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Safety leadership lessons of Shakespeare's works
“Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.” Henry IV Part 1
In most cities on any given night you can find a play by William Shakespeare being performed, more than 400 years after it was written. What keeps these works relevant is not just the quality of the writing but way they pinpoint eternal truths about human nature and relationships. Those truths translate directly into a work context and can teach us about the risks associated with fuzzy decision making and the rewards of strong leadership.
Join Louis Wustemann and Bridget Leathley, to explore insights from Shakespeare's works into how to win hearts and minds and make sound leadership judgements.
In the session you will learn:
- What Macbeth can teach us about trusting our own judgement and the need for prudence in decision making.
- The dangers of bypassing evidence and being led by emotions in King Lear, Othello and Romeo and Juliet.
- Lessons from Henry V about adaptive leadership and bringing the workforce with you.
- What the mechanicals in Midsummer Night's Dream tell us about formal and informal leadership.
Louis Wustemann is a writer and editor on sustainability and health and safety. He was previously Head of Regulatory Magazines at LexisNexis UK, publishing IOSH Magazine, Health and Safety at Work magazine and The Environmentalist among other titles. He is a trustee of the One Percent Safer Foundation.
With a first degree in computer science and psychology, Bridget started her working life in Human Factors, initially in IT and later in high-hazard industries. After completing an MSc in Occupational Health and Safety Management, she moved full-time into tackling occupational health and safety challenges through her consultancy, The Safer Choice Limited.
Bridget’s consultancy, training and writing focus on two things which continue to surprise her. First, the frequent failure to consider the impact of the physical and psycho-social working environment on safety outcomes. Secondly, the notable lag in the adoption of technology by safety teams compared to other departments in the same organisations. She studies the use of traditional, upcoming and futuristic technologies in safety, while keeping her feet planted firmly in human factors.