Text us. Share your thoughts. Ask Questions. We would love to hear from you.
Unlock the courage within as we sit down with Felix Nater, a workplace safety and security sage and a retired Command Sergeant Major, to dissect the essence of brave leadership. Prepare for a journey that explores the intersection of fortitude and guidance, where we reveal the secrets to fortifying your team against the unseen battles of mental, emotional, and even physical adversity. With Felix's years safeguarding lives, we pledge to arm you with strategies that ensure your leadership is not just a beacon for success but a shield against the vulnerabilities of the workplace.
Venture beyond profitability and into the realm of responsibility with us, as we scrutinize the delicate dance between driving revenues and preserving the sanctuary that is your workplace. Delve into the intricacies of A.R.C. (Accountability, Responsibility, and Consequences) and A.C.E. (Assumptions, Convenience, Expediency), tools that will revamp your approach to leadership risks, paving the way for a culture where safety precedes spreadsheets. Through gripping narratives and unvarnished truths, we illuminate the stark realities of overlooked security measures and the dire need for leaders to prioritize the lives that fuel their industries.
We wrap up with a candid reflection on the moral compass guiding today's leaders, challenging the superficial trends that have crept into modern decision-making. John's own military background colors the conversation, underscoring the indelible link between character-building and commanding respect. We call upon the leaders of our time to rekindle the valor that faces ethical quandaries head-on, fostering trust and resilience within their organizations. Join us, and let's collectively redefine leadership where courage isn't just applauded – it's expected.
Text us. Share your thoughts. Ask Questions. We would love to hear from you.
Unlock the courage within as we sit down with Felix Nater, a workplace safety and security sage and a retired Command Sergeant Major, to dissect the essence of brave leadership. Prepare for a journey that explores the intersection of fortitude and guidance, where we reveal the secrets to fortifying your team against the unseen battles of mental, emotional, and even physical adversity. With Felix's years safeguarding lives, we pledge to arm you with strategies that ensure your leadership is not just a beacon for success but a shield against the vulnerabilities of the workplace.
Venture beyond profitability and into the realm of responsibility with us, as we scrutinize the delicate dance between driving revenues and preserving the sanctuary that is your workplace. Delve into the intricacies of A.R.C. (Accountability, Responsibility, and Consequences) and A.C.E. (Assumptions, Convenience, Expediency), tools that will revamp your approach to leadership risks, paving the way for a culture where safety precedes spreadsheets. Through gripping narratives and unvarnished truths, we illuminate the stark realities of overlooked security measures and the dire need for leaders to prioritize the lives that fuel their industries.
We wrap up with a candid reflection on the moral compass guiding today's leaders, challenging the superficial trends that have crept into modern decision-making. John's own military background colors the conversation, underscoring the indelible link between character-building and commanding respect. We call upon the leaders of our time to rekindle the valor that faces ethical quandaries head-on, fostering trust and resilience within their organizations. Join us, and let's collectively redefine leadership where courage isn't just applauded – it's expected.
One of the things that First Lead. You has said, from a leadership standpoint, that if leaders embrace personal development of their team and themselves, it will lead to professional success.
Speaker 2:Welcome to First Lead you, a podcast dedicated to building leaders, expanding their capacity, improving their self-awareness through emotional intelligence and developing deeper understanding of selfless leadership.
Speaker 1:Hello America and welcome to First Lead you where we believe selfless leadership is essential. America is suffering a leadership crisis. Self-awareness and emotional intelligence is the key to developing selfless leaders. Now here is personal growth coach John Ballinger. Hello America and the world. My name is John Ballinger. Welcome to First Lead you. I'm here with my trusted co-host, mr Douglas Ford. Hello John, how are you today? Great, great notice. I didn't say nothing negative, rough week, anything like that.
Speaker 3:I am great things are getting better sunshine outside.
Speaker 1:Good, uh, we have a special guest today oh, that's.
Speaker 3:I think that's the first one this season.
