No Matter the Position, EHS & Sustainability Professionals Need Leadership Skills to Succeed

Regardless of where environment, health and safety (EHS) and sustainability professionals are in their career, they need the same core set of leadership skills to be effective, according to results fromNAEM’s latest research on the profession.

综合基准​​报告“ EHS与可持续发展专业的关键能力”记录了197家公司的345名受访者的个人技能，知识领域，教育背景和薪水。金博宝怎么注册结果表明，从入门级到执行领导者级别的人员，EHS和可持续性专业人士报告说，他们最强的技能是：书面沟通，为非专家的受众翻译技术概念以及没有权威的管理。金博宝怎么注册

Alan Leibowitz, who led the peer committee that helped the survey, said the results confirm what he has learned as Corporate Director of Environment, Safety, Health & Security for Exelis Inc. Most professionals in this career have a strong foundation in science or engineering, but need to supplement those skills to advance, he said.

“仅拥有技术技能，不一定会为您管理功能，领导功能做好准备。”

In addition to documenting the skills and knowledge areas of professionals at five different levels of an organization, the research also captured the differences between those on a management track and those with a more specialized focus. And according to the results, communication skills proved to be just as vital for those on a technical track, as Mr. Leibowitz pointed out.

他说：“即使您有机会成为主题专家，使您能够进步的原因通常是您能够传达您所知道的事实的能力。”

This is important because the process of translating technical knowledge into a vision is a key aspect of leadership, according to Alex Pollock, an EHS leadership consultant, who retired from Dow as Global Director of EHS Expertise.

“Leaders need to be able to have the ability, even within their own department, to share a vision that can get people inspired about the direction in which they’re heading,” he said.

While accountability for the outcomes may vary based on the level, leadership is a valuable trait for EHS professionals at every level, Mr. Pollock said.

“You need to deal every day with people at various levels throughout the organization: At times it could be those in the management board, and often it was those on the shop floor doing the day-to-day tasks and making sure that they understood and had the reasons for all of the systems that were in place to protect their health,” he said.

The other aspect of leadership that survey respondents highlighted was the ability to manage without authority and influence effectively across silos. To do that well, Mr. Pollock said, EHS and sustainability professionals need to learn how to connect on a personal level.

“Somebody told me years ago that people don’t care what you know until they know that you care, and part of the expression of caring comes from effectively relating to people,” he said.

Those who want to improve their communication skills should likewise practice at every opportunity, Mr. Leibowitz advises.

“The challenge a lot of people face is a lack of confidence and the best way to gain confidence is to put yourself out there a little bit and choose to give talks or participate in learning sessions in the areas that you’re comfortable with,” he said. “The more you do it, the better you get at it.”

NAEM的完整报告将于1月份发布。它将包括80多个图表，记录了EHS组织五个不同级别的EHS专业人员的完整职责，技能，知识领域，专业经验，教育背景和薪水。要下载调查结果的免费执行摘要或订购完整基准报告的副本，请访问：http://www.naem.org/?survey_2015_competen.