health of an organization. For example, how do employees feel about management's support with regard to equipment? Do they feel they have the appropriate tools and training to do their jobs effectively and safely? Do they believe their supervisors offer appropriate support?
"I Have Been Studying and Using
Climate Surveys for Over 20-years
and the Safety Community is
Finally Seeing the Light!"
Often, employees will act the way they feel. If they believe management doesn't really care about their health and well-being, productivity may suffer. Even more, it's been shown that injuries and illnesses are worsened when workers don't feel they're being adequately supported by their supervisors or management. This means that delays in returning to
work may follow and on-the-job performance will suffer.
By measuring key areas critical to climate, management can intervene in proactive ways to improve your overall health and safety efforts - your culture.
Here are 11 very powerful yet practical safety climate dimensions that I can measure for you in order to provide a better understanding of your safety culture and how you can intervene to improve your organiza-tion's safety culture:
- Management Commitment. To what extent is top management committed to safety and improving safety performance?
- Safety Philosophy. To what extent do employees believe in the safety philosophies used and spoken about within your organization?
- Supervisory Roles in Improvement. To what extent do supervisors play a positive role in improving safety performance?
- Concern for Improvement. To what extent is there an overriding push to continuously improve safety performance?
- Cooperation. To what extent do people work well together throughout your operations?
- Risk Perception. To what extent do people believe they work in a safe environment with an acceptable degree of risk?
- Regular Communications. To what extent is safety regularly communicated throughout your organization?
- People Input. To what extent are workers actively involved with safety improvement?
- Facilities, Tools, Equipment. To what extent do people believe they work in a good physical environment with tools and equipment appropriate to perform their jobs safely?
- Safety Training. To what extent do workers believe the training they receive is an important part of the job that helps them to work safely?
- Safety Recognition and Practices. To what extent do workers believe that appropriate recognition is regularly given for outstanding safety perfor-mance? And to what extent are related safety rules easy to understand, reasonable to follow, and consistently enforced?
|
By measuring critical components of your health and safety efforts you can improve your own programs and processes and allow you to develop a strategy for continuous improvement. A few key dimensions that would be measured include: management support, coaching, supervisory support, training and tools and equipment.
"By Measuring Key Indicators,
"Before Injuries Occur,"
You Can Make Very Good Use of
a Proactive "Up-Stream"
Measure That Can Become Integral
To Your Long-term Success!"
When you begin to measure areas like those addressed above, you can start to move ahead with a well thought out plan of action. This form of measurement will help to: 1) Increase management visibility and gain support; 2) reduce costs through more focused efforts; 3) form baselines for ongoing improvements; 4) increase accountability for supervisors and managers; and 5) improve employee relations by allowing workers to be "part of the process."
Deadly Mistake #2
"Not Having a Plan
To Push You Ahead!"
Early in my safety career, I was asked about "my safety plan" and what I was going to do with it?
I looked up and said, "what plan?"
You see, I already believed that I knew everything that had
to be done. I knew the compliance programs and training that needed to be completed, I was reducing workers' compensation costs, and I had everything under control. Well, that was pretty weak and faulty thinking. The kind of thinking that won't get you to where you want to go - to world-class and beyond!
Having a safety plan is critical to your success but I'm realizing that so many safety professionals and practitioners still don't have a written and formal plan. In some ways, I can't believe it!
"Nearly 20-Years Ago . . .
The First Safety Plan I Wrote Became
The Model for the Rest of
Our Fortune 200 Organization
And We Won a President's Award Too!
Now . . .
If You Don't Have a
Well-Developed Strategic Safety Plan
Who are You Fooling?"
Having a safety plan will do more than simply sit on someone's desk. It will keep your organization focused, increase engagement, and keep people moving along a path of success.
Tattoo and Mr. Roarke
on Fantasy Island
In the 1970's television show, Fantasy Island, the two co-stars, Tattoo and Mr. Roarke were always recognized in the opening scene, on the beach, looking upward to the sky.
While looking up, Tattoo would excitedly shout, "look baas, the plane, the plane!" In reality, he wasn't really saying "the plane, the plane." He was saying "the plan, the plan!" That's why they messed up everyone's fantasy - they couldn't find the plan! It wasn't a lesson in contentment - they never found that much needed plan!
