Steven Luttrull
Senior Manager, SME Solution Design
dss+
The Leadership Dilemma: Building Trust While Conquering Production and Time Pressures
Co-presented with Kim Altom
Frontline leaders are expected to coach for risk reduction and exposure control, yet the environments they operate in often make this expectation difficult to fulfill. In fast paced, high-pressure settings shaped by production demands, union dynamics, and limited coaching skills, safety conversations frequently become rushed, transactional, and ineffective. This presentation uses the scenario—Caught in the Middle—to illuminate the hidden forces influencing everyday decisions, including normalized risk, time pressure, system misalignment, and the human tension between leadership, safety, and productivity.
Through an immersive experience and guided discussion, participants will examine why well-intentioned leaders default to quick reminders instead of meaningful coaching, why workers depend on learned shortcuts to keep pace, and why safety professionals often observe risks they cannot directly influence. The session reframes these challenges as system problems rather than individual shortcomings and highlights practical, scalable solutions such as risk based coaching tools, and digital platforms that safeguard time for high quality leadership engagement.
Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of what happens in frontline safety conversations, why risk persists even when expectations are clear, and how organizations can enable leaders to build the skills, confidence, and time needed for consistent, effective safety coaching. This session offers a path from insight to action.
Steven Luttrull is an accomplished executive safety professional with significant experience in the design and implementation of environmental health and safety (EHS) management systems, risk management programs, fatality prevention programs, and organizational culture change initiatives for companies worldwide. He has 28 years+ of varied and progressively responsible experience with this high-growth, global consulting firm that provides Organizational Safety Improvement services to Fortune 100 companies in all industries.
Steven works with senior leaders and executive management teams to develop and implement strategic solutions that improve exposure control and safety performance. He has extensive experience as an executive coach and has provided personal development and safety leadership consultation at every level.