Hammer. Hammer! HAMMER!!!!:

About a week into a new role, a serious incident happened somewhere in my region.

I hadn’t even been to that site yet.

Before the facts were in, a lot of pressure and blame came my direction. It was intense, uncomfortable, and a fast introduction to how high emotions can run when something goes wrong.

The next day, once the full picture came together, it was clear the issue had nothing to do with my area. Leadership had to backpedal.

That experience stuck with me, and it shaped how I lead to this day:
Get the facts before you use pressure.

In operations, urgency is real. Problems need to be addressed quickly. But reacting emotionally before understanding what actually happened can damage trust and make things worse.

If you’re going to use a hammer to fix a problem, make sure you know where to swing it first.

Since then, my approach in tough situations has been simple:
• Slow down just enough to understand the facts
• Direct pressure where it belongs
• Support the team while solving the issue

Because people don’t just remember how you handled the problem.
They remember how you handled them.