"In Terms of Safety - World-Class Results
And World-Class Performance
Just Don't Happen - You Need to
Assess, Plan, and Execute Your Plan!"

| "I'm Excited About Our Future Now . . ." "Your energy was amazing and the message was right on point … I'm excited about our future now …
Thank you so much for providing us with the tools necessary to improve our safety performance and culture!"
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Deadly Mistake #3
"Not Knowing the Full
Importance of Engagement!"
When I was a young boy, my favorite sport was baseball.
I lived, ate, and breathed baseball - I couldn't get enough of it. In fact, in my early teens, the Cincinnati Reds scouted me for a short while and I wanted to be a professional baseball player. In time, I dropped baseball to focus on football, which paid for my education at West Virginia University.
As a teenager, one summer evening, we were playing a cross-town baseball rival and I was catching. It was a close game and my father was in the stands watching. Well, he wasn't just watching - he was "really engaged." Dad was hollering a bit, like some of the other fans, but was especially bothered since he thought the opposing coach was influencing the umpire's calls. Suddenly, there was a very bad call at home plate and dad got involved. He jumped the fence, ran onto the field, and squared-off at the opposing coach and umpire. Ahhhhhh, I was so embarrassed!
Was dad correct in his evaluation of the play? You bet. Was he right about running onto the field? Nope. And boy did he hear it when we got home - after I told mom. At school the next day, my classmates who played in the game razzed me to
no end. It was a long week!
"Engagement Takes More
Than Just Showing Up!"
This story still brings a smile to my face. Most everyone liked dad - he got involved in life, with his mind, his emotions, and his actions. Dad didn't hold back.
That's what engagement is about when it comes to safety.
When you have a culture where people believe they can make a difference and get connected to each other - watch out! They'll get involved and take action! Improving safety performance is not about sitting on the sidelines and watching - it's about getting involved like dad. Well, not quite like dad!
"A Zero-Injury Turnaround" "We attained a zero recordable (serious) injury turnaround! …We have not had a zero recordable injury turnaround since 1988. I would like to think that you helped us set the stage when your were with us the week before the major work began when
we had the leadership meeting." |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|

| "Achieved . . 'Best of Best' . ." "We still talk about you here all the time (even over a year later) . . I hear comments weekly if not daily. We here at K-Basins have achieved the company's 'Best of the Best' for two consecutive quarters and have one of the lowest recordable rates of any DOE site across the nation . ."
|
| |
|
"On the mark! You had my workers' full attention and delivered
a powerful and valuable message that will help Fluor continuously improve safety performance."
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I did a safety culture survey for a client some time ago. They're a world-class organization and wanted to use the survey process to get more engagement. They recognized the need to see where they were at that time, to establish a plan of action, and to gain more engagement. Afterward, they got great results for the next several years!
"Engaged Employees Aren't Merely Observers
but Involved Participants Who Put Their
Hearts and Souls in Their Work.
They're Happier and More Productive Too!"
Here's my short list that can help you get more engagement from top to bottom in your organization:
 |
Regular Communications: People need to know what's going on in their organizations. Without knowing, how and where can individuals become better engaged? Workers need to have time to talk to each other, their supervisors, and their senior leaders. |
 |
Supervisory Support: When supervisors aren't appropri-ately involved in various safety processes, their workers become cynical and disengaged. When supervisors are involved, well liked, and show caring-leadership, you'll also find better safety performance and a more engaged workforce - I see it all of the time and challenge you to prove me wrong! |
 |
Senior Leadership Support: Your leaders need to be visibly involved and engaged with safety. For your organization, that may include walk-throughs, observations, or to be more involved in key meetings. Senior leaders may also require one-on-one coaching to establish and maintain the direction of your safety culture. Their support comes in the form of knowledge, input, time, and resources.
|
|
Deadly Mistake #4
"Not Hiring the Right People
and Developing the Right People!"
I have been working with great companies and great leaders for more than 25-years and many of those leaders will tell you the same thing if you ask the right question.
"Hiring the right people and developing the right people is one of the most important things you will ever do as an organizational leader."