Speaker 1:It is, and this is really I'm going to call it. You know we say special guest. He is a special guest, um, but before I get into introducing him, we got the word for the week, and I think this word is appropriate, especially for what we're going to be talking about with our special guest, and it's the word courage. You know, we're going through these 25 character traits that leaders of today need in order to lead into tomorrow. And courage and I'm going to read the definition of courage the ability to do something that frightens one.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 1:Now the secondary. So that's primary. The secondary is strength in the face of pain and grief.
Speaker 3:That might be more applicable.
Speaker 1:Well, when I read that I thought you know it. Probably the secondary would be, especially with what we're talking about today. And, um, you know, our, our special guest is a gentleman by the name of Felix Nader who owns a safety uh security firm uh Nader and associates. But Felix and I have known each other for a few years and, uh, we finished each other's sentences. We think a lot of like when it comes to safety uh, risk management, loss control.
Speaker 1:But his primary like, if you ask him what he does every day is he makes attempts to teach business owners and leaders how important it is to do proactive safety and security protocols inside their organizations, especially for things like active intruders and things like that. And Felix will be talking about some of his accomplishments and where he's come from. But as an old Army guy myself, I have a high level of respect for Felix because he was a command sergeant major, which is the highest level that you can achieve in the non-commissioned officer rank in the United States Army, and so that by itself puts him in elite status as a former command sergeant major that actually went into private business after retirement, started Nader Associates. But you know, felix is the epitome of being able to have courage to go in and talk to CEOs about. You should be doing these things in order to protect the safety of your team members. Protect the safety of your team members when and that's physical, mental and and social protection.
Speaker 3:When it comes to today's uh emotional workforce where we see all the time on the news people have gone in and shot up offices and building workplaces and things like that yeah, uh, I thought one of the questions that we ask and that we spent a good bit of time talking about would just allude to was this idea of leaders being responsible for the physical, mental and emotional safety of their teams, and I know that a lot of times we don't always take into account the mental and the emotional aspects of that.
Speaker 3:Take into account the mental and the emotional aspects of that. I mean, certainly providing a safe work environment is key, but thinking about the mental and emotional safety and we've talked about this before that doesn't have to be a touchy-feely thing. It's like there's a very real reason why that's part of your responsibilities as a leader. And again, if we're stuck in our taskmaster mindset of I just want to make sure my people get their work done well, you're not really leading them. Because with that term and Felix makes a great point about this in the interview that we had with him is the term leader carries a lot of responsibility with it, and people don't think about that all the time when they accept that role or that title of leader. They just want the benefits of it, and so it's an eye-opening interview that we had with him. I enjoyed speaking with him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm going to plug this because it'll be heard in the interview, but he said one of the most profound things that I mean I'm writing it down when he's saying it, because when he said it I'm like, oh my gosh, that is brilliant and I want to think in context of proactive risk management or safety and loss control and things like that. But he said, making money clouds people's thinking, and what he's talking about I see every day if that's going to cost me X and I'm paying for it even though I don't know if I actually need it, and then when it happens because you've not, it costs you 10 times more after the fact, because he and I both agree that if it is a responsibility of the leader to protect and give safe work environment and a law firm finding out that you didn't guess what.
Speaker 3:That's a bad day.
Speaker 1:It's a bad day for the company and the leader that was in that position. So, uh, I hope our audience enjoys, uh, the interview we had with Mr Felix Nader.
Speaker 3:Well, today we'd like to welcome in Mr Felix Nader. He is a certified security consultant, he owns Nader and Associates and he's a longtime friend of yours, John.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would say that he's longer than what we've actually, I would say, physically known each other, because there's a DNA that Felix and I have, you know, that goes that surpasses when we actually met each other, and we knew that when we started talking that our DNA, uh, was something that we had probably been walking paths that were concurrent with each other. We just hadn't met each other yet, and when we did, it was just like we'd known each other for years. So, uh, I I'm blessed to be able to call him a friend.
Speaker 3:Welcome in, mr Nader.
Speaker 4:Thank you, thank you, thank you. It went back to when we first broke bread together, john remember in the restaurant.
Speaker 1:I remember longhorns.
Speaker 4:Yep, you said boy, I feel like I've known you all my life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was.
