68acc1815084d0559b5d9a88 Ehs Today September 24 1280

Safety’s Best Kept Secret: What Exceptional Leaders Do Differently

What's the secret behind breakthrough safety performance? It's not systems—it's culture-shaping leaders! Join DEKRA's Caroline Johnson & David Musgrave for real examples of operations leaders who transform organizations.

September 24, 2025

2:00 PM ET / 1:00 PM CT / 11:00 AM PT / 7:00 PM GMT

Duration: 60 minutes

Sponsor: DEKRA

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Summary

What separates good safety performance from exceptional results? The operations leaders who understand that safety isn't just about systems and procedures—it's about creating a culture that drives an organization to be great. While compliance and safety management systems form the foundation, breakthrough performance comes from something bigger.

Join DEKRA’s Executive Advisor & Coach, Caroline Johnson (author of Jet Girl), and SVP, David Musgrave, as they discuss the specific skills and behaviors that set outstanding safe operations leaders apart. Drawing from real-world examples from across multiple industries, they'll share exemplary moments of operations leaders shaping culture—and the breakthrough safety performance outcomes.

This isn't another tactical safety discussion. It's a celebration of leadership excellence that goes beyond vanilla safety programs to create environments where people genuinely care about each other's well-being. You'll discover how to recognize weak signals before they become problems, progress the kind of operational leadership that transforms culture, and leverage safety as a strategic vehicle for broader organizational change.

Whether you're a safety professional working to influence operations leaders or an operations leader seeking to elevate your impact, you'll walk away with actionable insights about what exceptional leadership looks like in practice. Please bring your own best examples to contribute as well!

Key Takeaways:

  • Skills and behaviors that distinguish exceptional operations leaders that shape safe work
  • How to leverage safety as a strategic vehicle for cultural transformation
  • Practical approaches to foster excellence and scale best practices across the organization

 

Speakers

Caroliine Johnson | Executive Advisor & Coach | DEKRA

There is no magic in leadership – just people, trust and the courage to navigate turbulence together.”

Caroline Johnson transforms leaders into force multipliers who drive culture and sustainable results. As a trusted advisor who builds authentic relationships from the front line to the C-suite, she specializes in leadership and organizational change that creates lasting impact.

She is a published author (JET GIRL), sought-after professional speaker, and served five years as faculty at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business and Harris School of Public Policy, specializing in individual, team, and organizational leadership.

 

David Musgrave | Senior Vice President - Thought Leadership & Innovation | DEKRA

My goal is to develop leaders, teams, and organizations and to further reduce their exposure related to human performance error. Executing critical tasks correctly every time requires some applied science.”

David clients tangibly benefit from his extensive experience in sustainable safety improvement through leadership development, cultural and operational reliability analyses, and human error reduction through applied and embedded knowledge of the brain. As a trusted adviser and master facilitator, he has designed and implemented change initiatives around the world that have helped numerous large companies achieve set performance targets.  

 

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