Well, many business leaders learn the hard when it comes to this basic principle. But today, you don't have to learn the hard way. Just the fact that you are reading this suggests that you want to develop your leadership skills, someone else's leadership skills or you want to hire the right people. Within any of these three variations - you have choices and there are ways to improve on all accounts.

| "Thank You for Making Me Look Good . . ." ". . .You delivered a powerful message on SHE excellence, you
kept the entire group interested and engaged for the entire day and I get the credit . . . Thank you for making me look good and I look forward to working with you again."
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
People can improve their leadership skills and there is a place to start. It starts by understanding your basic personality traits and developing the leadership skills that co-exist with you individual traits. But developing the skills that are most important to your position and limiting your self-defeating tendencies you can greatly improve as a leader.
"Knowing Your Individual Strengths and
Inherent Barriers to Success
is The Staring Point to
Becoming an Influential Safety Leader"
I have been fortunate enough, as a student (with my Masters in Organizational Psychology) and as a career safety professional (with a Masters in Safety Management) to have been exposed to enough testing that allows me to know my personality tenden-cies, various inherent traits, and the kinds of leadership skills that I must continually develop as a safety coach, consultant and speaker. In fact, I am certified by a major testing organization to assess your skills and align them with long-standing, well-validated competency profiles that are know to lead to success.
Deadly Mistake #5
"Leaving Out a Basic Necessity . . .
Developing Consistency!"
Stan "The Man" Musial is considered one of baseball's greatest players - EVER! He's from my hometown of Donora, PA. We both attended Donora High School and Stan was a very good boyhood friend of my father. Stan's the pride of Donora, Pennsylvania!
Stan Musial was elected to Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1969 and is recognized as one of baseball's finest gentlemen. He's also one of the most consistent players ever to step on a baseball field.
I had the honor and pleasure of having lunch with Mr. Stan Musial this past April. I delivered the opening keynote speech for OSHA's Region VII VPPPA in St. Louis. After my talk, Stan's grandson, Brian drove him over to the hotel where I was staying so we could have lunch together along with my friend (and hometown school board member) Chuck Smith. Our high school and community wants to honor Stan for his life-long accomplishments. Throughout lunch, he again showed his consistency, graciously handling interruptions for autographs and posing for photos from nearby admirers. It was a great day for me as well as others in the hotel! A wonderful privilege to spend time with baseball's "perfect knight" as he's been aptly named.
At Lunch with Stan "The Man" Musial in St. Louis
Let's take a look at a few of his career batting statistics, straight from Wikipedia. He had a .331 career batting average which ranks 30th; he hit .336 at home and .326 on the road. He batted .340 in day games and .320 at night. Stan Musial had exactly 1,815 career hits at home, and 1,815 hits on the road.
When he retired, Musial had the most career home runs for a player who never won a single-season home run title. In his September 1941 debut, Musial had two hits; after he got two hits in his final game, 22 years later, a sportswriter jokingly wrote, "He hasn't improved at all."
"Consistency Sets Expectations and
Needs to Become an Integrated Part of
Your Safety Culture!"
Great numbers and great consistency - but what's it have to do with safety? A lot - especially when it comes to your middle managers and supervisors who have to affect continual change in both attitudes and actions. They have to set consistent expectations and establish positive norms for your safety culture. Who helps to set the overall tone, direction, and expectations? - YOU!
"Safety-Related Consistency
Needs to Become a Requirement -
Not an Option. It Needs to Spread
Far and Deep Within Your Culture!"

| "A Unique Brand . . ." "David Sarkus offers a unique brand of common sense, expert advice, experiential wisdom and a good dose of humor . . . We will definitely invite David to visit each of our facilities as positive reinforcement to his ideals which we are implementing." |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
I continue to think about the kinds of consistencies required of supervisors, managers, teams, and organizations in order to establish and maintain world-class safety performance. But I also continue to think about the consistencies that Stan Musial was known for - on and off the field.
Stan played 22 years of major league baseball and was incredibly consistent at the plate and in the field. Off the field, he always remembered his high school friends and teammates. He came to most every reunion and always brought gifts. His classmates were so happy to be remembered by such a thoughtful friend! I know first hand, my dad was part of it and even more.