Speaker 4:It was the mutual feeling no-transcript.
Speaker 1:that's even bigger than what even know. And, uh, you and I have been I call it dancing and fostering this for some years now. And, uh, I do feel like at some point, John and Felix are going to be on stage at a conference talking about leadership and the workplace and the importance, and we're going to be talking about that on this podcast.
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely we are, and we'd like to just get a little bit of background. We appreciate the relationship the two of you guys have, but, schneider, if you could just share with us a little bit about your background and what brought you to this point.
Speaker 4:Excellent, excellent. So I'm a byproduct of life in general. You know I have a variety of experiences that have developed me, sustained my development and given me the courage and temerity to be who I am. But I got to begin by saying that I think God knew what he was doing when he made Felix Nader in that relationship that I was born into, because he gave me a lot of personal courage, a lot of ethical bearing and he gave me a perspective on life that says, when you get involved in something, do it. Like Martin Luther King said, if you're going to be a sweeper, be the best sweeper you can be.
Speaker 4:And I didn't try to go through life trying to build up a litany of awards and certifications. I went through life doing whatever I could at the moment for people and doing the right thing that I was asked to do at the time that I was doing it. And it became part of my growth and development. And, john, I'll tell you I defied unintentionally I defied all of these standards out there because people saw my heart, people saw my intentions and gave me breaks and opportunities in my life. I became a command sergeant major not because I wanted to become a command sergeant major. It's because in the MI community I Security Agency in the US they are there weren't too many people competing against me. So when I went to DA for nomination I was awarded secondary promotion considerations because I didn't have enough time in grade to compete because they said I had potential. So I discovered potential means. You have to give all you can give where you are, so that people can recognize your abilities and then help you grow and come through those abilities. How important was that? You had potential with no aspirations of ever working again.
Speaker 4:And then you know what happened September 11, 2001,. The tragedy that befell America with those meatheads that attacked our Pentagon and the World Trade Buildings. I got a phone call from that executive in my retirement asking me to take a look at workplace security and workplace protection of the workforce. And I said you know why me, you got postal inspectors who are responsible by law for that stuff, not me. I'm retired. You know what he said to me? You're the only guy with the skills that understands what needs to be done. We've interviewed competitors before we thought of you and now we're thinking of you. We ask you to give us whatever it is. You'll charge us to get it done. Just consider it, and that's how I formed Mater Associates, because I enjoyed doing that so well. It reminded me of what I did as a postal inspector. It reminded me what I did at the Sergeant Major and I said taking care of people is my forte in life. So Mater Associates help organizations recognize their limitations and create understanding in resolving those limitations and preventing workplace hostilities.
Speaker 1:You mentioned Dr King. He had a lot of great quotes, and one that I carry around in my phone and I look at a lot of time is the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. And I think, with what you do every day and what, uh, we do at uh in our organization, is we deal with challenges and controversy every day. Yeah, and and and those aren't uh as is. We deal with challenges and controversy every day and those aren't. As we've said in the past, those are not the sexy things that people want to deal with in the business community.
Speaker 1:But it's imperative that people that have resolve, courage, discipline can go into situations when there's controversy and inconvenience and actually uh, create results out of that, calm the water, so to speak, and pour water on the fire instead of gasoline on the fire. And there has to be people like that. It exists and uh, I've always struggled with saying I'm that person, but uh, I am that person and you're one of those people, and I think that's why we gelled like we do yeah, yeah, and I hate to keep going back to feel.
Speaker 4:Manual 22, the x100, the ethical decision making process is clear. You know, if you have a process in place, the moral fiber is going to sustain the decision you make, because you're doing it for the right reason. Yeah, moral fiber If you, if you, just you know help.
Speaker 1:Hey Felix, who, who, who makes moral fiber? Can we or can we buy some of that and hand it out in the leadership? Uh?
Speaker 4:uh, Colin Powell, Colin Powell.
Speaker 1:Hey, what about Norman Schwarzkopf?
Speaker 4:Norman Schwarzkopf. That's right. That's right. Both of those guys you know, one prominent and one behind the scenes.
