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Today I was at Barnes & Noble, one of my favorite bookstores to visit here in the United States. I picked up a magazine and started reading an interview with Warren Buffett. At one point, he said something that stopped me in my tracks: "Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago." That quote stayed with me all day, and now, as I write this, it still resonates deeply.
Building a Culture Is an Act of Awareness
We all enjoy shade. We appreciate the shelter, the coolness, and the comfort it provides, yet we rarely stop to think about who planted the tree that protects us.
When I think about this in relation to safety, I wonder whether we are actually planting the trees that will provide shade tomorrow and whether we are truly building the culture we want to see flourish. The shade that many enjoy today, with safer workplaces, more mature teams, and more thoughtful decisions, was created by people who planted with intention. They believed that safety is not a mandate but a seed, and that seeds need fertile soil, time, and above all, purpose.
Compliance or Discipline?
Often, without realizing it, we cultivate a culture of compliance, one where people do things because they were told to, because it is a rule, or because that is just how things are done. But this kind of culture does not create shade, it creates dependency.
The culture that sustains, protects, and nurtures is born from discipline, from doing the right thing because we understand why, because we believe in it, and because we feel it matters to us personally, not just to meet external expectations. While compliance breeds conformity, discipline breeds awareness, and it is precisely this awareness that creates roots deep enough to sustain the tree of a true safety culture.
The Shade We Want Tomorrow Depends on the Light We Let In Today
Talking about safety means talking about loss, about lives, and about interrupted dreams, but it also means talking about possibilities and everything we can prevent, transform, and create if we choose to act differently today.
An accident is always the visible result of a series of absences, such as the absence of dialogue, of care, and of listening. That is why building a safety culture means cultivating presence, fostering leaders who care, teams who engage, and values that stand the test of time.
A Culture That Grows From the Inside Out
Safety should not be a performance to meet expectations, it needs to grow from the inside out, from each person who understands that caring is a human value before it is an obligation. When this happens, shade becomes natural and does not need to be demanded, monitored, or imposed, because it is simply the result of what was planted with truth, purpose, and consistency.
So, Do You Like Shade?
Then perhaps it is time to look at what is being planted today. In safety, every conversation is a seed, every action is an act of cultivation, and every decision is a commitment to the future. The trees that will shelter the next generations depend on the choices we make right now.
Would you like to learn more about my work? Purchase my books at the links below.
- Safety Leadership: http://bit.ly/44kFy2Z
- Antifragile Leadership: http://bit.ly/4ni6kBM
- 80 Ways to Expand Risk Perception: https://amzn.to/3VbWlAV
- Safety Culture: https://bit.ly/3x8IDXm
- Safety Culture Diagnosis: https://amzn.to/3XfnBkt
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