"Over The Long Haul - It Takes
Great Safety Leadership and
Appropriate Coaching Support
From You and Your Leaders"
In an age marred by fads, fickleness, and fantasies Stan Musial remains married to his high school sweetheart since the age of nineteen. How's that for loyalty - another dimension of consistency?
Stan always remembered where he came from but has never been appropriately honored in his hometown. We're working on that now in Donora where we will construct a showcase for him at his former high-school. This display will serve as an "iconic touchstone" for kids, teenagers, and young adults who have dreams and visions that desperately need a spark.
My hometown was once a great steel town! Now it's badly bruised and nearly broken. And it's so sad it's taken us so long to honor our local legend. A legend who can give our community the lift it sorely needs. Twenty-two years of outstanding performance in major league baseball is a lot to comprehend. In a similar way, it takes focus, persistence, teamwork, and support to evolve your safety culture. Your managers and supervisors need your support and recognition to get there. They need your help to ignite a part of the safety vision and keep it alive!
After lunch in St. Louis, I was helping Mr. Musial (now 87) down a short set of steps when he stated: "I don't get around too good any more."
I said "oh no, you get around pretty well!"
'Ah no," he responded in jest. "I think I hit too many triples!"
I had to laugh, 177 triples and an incredible amount of consistency over two decades requires a good bit of running and a bunch of ongoing support. More consistency and more support than most any "one man" can muster all alone - Stan had great support all around him!
Are you supporting your key stakeholders so they'll deliver incredible consistency?
Deadly Mistake #6
"Not Knowing About the
'We Can' - So You Can Build
A Safety Community and
Not Just a Safety Culture!"
A few years ago, Dan, a safety leader with a major west coast organization was getting closer to his introduction of me. I was about to speak to one of his work groups regarding the need for every-one to be a leader - a safety coach. Suddenly, I realized that Dan was talking about something very important - and it wasn't my background as a speaker, consultant or leadership coach. Dan was talking about building a sense of family, community, and teamwork. He was talking about the belief, that alone, no one individual could help the group achieve their goal of zero-accidents and zero-incidents.
This was their vision for success! But together, if they believed in this achievement as a team, a unit, and took the correct steps (if they had a blueprint) to help them move towards building the right kind of culture, they could achieve it.

| "Teamwork is Essential - A Strong Sense
of Family (Community) . . ."
"Outstanding message with a lot of fun mixed in . . . Teamwork is essential -
A strong sense of family is what has gotten our plant to where it is . . ."
|
|
(6+ Years without Recordable Incident)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In psychology, individual beliefs which influence a person's desire and ability to reach a certain goal is known as "self-efficacy." It's important, but current research suggests that "collective efficacy" - the "we can do it" is more important than the "I can do it". Albert Bandura and others have done significant work in this arena and it's relevant to your
safety results. Bandura, as you may recall, is best known for his research concerning the ways in which people learn by observation, personality development, and the whole "cognitive revolution" in psychology during the 1960's. Research regarding collective efficacy stresses the importance of "We can" in favor of "I can" and it's relevant to improving your safety culture.
"You Need to Set-Up
Your Leaders for
Great Safety Success!"
Take some time and think about these three keys and some of today's most successful sports teams. Each has a game plan for success; they hold their people and players accountable for a given job; they build on successes and celebrate them; they communicate well, and at times, they're emotionally charged - they get pumped-up to meet special challenges!
And when they lose, they start over by wiping the slate clean, with a belief that their team is starting over at zero wins and zero losses.
Oh, back to Dan. Did his group believe in their goal of zero-incidents and zero-accidents? Well, not many believed in it several years ago but almost everyone does now. And guess what? They're moving closer - they've gone from "I can" to "We can" - they believe it, plan for it, and act upon it!
Do you and your people believe it?
Deadly Mistake #7
"Not Getting Help From
a Coach Who Can Help You Develop Something More Important Than
Trust - Your Credibility!"
Several years ago, I had the great honor to complete a best-selling safety video with Bobby Bowden, head football coach of Florida State University. The video, Safety Coach: Unleash the 7C's for World-Class Safety Performance was based on my first book with a similar title. Coastal did a great job in bringing Coach Bowden's thoughts together with my seven principles. He did a great job in front of the cameras!