Speaker 1:that was incredibly efficient right, yeah, oh, storm and Norman, yeah. So in the last 10 years, what trends have you seen as it pertains to workplace safety and security?
Speaker 4:I see, I see, okay. So in the first 10 years, every survey that was conducted focused in on workplace violence and workforce security as one two and three, there are so many other priorities impacting the workplaces, that zero tolerance dominates the leaders, the so-called leaders toolkit of resolving issues that involve the people side of the business.
Speaker 4:They don't invest in the people side of the business. They just remove the problem and bring somebody else in to fill the gap. So I don't think that workplace violence prevention, as often as it's talked about, is a priority, because if it was, they would have a program manager in charge of those things, under a risk manager or with a risk manager vice president working on those issues that affect the human dimension and the dynamics in workplaces.
Speaker 1:How often do you see risk managers in the workplace?
Speaker 4:I don't see them very often. You know I stay in contact with them through LinkedIn and I stay in contact with them through association relationships that may have, but I know they're there but they don't get identified risk matter.
Speaker 1:That's interesting and I wonder how many of those are just own their own firm and go in and do contract work. But you know, I'm really I'm actually looking for in corporations who's the chief risk officer that's managing the risk and looking at the risk in the organization, and I just, I just don't see that many.
Speaker 4:And there aren't many, because they don't understand what they don't understand. They don't want to really abide by the rules, and the people who are risk managers certified risk managers don't want to revolve their thinking. So they're in clash with the corporate leader who's about the revenue, because the revenue guy is interested in making more money and he looks at the risk managers inhibiting him or her from making more money yeah.
Speaker 1:You're correct about that.
Speaker 4:So the risk manager is out and about protecting their employment instead of telling it like it is and building a reputation of honor, integrity and moral turpitude. Right.
Speaker 1:You made a statement before we got on the show. Making money clouds thinking.
Speaker 4:Making money clouds people's thinking yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:That's a that's a powerful statement. When you think about that in the C-suite or you know leadership in a lot of companies, corner offices, they S, they're looking at two numbers what's the top line sales and what's the bottom line profits? That's all, but there's, there's a huge chasm in between all of that.
Speaker 4:No doubt. And what drives that? Are the stockholders? They're the ones that keep the CEOs and boards in office. So you keep me happy, make me more money. You can continue doing what you're doing. All I care about is the revenue generation factors. It's unfortunate In my business. In my business, that euphemism CYA I throw it about all the time. You know you all are worried about CYA, but you're not really worried about ARC and ACE and you know I do that on purpose. You know what CYA is right.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah, right. And I say to the audience you know what sugar, honey, ice and tea is. And I'll say to those of us in the military, you know what it spells, right, shit, right. And so you bury the SHIT, the sugar, honey, ice and tea, because you don't want it to adversely impact.
Speaker 4:But you're not, you're not willing to be accountable, responsible, because you're afraid of the consequences, right?
Speaker 4:So you live your life on the ace factor assumptions, decisions made on assumptions, commitments made on assumptions, investments made on convenience, decisions made on convenience.
Speaker 4:And then you worry about your outcomes because they were all based on expediency and you can't correct the expedient decision because you're already in the thick of a mess you've created. So, rather than spending you know the appropriate amount of hours necessary to educate your people, because they're not going to learn from me speaking, they're going to learn from me applying what I'm speaking. They're going to learn from me applying what I'm speaking. So you don't even give them the time to consume the dialogue by creating a 10-hour or a two-day session that allows for interaction, interpretation, understanding, so that when they leave here they know what the heck they need to know, because here is a curriculum they can refer back to you say all we can dedicate for risk management is four hours, two hours, three hours? Oh really. It's going to cost you millions of loss reduction, millions in injury compensation claims, millions in civil liability, but you're only going to spend two or four hours.
Speaker 3:Yeah, 100%. Well, that was great. The ARC and the ACE. If I could get you to repeat that, what does ARC stand for?
Speaker 4:again, yes, so ARC is accountability, responsibility and consequences. All right and.
