Target Leadership releases power packed DVD series with seven safety lessons

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Target Leadership President and CEO, former USAF A-10 Fighter Pilot, Jeff “Odie” Espenship has released a DVD title “Safety Lessons for Superior Leadership”. This DVD is a collection of lessons Odie delivers to companies whose employees endeavor for safer work practices. This DVD is perfect for companies with employees who need to hear a motivating safety message but don’t have the resources to attend larger safety conferences.

The DVD is a full library of training material contained in seven lessons averaging eight minutes each (total of 56 minutes), suitable for inspiring training sessions at any high-risk work facility. The titles include:

  • Complacency: The Silent Killer
  • Snap Decisions
  • Pulling Through Every Time
  • Changes in Work Activity
  • Hazard Recognition
  • Knock It Off
  • Keep Off the Grass

Each of these mini-sessions address a close call or a life and death situation, and serve as reminder of how you can keep your employees safe in their jobs through attention to small details and not cutting corners for efficiency or improved bottom lines. The DVD can be used an unlimited number of times at a fraction of the cost of just registration at major safety conferences, not to mention the cost of travel.

About Target Leadership
Odie’s Target Leadership message is one of the most sought after keynotes among Fortune 100 companies such as Exxon Mobile, Chevron & General Electric. Whether the audience is medical, manufacturing, chemical, utility, construction, banking, team sports, or retail, their programs will motivate the workforce to accelerate to new heights in leadership, safety, teamwork, and overall operational excellence.

For more information please visit https://targetleadership.com or call 770-356-6240

Motivational Safety Speaker Jeff “Odie” Espenship Headlines with Keynote at GM UAW Joint Conference

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Target Leadership President and CEO, former USAF A-10 Fighter Pilot, Jeff “Odie” Espenship, was invited to be the kick-off Keynote speaker at the General Motors United Auto Workers Conference this past May 2012 in Las Vegas, NV.

The purpose of the joint conference is to drive a zero accident culture through inspiring team members to apply safety principles in and out of the work environment, make individual decisions collectively, and encourage “approachability.” Odie explains “approachability” as a personal mindset that every person on every job has a piece of information that you need. He warns that bottom up approachability can be difficult for those who feel threatened or intimidated by another’s experience, skill, and knowledge. He encourages supervisors to create a culture that welcomes employees to focus on following processes, and approaching those that who feel compelled to take a short cut – “It’s a conversation, not a confrontation,” says Odie.

Odie hits home with a story about job culture, “the way it’s done around here,” and also engineering better process safety into the equipment. Odie related job culture and process safety as major causes that took the life of his former USAF instructor pilot and good friend, Captain Scott Porter. Just “one switch” out of place in the cockpit killed them both.

Every organization has the “one switch” that can hurt or kill employees. It might be a piece of equipment that is not functioning properly, poor process engineering, lack of training, or improper procedural regimen.

Teaching people to “approach” others with ideas about how to improve in “the way it’s done around here” attitude is strong way to move towards a zero accident culture.

About Target Leadership
Odie’s Target Leadership message is one of the most sought after keynotes among Fortune 100 companies such as Exxon Mobile, Chevron & General Electric. Whether the audience is medical, manufacturing, chemical, utility, construction, banking, team sports, or retail, their programs will motivate the workforce to accelerate to new heights in leadership, safety, teamwork, and overall operational excellence.

For more information please visit https://targetleadership.com or call toll-free at (800) 392-1544.

Motivational Safety Speaker Jeff “Odie” Espenship to Speak at IADC Leadership Seminar in Amsterdam

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Target Leadership President and CEO, former USAF A-10 Fighter Pilot, Jeff “Odie” Espenship, is presenting at the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) Annual European Health, Safety and Environment Conference in Amsterdam this September.

Odie first presented to IADC in 2009 and received a 99.8% approval rating from over 400 participants. His presentation addresses how leaders influence worker behavior and maintain job culture. He warns leaders to watch for the phrase “I’ll be careful” because it usually means someone is about to something dumb, dangerous or different. His approach can be described as “Edutainment” – a message peppered with knowledge, humor, humility, and entertainment.

