Appreciation…the mark of a leader
As I celebrate Thanksgiving here in the US with my family, I think about the meaning of the holiday. In its most basic terms, this holiday is about appreciation. We are appreciative for the things we have – our freedoms, our families, our friends, traditions shared around a great meal. It’s a time to reflect. It’s interesting that a country makes it a priority to stop to appreciate. This day commemorates both the individual and collective act of appreciation; and, to me, it serves as poignant metaphor and a reminder to the leaders of organizations. Appreciation is one of the rare human behaviors that motivates regardless of culture, age, or geography. It is universal. Not only is it universal, it is the supreme motivator. People will literally die for appreciation. Napoleon Bonaparte recognized the power of appreciation when he said, “A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon.” ...
Read MoreTeach someone something every day!!!
I have worked in the nuclear industry for over 20 years and one of the major tenets of the industry is training. We train you when you first get here, we train constantly while you’re here, and we train you when anybody learns anything about anything relevant. Needless to say, all this formal training costs. It is not uncommon for the training budget to be one quarter of the operational costs of the site. Training is mandated by law, regulations, and good practices. After all who wants people operating nuclear power plants who are not properly trained? With all this training I had the opportunity to work with some of the highest trained and operationally ready people in the world. It was a wonderful experience. I support and believe that the consequences of failure demand this type of training routine and program. Most mission critical facilities organizations cannot afford to support this type and level of training. That is the hard reality of economics of our industry, so what can we do?...
Read MoreRisk mitigation
Risk mitigation is the reason that mission critical facilities organizations exist. Risk mitigation is one of the key differences in the operational philosophy of these organizations. Each person within the organization understands their place and how they and their actions support this operational imperative and philosophy. The last time I checked, there were several hundred companies purporting to do “mission critical facilities.” While I know of many great companies that do this work on an outsourced basis, there are many companies that don’t seem to have a real grasp of what a mission critical facilities organization is or how to support it. The most common error is thinking that a property management team that has been “upgraded” can properly operate a mission critical facility. Because of this it is imperative that the company with needs in this area do their due diligence and ensure that the company they are trusting their business to has all the crucial elements in their program to be successful....
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