What Is Environmental Leadership?
As an 18-year-old heading off to university to study marine biology, I was going to change the world. I’d soon be travelling the globe, tagging sharks, swimming with dolphins and putting an end to all that nasty pollution that threatened our great oceans.
Three years spent on a windswept North Yorkshire coast, often at 6am (to catch low tide) – and often with fingers numb from the cold – represented a serious reality check. After post graduate study I realised I had to think about getting a job that would pay my bills and not just feed my dreams.
However, I still wanted to make a difference, and quickly found myself working as an environmental engineer in the oil and gas industry. Coming from the north east of England, it was an easy choice as I had always been very aware of the opportunities in Aberdeen. Growing up, my friends’ dads either worked in the mines or the shipyards, and when they both closed down, they went offshore. They were always the ones with BMWs who went on ‘posh’ holidays to Lanzarote.
Fast forward 10 years and I had indeed travelled the world, designed equipment to be environmentally friendly, advised on compliance issues, stood on many a drill floor and been evacuated from an offshore installation more than once.
And then a new challenge presented itself: design and deliver an environmental awareness course for offshore workers in the role of environmental representatives. E-Reps, are individuals who, beyond their everyday jobs, have volunteered to promote environmental awareness at the worksite.
Having delivered several courses throughout my career, I initially thought offshore workers didn't give two hoots about the plight of dog whelks. But I was wrong; they do. More than 1000 people have now been through the Basic Environmental Skills Training course, or BEST as it's known.
Every attendee has their own reason for being there. There are the ‘change the world folk’, the closet environmentalists, the ‘I’m here because I have to be’ crowd, the managers who realise failure to comply could see them detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure, and the guys and gals who have heard their kids and colleagues from younger generations talk about this environmental stuff and don’t want to be left behind.
The key to success – to holding an engaged audience who leave the course feeling encouraged, inspired and empowered – is to push the right buttons on the right people. Within half an hour on day one, you get a good feel for what will make these individuals tick. Managers are easy: you explain that by reducing CO2 emissions by x % they can save x pounds. World-changers are with you from the start and spend three days telling you great anecdotes from their personal experiences.
The 'closets' need a bit of reassurance; it's ok to care about the environment these days without being labelled. As for the rest, 99% leave the room as if a light bulb has been switched on in their brain. They have a new understanding that this isn't just about edamame beans and tree hugging.
It's about compliance, cool engineering and efficiency, both in cost and effort. They realise that if there is an incident at their worksite, it could be closed down. Worse, if they are deemed to be responsible, they could find themselves under caution. We talk about energy efficiency, making their lives easier, maintenance routines, things they can do at home to cut costs and making the world a better place for their grandchildren.
Most importantly, I give them a choice. Do you want to be a ’green’ dinosaur who gets left behind or do you want to contribute? Even better, embrace environmental leadership and become a leader yourself?
Whatever route they choose, people are invariably inspired by the passion of the trainer. And it is this passion and credibility which make you believable as a leader. Don’t pretend the garden is all rosy – it's tough out there, but it can be done. By infusing delegates with this passion and knowledge, you're equipping them to return to work and start changing their little bit of the world. The same delegates now attend an annual conference, the E-Reps Forum, to share their ideas for change.
Does this make me a leader? In the words of John Quincy Adams, ‘If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader’.
And can E-Reps make demonstrable changes in the way we manage the environment in the oil and gas industry? As Margaret Mead says, 'never doubt a group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has'.
Visit www.erepsnetwork.com for the full range of BEST courses, suitable for onshore and offshore hazardous industries.
