Walking the talk

For those executive directors in the 2004 DJSI chemical sector, sustainable development is a commitment, not window dressing for commercial purposes. Through then-personal commitment to stewardship and sustainable development, corporate leaders can help to ensure a secure future for their company and society at large. 

William Stavropoulos, CEO and Board Chair of Dow Chemical, captured the concept of executive commitment in his own words Sustainability is a mindset, a leadership philosophy and arguably the only way to conduct business in the twenty-first century. .. And, to truly take hold, it demands leadership - commitment, passion and belief - from the very top of an organization (Stavropoulos, 2001 para 21). 

The leading sustainability companies in the chemical industry have made a public commitment to sustainable development despite the possibility that this commitment may result in extra scrutiny for those involved and present risks in terms of subsequent commercial and personal outcomes (Hemingway and Maclagan, 2004). This public commitment is a necessary component and antecedent to success in sustainable development. 

---

It is critical to the success of the implementation and continued maintenance of a quality program that management commitment is constantly visible to the company s employees. Management that clearly support quality by way of leadership and adequate resource allocation is more likely to secure and retain committed and enthusiastic employees. Executive management that does not walk the talk is likely to be viewed as duplicitous and not genuinely committed to the corporate quality mission. Employees should be encouraged to become involved and take ownership of compliance enhancements and continuous improvements in their specific areas. Individual personnel efforts should be directed by the company s overall program of continuous improvement and forward quality. 

C. O. Holliday, Jr., S. Schmidheiny and P. Watts. Walking the Talk. The Business Case for... 

C. Holliday and J. E. Pepper, Walking the Talk The Business Case for Sustainable Development, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Geneva, Switzerland, 2001. 

The key question asked by companies considering pursuit of sustainability practices is what is the business case - a profit or shareholder value case - that can create justification for allocating resources and the attention of corporate boards and executives. As was written in Walking the Talk (Holliday et al., 2002), companies tend to get involved in activities long before they can prove the business case for doing so. 

Evidence of core ideology statements of ideology, historical continuity of ideology, balance in ideology (beyond profits), and consistency between ideology and actions (walk the talk)... 

Practice leadership based on the courage to live the change you wish to bring about—walk the talk. 

Organizations with a strong, positive culmre exhibit a minimal disconnect between words and actions. AU managers and workers walk the talk their words and deeds match. Senior leaders, in particular, act on their stated principles. 

Affect the visibility of line management in the plant (i.e., walking the talk ) ... 

In July 2009, the world leaders pledged to commit 20 10 over three years for a food security initiative to develop sustainable agriculture in poor countries. Addressing the G8, FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said I am convinced that you will walk the talk not only for natural ethical considerations but also for sound economic reasons and, last but not least, to ensure peace and security in the world. [4] This commitment will trigger further investments in agriculture and will ease the supply situation. 

Model the way set by example walk the talk build commitment to action and understand the grieving process that some will experience as change occurs. 

Engineering firms need to make a conscious effort to hire women and people of color, says Maria Lehman. If companies sincerely want to increase diversity, they need to find key people in leadership positions within that demographic. Tliose people, in turn, will attract more of that same demographic. It s not enough to have a policy and a visibly diverse workforce, however. Leadership in the company must truly believe and make that commitment regularly to walk the talk. ... 

What is the safety and health professional s role with respect to the safety culture In an organization where safety is a core value and management at all levels walks-the-talk and demonstrates by its actions that it expects the safety culture to be superior, the role of the safety and health professional is easier as he or she gives advice that supports and maintains the culture. 

The CEO in this company says that he knows he has to continuously and personally embrace the 5S concept and both talk the talk and walk the talk, repeatedly. He holds his staff accountable for sustaining what they have achieved—an orderly and stable work environment in which efficiency is at a high level, waste occurs at a minimum, and hazards and risks are at an acceptable level. 

In very good companies, CEOs increasingly participate in safety walks and talks, or conduct such actions independently. Managers also need to follow the safety rules, using hard hats and other personal protective equipment as required by the company policy, following the speed limits specified when driving at the premises of the company site, etc. It is important to walk the talk, to be visible, to be present and engaged. 

What does that support look like Support needed for an effective safety and health program must include a substantial commitment to safety. Top management commitment must go beyond lip service. It s more than just moral support, just talking up safety. Management needs to walk the talk by investing serious time, their own and staff, and money into proactive safety initiatives. 

Clean up your garage and carport at home and ensure that when you are working at home that the safety rules applicable at woric are also applied at home. If you are a representative of safety, you must walk the talk. 

Don t underestimate the power of values. Values govern behavior ( walk the talk ). Behavior defines your work ethic (what gets measured gets done). Work ethics enable profitability (continuous improvement). Profitability drives snrvivabihty (carried out by thrivers). And survivability overcomes the competition (benchmark the best). 

Requiring everyone to walk the talk, also known as modeling ... 

To show caring with specific behavior-based questions, you need to take the time to learn what others are doing. This comes from active listening and behavior-based observation. You ve heard the phrase walk the talk. Well, here we re talking about hearing the talk, and watching the walk. This shows you care and gives you an opportunity to talk the walk so people will trust your intentions. 

Holliday, C.O., SchmidheHg, S. arid Watts, P., Walking the Talk The Business... 

When people teach, they "walk the talk" and become champions of change. After more than 30 years of safety consulting, it is clear to me that success depends on the presence of these leaders. 1 have seen no better way to develop champions of a campaign than to first teach relevant theory and method, then show how others can be instructors, and finally allow opportunities for colleagues and coworkers to teach each other. 

One way a leader can strengthen his ability to walk the talk is to identify situations in which he fears he will have difficulty and make a practice of asking for regular 360-degree feedback on his performance in these areas. In addition to benefiting the... 

This is why much emphasis is placed in undertaking walk the talk approach in proactive learning organizations. 

Model OE behaviors that integrate safety values, principles and heUefs into daily work and hold others accountable to do the same. Always walk the talk. ... 

---