In 1997, John Bolt lost two fellow fighter pilots and close friends during a training accident. Both were skilled, disciplined and well-prepared. Both made a mistake, and the system left no room for recovery.

“That was my first lesson in human performance,” Bolt says. “Even the best people can make a mistake, and that mistake shouldn’t cost them their life.”

That tragedy reshaped how he viewed leadership, risk and responsibility. Today, as senior vice president of health, safety, environment and security at S&B, a leading engineering and construction firm based in Houston, Texas, Bolt carries that lesson forward to design systems that expect error, protect people and create space to learn.

Reprinted courtesy of Kim Carevich, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.