Speaker 4:ACE. Ace is assumptions, convenience and expediency. So you see a broken door and you do nothing about it because it's not your job, right, you know? Assumption you don't want to take time to go back in and report the broken door because it's taking time from you getting home to pick up your child from the babysitter, right, and you don't want to get involved because in the past nobody ever listens to you. So expediency says that nobody cares, I'll just get my car, pick up my child and go home and have dinner.
Speaker 3:Then you turn the news on and you find that that disgruntled, unhappy Felix Nader came in the same way that you could have avoided if that lock to that door had been fixed yeah, we're, uh, we're going to take a break and we're going to come back and we're going to talk a little bit more about that, uh, with a, with a question that, uh, we got, uh to pose for you. So, thank you for being with us today and we'll be right back. Welcome back to First League View.
Speaker 3:Today we've been talking to Mr Felix Nader.
Speaker 3:He is the owner of Nader Associates and he's a certified security consultant and has a very extensive background in workplace safety and what people need to do to protect themselves, their employees, their team members, and he and John have been having a good conversation about what it means to be a leader and how to protect your people in a variety of ways.
Speaker 3:But one of the things that we wanted to talk to Mr Nader about was this idea of a leadership's responsibility. Last few episodes, we've talked about a leader's responsibility to their team and how they should interact with their team. So, given Mr Nader's background and expertise, we want to talk about a leader's responsibility for safety, and we want to about a leader's responsibility for safety and we want to um shanae to bring you in on that. We want to think about it in three different areas the physical safety of the team, the mental safety of the team and the emotional safety of the team. So we can take each one of those in turn and, uh, if you, if you'd like to go ahead, and, john, do you have anything you want to add to that?
Speaker 1:No, I think, uh, when we, when we posed that question to Felix, I thought, man, that's a whole podcast by itself and we're going to ask him to try and cram it into, you know, 12 or 13 minutes. But, um, one of the things that, firstly, jew has said standpoint that if leaders embrace personal development of their teams and themselves, it will lead to professional success. No doubt, and this, this physical, mental, emotional standpoint, leaders today more than ever have to invest in their teams in that area. So, felix, I'm, I'm, I'm anxious to hear your thoughts on that.
Speaker 4:You know, uh, the predication of my style is based on ethical responsibilities, right, and you can't call yourself a leader just because you have a title. You know a leader understands that their responsibilities they go along with that title of being called leader. That puts you in a position to be a role model and a developer of subordinates, and those two are difficult, john. Again I'm going back to my basic leadership training in the Army, which I'll never, ever forget, and I was always a star in those programs because I enjoyed it very much, I loved the interaction.
Speaker 4:But when it comes to those three categories of physical and mental and emotional protection of your workforce, you've got to know your people. You've got to know who they are, what they are, what their strengths and weaknesses and threats might be. You have to know their family members. You have to recognize that when someone comes in late to work, you need to know why they're coming in late to work, not make an assumption that makes it convenient and expedient for you to deal with that particular problem. You got to understand that your responsibility as a leader is to protect that, lead those individuals against allegations, false allegations, against the opportunities to make them the scapegoat when their production activity doesn't achieve the goals of the manager in the department. You have to create that emotional stability that allows them to feel trust and confidence in the leader to protect them Even when they're wrong. It's the leader's job to protect them and clarify the wrongness so that he or she understands what went wrong, so he can have a discussion with his boss, or she understands what went wrong so he can have a discussion with his boss, so this boss will understand it was the limitations that imposed that that failed decision on their part.
Speaker 4:We have to really, really understand that knowing ourselves is paramount to knowing our subordinates. If you want to refer to them as subordinates for our people, um, we just can't take the title down and say I'm getting paid, paid $10,000 more a year and I'm enjoying the money but not living up to being a responsible leader who understands the requirements and who's willing to protect their people by educating their people, enforcing standards, avoiding ethical dilemmas, encouraging people to be involved and educating them so they know right from wrong. And I'm not talking about childish right from wrong. I'm talking about personal safety, workplace safety, workplace security, standards that are expected so that that person can be gainfully employed, so that person can avoid injury personal injury, physical injury so that person doesn't have to be a victim of bullying and sustain that emotional burden of not wanting to lose the job because of revenue generation that allows him or her to support their family.