Target Leadership, founded by Odie after the loss of his brother in an aviation accident, refers to a company’s employees and staff as “fighter pilots.” Target Leadership speakers use their aviation background and experience as fighter pilots to motivate and encourage a company’s “fighter pilots” to embrace company leadership safety systems using real life and death experiences and examples.

About Target Leadership
Odie’s Target Leadership message is one of the most sought after keynotes among Fortune 100 companies such as Exxon Mobile, Chevron & General Electric. Whether the audience is medical, manufacturing, chemical, utility, construction, banking, team sports, or retail, their programs will motivate the workforce to accelerate to new heights in leadership, safety, teamwork, and overall operational excellence.

About IADC
IADC has represented the worldwide oil and gas drilling industry since 1940. Their conferences are industry-driven events focusing on drilling technology, well control, health, safety and environment, training and industry economics and financial outlook. The organization has offices worldwide including locations in Houston, TX, Washington, DC, Nijmegen, Netherlands, Dubai, UAE, and Bangkok, Thailand.

For more information please visit https://targetleadership.com or call toll-free at (800) 392-1544.

Deadly Distractions – The Crash of Eastern 401

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This is a rare picture of the Lockheed L-1011, Ship# 310, that crashed into the Everglades. This picture was likely taken just weeks before the crash.

It is almost midnight, December 29, 1972, when Eastern Airlines ship #310 began her final approach to land at Miami International airport.

The captain, called Miami tower on the radio:

“Miami tower, Eastern 401, just turned on final.”
The captain then instructed the copilot to lower the landing gear,
”Go ahead and throw ‘em out.”

When the landing gear handle was lowered, the pilots checked to make sure there were three green lights, indicating that all three landing wheels are safely down and locked (as shown).

Both pilots stare in disbelief. This is the final exchange between two highly skilled, very competent pilots (operators) who became so distracted by a 20 cent burned out light bulb, they crashed into the Everglades.

“We did something to the altitude,” said the copilot.

“What?” answered the surprised captain.

In complete bewilderment the copilot said, “We’re still at two thousand, right?”

“Hey, what’s happening here?” These were the final words spoken from the captain as the cockpit area microphone picked up the sounds of Ship 310 flying itself into the Everglades. 101 fatalities.

Science is clear, humans are not as good at multitasking as we think we are. When someone tells me they are good at multitasking, I know they are good at doing multi-jobs poorly. Unplanned interruptions and distractions in the workplace are common. Employees must recognize these as leading indicators that can lead up to an incident or accident. We are essentially being forced to multitask.

Discuss possible situations and scenarios of where you and your people are most likely to face unwanted distractions. Have a plan in place when something unplanned pops up. Hindsight is always 20/20, but having foresight is 20/20/20. That means every 20 minutes, take 20 seconds, and look 20 feet around you. You might be surprised at what you see.

For those of us who work in a high risk work environment, it is imperative we keep our situational awareness congruent with reality. There is nothing more dangerous than someone who is clueless and doesn’t know it – yet. As an operator (airline pilot), anytime an unplanned interruption comes my way, I use the acronym SLAP to help me remember to stay focused:

S top the current path / work / progression while using Foresight 20/20/20.
L isten to others, gather information about the interruption.
A ssess the distraction. Decide to either discount, delay, or redirect the issue.
P roceed with the plan or rebrief a revised plan. Never assume everyone understands what you want. Be clear and concise. Ask probing questions.

By doing this, hopefully you will never allow a small distraction to become the main attraction.

Free Study Guide

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Every high-risk enterprise MUST have a culture of safety to minimize accidents, and that kind of culture is developed through personal responsibility, procedural compliance, and appropriate leadership at every level. This study guide based on the “Pulling Through” DVD provides a framework for developing that kind of culture.
The study guide may be used alone, but will be greatly enhanced by viewing the DVD entitled, “Pulling Through Every Time” available from Odievision.com and under the product link of this site. In this video, Jeff “Odie” Espenship describes events surrounding the loss of his brother in an aviation accident.

Your company could benefit from this study guide and optional DVD if:

  • Teamwork and personal responsibility matter,
  • You cannot afford shortcuts in procedures,
  • You need to set and maintain high standards of personal conduct in daily operations.

If you need to develop an effective half-day session on improving the workplace safety culture, this study guide is an excellent resource.

-Audie O.