Safety Speaker Tip – Using Peer Influence

Safety Speaker Tip – Using Peer Influence To Your Advantage

I once heard someone say if you want to lead people, find a parade and step in front of it. Have you ever been frustrated by wondering how to win over EVERYONE to your new safety initiative, program or procedure? As a safety speaker I have discovered the key is to realize you can use existing spheres of influence to move everyone in your direction. Let me share a technique, which you can use to make your job much easier.

We are all familiar with the term peer pressure. People in a group will act as others in the group do. They wear similar clothing and enjoy similar activities to name a few. They share common beliefs. You could argue that you gravitate to groups with which you already have similarities. However, in many life situations you find yourself amongst people because of your work or where you live.

As a safety speaker, safety professional or team member, you can use peer pressure to your advantage. It’s something I call peer influence.

Peer influence is using peer relationships to improve your safety performance, involvement in your safety process or acceptance of new ideas. The mistake many safety people make is they get discouraged because they think they have to win every individual person over to their way of thinking. This can give you a feeling of overwhelm or at the very least, think it’s an impossible task to complete.

The secret is to discover who the group leaders are in any group of people. Who has the biggest impact on others? Who do people gravitate to? Who, when they share their opinion on something, suddenly finds most others agreeing with them? Many safety speakers miss the opportunity to influence an audience with members of that same audience. As a safety speaker I watch as people enter the room. What groups naturally form? Who are the leaders? I then know if I persuade those leaders of those groups the others are more likely to agree and come along.

It is fairly easy to find out who these people are. Who are the trendsetters? Who do people look up to? Who is most popular? All of these are clues to help you find peer influencers. If I can spot them as a safety speaker, I suspect you can think of a few of those people in your workforce as you read this article.

The good news is you don’t have to be 100% right. The second step is to win over that person you have identified. Remember, in order to bring someone to your way of thinking you need to give them a good reason why. You must give them answers to the question why from their perspective. Why would they want to embrace your new program or idea? I cannot express too often it must be from their perspective.

One challenge is if your opinion of this person or persons is negative. Maybe they have been an obstacle to your safety efforts or some other reason. If you want to win them over to your side and win the day you must reframe your image of them in your mind. Instead of thinking of them negatively think of them as your solution. They are a great person you just haven’t given them a reason why that gets their commitment. Remember sometimes that reason is to help or protect others. I have seen over and over that people would go out of their way to help someone else even if they wouldn’t make the same effort on their own behalf. I recommend reading the chapter on Rapport Skills in my book, “Mastering Safety Communication”

Remember think of them as an ally, a resource, a solution and a lifesaver when you win them over.

Safety speakers who are able to accomplish this are much more effective. When you win them over, the people they influence will come along for free. If you’ve picked the wrong person and you haven’t gotten the results you were looking for pick again and move forward. At some point, you will have stepped in front of the parade and find everyone following you.

Solutions For Your Safety Challenges

When you need solutions for your safety challenges give Diane Weiss a call at 209-745-9419 and bring John to your site to discover injury-preventing solutions. You can email her at diane@drebinger.com
Until next week,
I’ll be, “Watching Out For Everyone’s Safety™”
John
© 2016 John Drebinger Presentations
Permission to use granted when credited and contact information included. www.drebinger.com +1 209.745.9419