Speaker 1:And that's, that's, that's gold right there. Uh, felix, have you seen and this, this is a question that just I'm sitting here listening to you talk about this have you seen a difference from the time you started your leadership journey and the leaders that you sat under and then today's leader and how they lead people? Have you seen a change in that? Have you seen it? Progress, regress. What have you seen?
Speaker 4:Yes, I've seen a regression. The leaders that I came under looked you in the eye and told you that you were good, and told you that you were bad, and told you how to make that sustain that good and how to improve that bad. Today, it's all behind your back. Today, you don't even know why you're being walked out the door, other than some surreptitious reasoning and logic applied relative to poor performance in a generalized sense. When you're being walked out the door Today, you have people who work their butts off. I'll give you a quick example, I don't want to take too much time.
Speaker 4:A guy gets appointed to be a DEI diversity, whatever it stands for I forget the terminology right now. So, emotionally charged, he's the vice president of this DEI. He happens to be white and because he's white, the competitors who didn't get it happened to be African-American filed an organizational allegation against him and he gets removed. But up to that time, this particular guy was an outstanding leader who did everything right for the organization. But because he wasn't the right person for the position, they removed him. But the moron leaders of that organization failed to recognize that there are consequences for poor decision-making. So he files a lawsuit and he wins the lawsuit of unfair, disparage treatment. And this is what leadership is all about.
Speaker 4:Somebody in the organizations are not nurturing and growing their people the way they're supposed to be growing and some within the organizations are afraid to stand up for ethical dilemmas and do the right thing. And they're progressing along the ladder of success quote, unquote success hitting those rungs but not learning much on those rungs and getting to a position of leadership. And they're hollow, john. They're hollow. Even people that I work with. They're afraid to tell their clients no because they don't want to lose the business project. Those are ethical dilemmas. So I see less and less of integrity-oriented, strong-willed leaders who are willing to understand the consequences. It's like MacArthur. They dislike MacArthur because MacArthur believed in something. General MacArthur that is believed in something. They criticized Patton because he believed in something. They criticized Lincoln because he believed in something. General MacArthur, that is believed in something. They criticized Patton because he believed in something. They criticized Lincoln because he believed in something. They criticized Reagan because he believed in something. We put a politically correct emphasis on life rather than an ethically correct emphasis on life.
Speaker 1:So that begs this question. Emphasis on life. So that begs this question. If leaders were progressing since you and I have got into leadership and I've got a message called the handshake, because how important just learning how to shake a person's hand is and we've lost that, you know that tradition of handshake, looking in the eye, having a conversation, you know we want to text people or email people, but we don't even know how to communicate well. But let's say, if leadership had progressed, and even during the difficult time with COVID and the great resignation, but leaders press in and serve their people well by investing in themselves as leaders for their people, would DEI even be needed.
Speaker 4:No, I think understanding. Good question, john. Good question. I don't want to be political, but I think it needs to be addressed. If America had progressed to earnestly be equal to all, there'd be no need I'm sorry, earnestly be equal to all. There'd be no need, I'm sorry, there'd be no need for any regulations or rules that are targeting specific underperforming or under-addressed or unfairly treated individuals. No, it would not be needed. But be that as it may, people take this wonderful country's constitution and they tailor it to mean everything that is unique to individuals.
Speaker 1:Yeah, one of the questions or one of the comments we hear a whole lot about from people that are sitting under leadership and even the leaders themselves is no one's taught me how to have a tough discussion with someone. That is beneficial I mean, we hear that so much, and not being able to have tough discussions with your team members Doesn't allow that person that you know, that team member, to know, like where do I need to improve at? How can you.
Speaker 4:How can you have a tough conversation with? You're going to be sued. You can't have a closing. You're going to be sued.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, you're right. I mean it's sad, it's sad, but when you walk them out the door and seniors, don't have a personal responsibility to the support and the manager.
