How Paul O’Neill Fought For Safety At Alcoa

By most accounts, Paul O’Neill’s first speech as the new CEO of Alcoa was a complete failure.

The speech was given in a hotel ballroom not far from Wall Street, and it was meant for the investors and analysts who did business just a few blocks away. The last few years the aluminum manufacturing giant had performed poorly. Investors were nervous, and many had arrived at the hotel expecting the usual grand turnaround vision of how this new leader was going reduce overhead, improve profits and, most importantly to them, raise the stock price.

But that’s not what happened.

“I want to talk to you about worker safety,” O’Neill began.

Almost immediately the attitudes in the room transformed. The energy disappeared. The room was silent.

“Every year, numerous Alcoa workers are injured so badly that they miss a day of work,” O’Neill continued. “I intend to make Alcoa the safest company in America. I intend to go for zero injuries.”

When his initial remarks had finished, most of the audience was still stunned and confused. A few veteran investors and business journalists tried to get the meeting back toward a normal CEO-to-Wall Street address. They raised their hands and asked questions about capital ratios and inventory levels. O’Neill wasn’t willing to…