Trevor Linden and yours truly – Susan Main, Speaking of Safety blogger – May 2, 2013 at the Terminal City Club in Vancouver, BC. FIOSA-MIOSA photo by Arne Huse
“Team sports and athletics naturally teach us about goal-setting. The best leaders broke the game down into sections and gave us a road map of where we want to be,” said Trevor Linden at the BC Safety Charter Round Table on May 2 in Vancouver. “Details and structure are what makes good leaders.”
The former Canucks captain – who now runs his own business, Club 16 – Trevor Linden Fitness – talked about good leadership as the key to team-building.
“What defines a good team? For me, it’s always about the culture,” Trevor said. “As independent business leaders, we have the ability to create that and eventually it becomes our legacy.”
About 150 delegates, from more than 60 businesses and organizations from across BC and around the world, attended this event hosted by FIOSA-MIOSA, the industry safety association for manufacturing and food/beverage processing.
The Charter’s purpose is to bring together CEOs who acknowledge that good health and safety management is an essential part of business. Those who sign are doing their part to “spread the message to as many leaders in the corporate world,” reads this description on the Charter web site.
The Charter, started in 2011 with 22 signatures, now includes 75 signatures after the latest Round Table. Charter signatories have a goal to get 150 of B.C.’s senior executives sign the Charter by 2015 – and at this rate, I’m sure they’ll have way more than that.
What’s in a signature?
I asked CEO Justin Williams to tell me more about what it’s meant to his company since he signed the Charter. His company, Williams and White, makes tools and machinery for maintaining saws and knives.
“People come in and I say, ‘Hey have you seen we’ve signed this?’” Justin said. “We treat it as one of our qualifications – one of our certifications. We signed the Safety Charter. We’re committed to safety. We believe in it and now we’re living it.”
He said he and his brother Matt, operations manager, introduced the Charter to staff and talk about it with vendors, clients, and anyone who visits their office.
“It’s made a big difference – and that’s because it’s front and centre. It’s become a talking point really,” Justin said. “That’s the big impact of signing this document. It takes 2 minutes – that’s two minutes to start this conversation.”
Thanks to FIOSA-MIOSA for having me as a guest and for all the work on this important project.