It was a thrill and pleasure to spend time and hear from this coaching legend. When I returned home, after a couple of days, my father passed away suddenly and unexpectedly - my world was shaken for quite a while and it gave me plenty of time to think. I miss my father very much and there will always be a connection between Coach Bowden and my dad, John Sarkus. They remain quite similar in character.
"A Common Foundation . . ."
You're probably thinking, get to the point - what's your connection? The connection is credibility. Both my father and Coach Bowden have been men of character who've developed their own forms of credibility.
Do you really know the depth and breadth of credibility? It's more important than trust alone! Credibility is comprised of both expertise and trust - a powerfully partnership.
Let's take a brief look at Bobby Bowden's coaching career. He's been at it for more than 50 years. He's had to change with the times. And he's continued to be successful and admired because of his credibility.
Coach Bowden has amassed nearly 400 victories and is the winningest head coach in Division IA history. He has two
national championships and 12 Atlantic Coast Conference titles. He's also helped turn thousands of boys into men
and catapulted bus loads of players into the National Football League.
With Coach Bowden, One of College Football's Greatest Coaches, Ever!
All of this isn't simply good fortune or happenstance.
Coach Bowden has worked hard to develop his expertise.
And he's likely forgotten more about football than most
head coaches at the same level have yet to learn. Coach Bowden knows a great deal about leadership, offense,
defense, planning, recruiting, communicating, and motivating his staff and his team. That's great knowledge - that's expertise.
Think about the skills you've learned and developed - those you still need to learn and refine? You may be a manager, supervisor or a health and safety professional, but you have to continually evolve your expertise:
 |
As a professional, do you know your strengths
and weaknesses?
|
 |
Have you measured your safety climate of your
organization - your people's perceptions?
|
 |
Are there technical and "soft skills" you need
to develop?
|
 |
Are you developing your ability to communicate
and influence others in ways that will improve
overall safety performance?
|
|
"The Second Component . . ."
Let's not forget about the glue that holds credibility together, trust. You can be the most knowledgeable and skilled leader in the world, but if you aren't trusted, you won't be able to lead them over the long haul.
Bobby Bowden may not be having the same success he had in the 90's but don't count him out. Coach Bowden may still have another national championship in him. Coach Bowden is admired throughout college football because he is trusted. His words and actions align. When he speaks, people listen because he's been where most coaches want to go. He has a vision regarding the kind of success he wants to see and the kind of team he wants to create. He gets people to believe in a vision for success and he gets players and coaches on the same page.
Think about the importance of trust in your own organizations:
 |
Do your words and actions and those of your
leaders match up?
|
 |
How's the follow-through - do you and others
keep your promises?
|
 |
Do you support your people appropriately so
they can achieve great success?
|
 |
Do you know how to push others to get closer
to the vision?
|
|
Why have I chosen to highlight credibility and not simply about trust? Because of the powerful marriage - expertise and trust compliment each other. When you and other organiza-tional leaders have a large degree of expertise and when you're trusted - WOW! Great things happen. People begin to believe in the vision for zero-accidents and push towards it. They believe in each other - they remain on the same page. They believe in their coaches - leaders who have to commun-icate and create this vision for success.
Are You Developing Your Personal Credibility?
You may be wondering about my dad's credibility? Well, after laboring in the steel mills for nearly 20-years, he was forced to find a new career. With a wife and two small children to feed, Dad studied hard and changed professions. He went on to a very successful second career for another 20-years and was a record-setting salesman in the 1960's and 70's. He was the first individual in his company to produce over one-million dollars in sales! How did he do it? Credibility. He knew his product and people trusted him. He loved his clients and they loved him. People phoned dad for years after his retirement because they missed him and wanted his advice. Some individuals said, "John is so honest that if he found a dollar bill he'd go looking for George Washington."
With Dad at a Family Gathering
I've worked hard at developing my own credibility as a leadership coach, speaker, and safety consultant. You need
to work hard to develop your own credibility with regard to safety and within the operations where you work.
"Great Coaches and Great
Leaders Know How to
Pull Everything Together!"
Great coaches know how to assess their strengths and weaknesses and how to plan and envision their future success. Successful coaches also know how to assess their safety culture and get their people more completely engaged. They develop their staff and players to their full potential with consistent results. And they know how to get everyone to believe in their future success - moving everyone from "I Can" to "We Can."
