leadership by loitering

​The definition of loitering is 'to stand or walk slowly around with no obvious or apparent purpose'. And yes, in some circles you can be arrested for it.
Yet from my experience, positive, agenda-free 'loitering' serves an invaluable purpose. In fact I believe it forms the essential bedrock for any chance we have to understand, transform and then sustain a positive safety culture. 
Not trying to fix stuff or prod people, not asking a stranger after one minute how they are "effectively mitigating the hazards for this task", not saying we care (the only thing worse than not caring is pretending to care).
Generally, people won’t ask for advice or heed our wisdom or perspective until they feel understood.  To attempt to tick off our 'safety interactions' before really connecting is like painting a fence with high enamel gloss before scraping back the old stuff and seeing if the woods okay. Without investing the time at the front end nothing of value will stick. Sure, we may get someone to do what they’re told and achieve excellent short term outcomes, but that’s more a management activity than a leadership one.
Looking, listening, learning, connecting, being genuinely curious and non-judgmental in this person, right here, right now. And hence slowly and gently building trust, candor and openness.
Cultural anthropologists spend years living in villages to deeply understand what’s really going on. I’m not saying it takes that long of course, but you’ll know when it’s working, when you’re in the zone of being accepted and heard.
It's easy to then feel the cultural pulse whenever we need; we're in behind the curtain. People come to us to share improvement suggestions or concerns. It becomes almost self-propelling with just occasional investments.
And then, lo and behold, by giving the respect to connect, we are respected and listened to and people are then way more willing to change and to be inspired by our enthusiasm.
Loiter, with positive intent (even if you don't call it that). It may feel weird at first (even 'unproductive') yet it really, really works, big time.