I don't remember much about high school, but one thing that has always stuck in my head was world history. Our teacher, Mr. Rainbow, was as good an instructor as any I've ever had because of his passion, genuine interest, and true desire to impart knowledge. We spent weeks learning about the Italian Renaissance. I can't say that I remember all of the lessons, but I do remember his introduction to the topic.
In summarizing men like Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo (the dudes, not the turtles) he recounted their various exploits into art, science, mathematics, and philosophy. His message, though, was not that we should aim to be great (as those men arguably were) at all of those things. Rather, he challenged us to try all of those things, to try everything actually. In doing that, he reckoned we would find something at which each of us was, indeed, great. I have always put a good deal of stock into that idea.
So that's my challenge to you this week. Play to your strengths. Safety is a vocation where it's easy to get buried in endless topics and specialties. Don't let the vastness of the field render you ineffective. Find your specialty and be the best at it. Then find others to help you fill in the gaps. You might be great alone, but we're better together.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
How's it going everybody? It's Jason with RelentlessSafety.com and Safeopedia.com and today I'm bringing you another Safety Snake Bite. So as I was going through some comments on previous videos this week, something caught my eye and I thought it was kind of interesting. Ooohhh the internet….
I was reading through some really positive comments and just awesome people and conversations going back and forth. And one thing that struck my eye was a comment that said something along the lines of "people who click on this are going to think that it's about snake safety." And I don't think it was a joke? Seriously?? Yeah, I'm doing a video right now. So that got me thinking about the idea that we need to play to our strengths. Because there's probably never a scenario where you're going to see me making a snake safety video for good reason.
Dad come look at this! Nope. He just wants a hug! Dad you forgot this!
I've already talked about it in a previous video, how we should admit when we don't know something. But on the flip side of that, I think there's tremendous power in doing the things that you are great at and becoming the number one resource for it. Everybody has something, maybe it's you’re great at confined space. Maybe it's you're great at fall protection or maybe you're a good writer. There's a whole lot of value in finding the thing that you are the number one, the top, the greatest. I'll give you an example. I had a safety specialist who worked for me in a power plant. He had been a welder for 25 years, so anytime there was an issue with fabrication or a compressed gas safety or just welding safety in general, he was the dude. I mean, rightfully so. He was great at it. He made my team that much stronger. He was the guy. He was the one that people went to. That's my message. When it comes to your specialty, be the person, be the great. Remember it's still Movember. If you'd like to donate to an amazing cause that's helping with all kinds of men's health issues, please check out the links down below. That's all I got for you this week. Remember, if you enjoy the video, please like and subscribe. Comment down below on your strength. Let us know. Let's build a tribe.