Ever wonder why SHALE INSIGHT® is always written in ALL CAPS?
Could it be that the Marcellus Shale Coalition has cleverly concealed a 12-word acronym within the name of its flagship event?
Either way, this post-conference episode of The Energy Detox podcast attempts to unearth S.H.A.L.E. I.N.S.I.G.H.T. leadership themes letter-by-letter, leaving you with 12 questions inspired by the 2023 slate of speakers:
(S)ustainability: Am I unwittingly undermining my attempts to seek sustainable solutions by employing off-putting headlines and stale talking points?
(H)umanity: Is my focus on intermediate goals and metrics causing my team, company, or industry to unwittingly ignore the No. 1 benefit of clean, affordable, reliable energy: helping human beings realize their full potential?
(A)udience: How well do I actually understand—or remember—who my audience is and what they actually need?
(L)egacy: In what ways am I unwittingly ignoring opportunities to pass along my knowledge to future generations of energy industry leaders?
(E)nvironment: Am I too scared to "clear the air" when toxic—and often false—narratives overtake my organization...or am I too ignorant to realize that such toxic narratives even exist?
(I)nnovation: Am I unwittingly stifling a potentially transformative step change—like Range's development of the first Marcellus well nearly 20 years ago—and instead encouraging my team to settle for safe, incremental improvements?
(N)etworking: How much time am I wasting complaining about silos within my organization and fantasizing about "tearing down silos" instead of simply finding creative—and perhaps easy—ways to connect those silos together?
(S)afety: Is my company missing opportunities to arm company men and other frontline leaders with the practical tools necessary to drive an effective safety culture in the field? [For more on the importance of front-line leadership, check out “Workers’ Perception of Leader Intelligence, Safety Climate, and Safety Participation in the Oil & Gas Extraction Industry” by Slippery Rock University’s Dr. David Renz, who was a part of the SHALE INSIGHT® 2023 University Research Showcase]
(I)mpact: Am I unwittingly allowing my attention to drift towards unnecessarily complicated strategies and, in turn, losing sight of tangible, local opportunities to make a sustainable impact on my most valued stakeholders?
(G)rowth: Am I leveraging existing resources that are capable of fueling efficient, sustainable growth...or am I allowing myself to be distracted by external "solutions" that cost unnecessary amounts of time, money, and energy.
(H)ub: What are the cultural or communication barriers preventing my message from flowing to others and preventing the valuable insights of others from flowing to me—that is, am I acting as a leadership "hub" or a disconnected manager? [For some hydrogen hub leadership content, see “What do a Hydrogen Hub, an Olympic Village, and a Sustainable Leader have in common?”]
(T)ransparency: How often do I miss opportunities to showcase the tremendous work of my team and—perhaps more importantly—the end results of projects we asked other teams to complete?