LEADERSHIP SERIES

Subject: Leadership - Procedures

These Leadership Series of scenarios are designed for developing leaders responsible for supervising critical tasks, managing emergencies, ensuring quality assurance, and maintaining operational accuracy in manufacturing environments.

These scenarios emphasize real-world challenges, such as effective decision-making under pressure, promoting teamwork, and upholding safety standards across complex operations. The goal is to empower leaders with the skills and confidence needed to foster a secure and efficient workplace while driving excellence in performance and management. All scenarios may be expanded into a suite of related exercises that are customized to be contextually relevant to any work environment.

Title:
Chaos

Job:
Drilling - Supervising Critical Tasks

Subject:
Leadership

Chaos

I was a drilling manager responsible for a rushed rig move. On that day it was -30 degrees and the job site was chaotic. This story is about a rig move incident, but the underlying contributing factor that led to the accident was all about personal and organizational leadership. Try to figure out what I learned about essential competencies of the job?

  • Being Careful
  • Being Supportive
  • Being Courageous
  • Being Proactive

Title:
Initial Response

Job:
Incident Command - Crisis Behaviours

Subject:
Leadership

Initial Response

At the end of lengthy plant turnaround, I received a call from the Lead Control Room Operator informing me that a series of natural gas storage cavern alarms had been triggered. They sent in a Lead Plant Operator and a Backup Plant Operator to investigate. A failure occurred in a natural gas storage plant, allowing pressurized underground natural gas to escape into the atmosphere. The gas ignited, and a shock wave reverberated my office and windows. I swivelled to look out my window and saw a gigantic fire ball mixed with a black smoke plume rising from the Plant. I was the Incident Commander. Try to figure out what I learned about essential competencies of the job?

  • Being Effective
  • Being Realistic
  • Being Adaptable
  • Being Accountable

Title:
Not Enough to Worry About

Job:
Quality Assurance - Ensuring Accuracy

Subject:
Procedural

Not Enough to Worry About

It had been a long day of mixing batches of our best-selling chemical product that was scheduled to be shipped later that night. Automation was down and we had been running production in manual mode. I only had two blends left and then I could finally leave for my doctor’s appointment. I had a xylene-based blend in Kettle 3 and an ammonia blend in Kettle 2. I became much more aware of the importance of blend integrity that day. Try to figure out what I learned about essential competencies of the job?

Title:
Slippery When Wet

Job:
Manufacturing – Materials Stacking

Subject:
Procedural

Slippery When Wet

Emile brings in 2 bundles of 10 ft dozer cutting edges onto the shop floor using a forklift. Each bundle contains 10 cutting edges weighing 113lbs each. This incident involved injuries sustained from handling heavy materials like large metal components for the manufacturing sector.

  • Unawareness
  • Habit
  • Distraction
  • Unawareness