Speaker 4:It's all about revenue generation, productivity, performance that enhances the corporation standing on the stock market, selling their stocks, and the people are just pawns. They're just pawns, which is why John COVID was a great eye-opener for America, because it really unveiled all of the problems that existed hidden underneath the surface that needed to be addressed, really emphasize just how incompetent leaders are, because their arrogance and their ineptitude and their combativeness was conveyed in those Zoom meetings, those team meetings, when they all of a sudden became more powerful over a Zoom meeting or a team meeting or a telephone conversation than they would have been in face-to-face engagement. So the people who knew this existed before COVID decided that they didn't want to go back to those environments that were hostile, bully-oriented relationships with coworkers and superiors. They'd rather work from home where they have the peace and confidence and trust of their own environments trust of their own environments.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I actually did an interview early this morning and asked the candidate that I was selecting for a company. By the way, we use assessments to ensure that the person and their personality and their strengths and weaknesses match the job description, which we think that's important in today's environment. But I asked this person tell me what's the most important part of selecting a job, and immediate reaction was remote work. Yeah, I don't want to go. I don't want to go in and deal and this was her word. I don't want to go in and deal with the owner's wife or the owner in a company, because they drive me crazy, so I'd just rather work from home.
Speaker 4:I will always remember this and this is when I was working the assignment as a postal inspector on Long Island. I will always remember that example, john, a female employee who finally had an opportunity to go back into the workplace. And she chooses a job as a mail handler in the Postal Service in Queens, new York. Beautiful woman in her late 40s, early 50s, who raised her children, who they're off to college, and now she wants to return to the workplace to help the husband pay the college tuition. Right, she is harassed by males who are sexually harassing her. She files a complaint with her supervisor who says you know, get over it, you know you'll be okay. Well, she wasn't okay, don, because one day she couldn't take it anymore. And while bending over a hamper to reach for a parcel, this male animal came behind her, put his hands on her hips and you know what happened. She angrily, emotionally charged, turned around and hit him in the jaw, broke his jaw. I mean, you know, when I got called in to assess and evaluate that, I was kind of happy that she stood up for herself. But you know you can't assault. That's what happens.
Speaker 4:You know people do not want to be exposed to that kind of behavior where they cross the line of civility themselves, when they ordinarily would not have crossed the line of civility only because there's no one to go to that will understand their situation and their and their plight, to resolve their problem or even to listen to them. Because in workplaces there are relationships that you don't even know exist Personal relationships, familiar relationships, family relationships that override the need to make an ethical decision over a personal decision. So I don't blame people for wanting to stay home. The workplaces have to redefine what it is to be a leader and the consequences have to be clarified and the accountability has to be clear and responsibility has to be indelibly etched in people's minds. This is what you're going to be held accountable for. If you don't take care of my people, you'll be walked out the door the way you walk out the people you don't want around.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm going to make this statement. It's going to be unpopular and I may get an email or two about it, but the reason the employee in the workplace doesn't want to come back to work or is not working at peak performance is because the leadership has failed them in America.
Speaker 4:I agree. I agree, the value system is non-existent. Again, john, money is the only value that drives these people. You don't have to take it from me. I mean, I have a client in DC whose ethical standards are significantly higher than most. You could cut his ethical standards with a buttered knife and that's a rarity a butted knife. And and that's a rarity and the people who he aligns himself with want to be around him, from the senior vice presidents all the way right down to the lowest level, because he represents a, a a rarity, a rarity in ceos. That, um, it needs to be exemplified and modeled.
Speaker 1:that yeah, and he's in a tough place to do that too. Dc. Yeah, there's not a lot of ethics and morals that goes on up there from what I can see.
Speaker 4:Well, you know he has a heck of a business. Last year he had to put 100 of his employees on furlough because a major project that he had suddenly was placed on hold. But guess what he did after he recovered from that financial dilemma? He brought the hundred back. That's ethical. That's ethical decision making. You know, those are value oriented. That's an understanding of the institutional pressures that he, he, assumes. But he's not going to let it drift down to his people and make them the unfair uh carriers of his responsibility, right, so, and and wrapping this up, uh, man, we could talk.