As a safety professional or organizational stakeholder you need to do the same. That's where I come in and can help you to "pull it all together" for great success!
All great coaches and leaders have had mentors and other coaches who have helped them along the way to great achievements. And I can serve as your mentor and personal safety coach.
As Your Personal
Safety Coach, the Starting Point Is
Assessing Your Skills, Knowledge, and
Personal Makeup to Maximize Your Strengths,
Minimize Your Inherent Weaknesses, and
Take Your Organization to a Whole New Level of Safety Performance . . .
We will evaluate your innate personality characteristics (natural abilities and personality characteristics) as well
as your learned abilities (based on knowledge and career experience) that you have developed as professional. Our evaluation will make use of self-assessments and 360* reviews. Your professional competencies and abilities relate to:
- Visioning: Visualizing success and implementing long-term goals that will lead to embracing the safety vision.
- Decisive Judgment: Making good decisions that are effective, efficient, and lead to confident actions.
- Championing Change: Providing successful direction, support, and implementation of your safety planning.To what extent is there an overriding push to continuously improve safety performance?
- Functional Acumen: Having the skills and knowledge as a safety professional to be effective in your position.
- Planning and Organizing: Effectively planning and organizing your work to meet particular safety and operational needs.
- Driving for Results: Challenging and pushing your organization to excel and achieve greater safety results.
- Continuous Improvement: Having the desire and drive to seek ways to improve current safety programs, processes, systems, and related safety results.
- Integrity: Upholding high standards of fairness and ethics in and through safety.
- Continuous Learning: Striving to continually improve your knowledge, skills, and abilities through ongoing education and training.
- Teamwork and Collaboration: Effectively working and collaborating with others in order to meet particular safety goals and objectives.
- Motivating Others: Inspiring others to reach higher levels of safety performance through your own passion and enthusiasm for success.
- Interpersonal Communication: Communicating clearly and effectively across functional lines and effect-tively listening to others as a component of good communications.
|
By assessing these specific competencies and your personality characteristics (24 are measured such as: being reflective, serious mindedness, work pace, and frustration for tolerance, sociability, optimism, and insight) I can personally coach you in more efficient ways that will help lead to long-term success.
I can help you with your personal dream of creating and main-taining a world-class safety culture.
Many Great Achievements
Often BEGIN as An
Impossible Dream!

| "More than 3-Years Without a Lost-Time Incident" "Working directly with David Sarkus helped our organization go more than
3-years without a lost-time incident. David's safety coaching can catapult
you and your organization ahead to an entirely new level of success!"
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Credibility Requires
Ongoing Coaching and You Won't
Get That From a
Safety Consultant!"
Credibility is a key component to getting everyone to believe in your vision of zero accidents - for getting everyone on the same page and moving in the right direction. I can help you improve your safety credibility!
"If You're Serious About
Getting Your Company What it
Needs to get to World-Class
Safety Performance . . . and Giving
Yourself What You Deserve in
Your Profession . . .
The Safety Coach Club®
Will Be
The Best Career Investment
You Ever Make!"
I have the knowledge, track record, and tools that you need
to take your career and organization to a whole new level. But don't take my word for it … You've already read about others who I have helped achieve world-class success.
"You Need a Blue Print for
World-Class Safety SuccessTM and
I Have That Blue Print!"
Over my 25-year career I have developed a Blue Print for World- Class Safety Success™ that I want to share with you. Really, it's an actual blue print with 15 major components that not many people get to see but I want to share it with You!

| "Excellent Coach and Consultant" "David Sarkus is an excellent coach and consultant - insightful, entertaining and passionate about his work! He's helped
us become more successful in a number
of varied ways . . . world-class successful!"
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
If you're interested in working through these 7 Deadly Mistakes and are serious about improving your organization's safety a performance and elevating your career status I can help you in a big way.
I am only accepting a limited number of coaching clients but please visit my website and
open the on-line form you see below.
It's on the front page of my website:
www.DavidSarkus.com
I need a completed application form for my review.
If we have similar goals and there appears to be a good fit for each of us - then we can begin to talk . . .
You Can Also Visit:
www.SafetyCoachClub.com
|