Leading From the Middle To Enhance Workplace Safety

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Mikel Bowman, a consultant who focuses on leadership development and organizational culture. He’s a former senior Safety Director with over 20 years experience in the mining industry, who also has a background in counseling.

Mikel applies his in-depth experience of human relationships to the safety arena and helps HSE professionals overcome polarization, improve safety and change cultures by ‘leading from the middle’.

He explains how and why you can lead from the middle at any level within your organization. Loving, nurturing and encouraging your co-workers can help engage and empower them to start taking ownership of their own safety and the safety of others.

Using many real-life stories from his safety career, Mikel discusses the importance of balance between data and relationships for EHS professionals and how they can become facilitators rather than dictators.

He believes you can improve both production and safety at the same time and urges the profession to abandon its pursuit of perfection that creates mission statements, such as ‘zero harm’.

In a rousing call to action, Mikel declares that safety practitioners have the opportunity to change mindsets and cultures by leading with integrity and compassion. He describes them as superheroes with the power to inspire worker engagement and empowerment, improving workplace safety and revolutionizing people’s lives!

Find out more about Mikel’s work:

Bowman Legacy University

Mikel recommends any leadership books by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin:

Books - Jocko

He also suggested two books on leadership by John C. Maxwell:

21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Workbook 25th Anniversary Edition

The 360 Degree Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the Organization

Follow Mikel on Instagram:

Mikel Bowman (@mikelbowman243)

Mikel Bowman on LinkedIn:

Mikel Bowman | LinkedIn

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