Speaker 1:I think this could be a five part series. But in wrapping this episode up, uh, what's if you could leave the audience with one thing when it comes to leadership responsibilities, when it comes to safety, security, physical, mental what would you tell the leader that they really need to think about?
Speaker 4:they need to think about the adverse, negative impact the loss or the serious injury of an employee will have on you, the leader, psychologically, the people who work with the individual psychologically and emotionally, and the effect it's going to have on the if you want to really be a leader on the totality of the hearts and minds of people who witness this or are aware of it, and then the adverse impact it's going to have on the business. So you can't be a leader and say it's only affecting an individual when something goes wrong in a new organization, because there are a whole lot of individuals who are connected to the individual that may have been the victim or the brunt or or the um individual who's held responsible right, so important, and I and I keep, we keep pounding, we keep pounding away at this.
Speaker 1:But leaders must take responsibility for their actions and those of their people and that may seem to us you and I, who grew up in a world of that is just standard leadership protocol. Telling that to leaders today is just foreign to them when I say that.
Speaker 4:I don't think leadership addresses ethical reasoning and ethical decision making. I don't think that they really get into that. They get into this touchy-feely stuff, right? They're afraid of saying, felix, get off that piece of equipment and come down here, I want to talk to you, and I want to talk to you now, not later now. They're afraid to have those conversations because they don't want to be viewed upon as being the bad guys, right? Yeah, so it gets passed off.
Speaker 1:I guess we'll continue being the bad guys, Felix.
Speaker 4:It's a great, great way to be tough Love, tough Love.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, wow, I appreciate the time, uh, the wisdom I always uh love, uh, uh, speaking to you and and you imparting and, uh, I truly appreciate it, Felix, speaking to you and and you imparting and, uh, I truly appreciate it, felix, appreciate you and appreciate mr ford, and thank you.
Speaker 4:Keep on doing what you guys do, because you expose others who may have more to say than I do to the mass audience that needs to hear them well, we truly appreciate that, thank you.
Speaker 1:Thanks for being here. Wow, we hope the uh, we hope the audience enjoyed that interview mr ford with uh felix nader. Yeah, uh, there was hope the audience enjoyed that interview Mr Ford with uh Felix Nader.
Speaker 3:Yeah, uh, there was a lot covered in that interview, a lot of ground was covered and, uh, like I said, there's uh some really good jewels in there that uh he left us with, and so, uh, those may show up again somewhere.
Speaker 1:And, as you know I think we kind of went out of the break during the interview and had some offline conversation and even after the interview had some conversation with Felix. It becomes keenly aware that he knows the importance of leadership in organization Because he's been a leader in organizations and understands what he's held himself accountable for, understands what he's held his self accountable for and he's not going into organizations and seeing how he carried himself as a leader being carried out in an organization.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, I would agree. I mean the idea that he's kind of a safety and security company in terms of the focus of his company. But he brings with that a lot of leadership conversation, because that's a key role as a leader is to provide safety and security for your team, for the workplace, for your company, and he's not afraid to go in and have those hard conversations.
Speaker 1:For sure he definitely demonstrates courage when he goes in and has those conversations well, you know he's longer in the tooth than I am, but we are longer in the tooth than some of these younger executives that are going in that do get clouded by money. When you go in, you tell them it's going to cost you this much, not only to implement it and pay the professional to go in, but also then what you've got to do is now train your people. You've got to do is now train your people. You know when you know.
Speaker 1:One of the questions we were kind of back and forth is you know how often do we see quality safety risk managers in companies today? They're there to protect the workplace and in our both don't see them, and that's a travesty. Because I'm like him. I don't like seeing people get hurt. I don't like seeing families disrupted, especially if there's something that can be done to have prevented it from happening. And a lot of times when we're called in after the fact, we see all the breadcrumbs of things that it could have been done, that weren't done to prevent or at least mitigate what took place.
Speaker 3:Absolutely yeah, and, like we said, I mean he focuses on safe security, but he also talks a good bit about the mental and the emotional security of a team member as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so great, great podcast this week and look forward to the next week. We'll see you next time.