You recently took a job with another company, and it's a promotion. You were previously the electrical maintenance manager. In this job, you're the plant engineer. In this company, that job has always been held by a mechanical engineer because of all the machinery. But with so much automation now, company leadership felt it was time to put an electrical engineer in that position.

Sam, the person who previously held the job, is retiring in four months. He's been at this plant for about 15 years, and seems to know everything. On top of that, he's well-liked. When you met during the interview, you really hit it off. Sam, in fact, advocated for you over three other candidates — and that was a major factor in why you were the one to get the job.

The arrangement is that Sam would be working special projects but also spend time mentoring you to help you succeed in this position. It's been a couple of weeks, and so far Sam has been wonderful to work with. He's taught you a lot but also asked many electrical questions and given you plenty of recognition for what you know.

You've had some friendly debates about maintenance practices, with each of you seeming to gain insight from the other though you suspect you're gaining more than Sam is. He's even helped you understand a few difficult people in the organization and how to avoid conflicts with them. Yet, there is a problem. Sam consistently walks out into the plant without his safety glasses. When you notice and say something, he always tells you you're right, and he'll make sure to have them next time. This has not set the right example for the maintenance workers, many of whom wear their safety glasses only when performing a task. You want to say something to these people — that an eye danger doesn't care what they are doing. But Sam's example would make that uncomfortable at best.

You've noticed Sam doing several other things that undermine good safety culture, too. On the one hand, Sam's involvement is much less, and he'll be gone in four months. On the other hand, employees will be at unnecessarily higher risk for four months and even after then it will take time to set things straight. What should you do?

Sam is retiring, and you're not going to change him — not entirely, that is. But just as you've had those exchanges about maintenance practices, initiate a few about safety practices. One “ploy” that works well for those who don't value safety glasses is this: Begin by asking the person to help you perform some visual inspection task. For example, take Sam and a thermal gun out in the plant with you. Tell Sam you want to determine if certain gearboxes are running hot. Hand the gun to Sam and ask him to read off the temperature, and tell you if it's normal or there might be a problem. Then at the next one, ask him to do that with one eye closed. If he asks why, say, “Humor me.” Go on to the next one, and ask him to do it with both eyes closed. He'll say he can't do that because he can't see the readout. That's when you point out that losing your eyesight in this line of work means losing your job. “That's one reason I am so concerned about the lax attitude toward safety glasses. Can you help me with getting others on board with wearing their safety glasses whenever they are in the plant?”

No matter how valuable a mentor is, you never have to choose between that person's mentorship and safety. If you find ways to show, rather than tell, you can make your point in a way that repays the mentorship rather than challenges it.