One would argue that being a middle manager in the fire service is one of the toughest leadership positions in the fire service. By middle management, I mean the officers that reside between the company officer and their crews and the administration. As a Fire Service Training Captain, I am expected to represent administration and at the same time support the crews doing the work day in and day out. While providing this support and representation, I too try to remain neutral, non-biased and facilitate fact-based discussions/decisions that ultimately support the ideas of all involved. As you can imagine this is no easy task with the Type "Capital A" personalities that work in the fire service. Throughout my career I have been blessed enough to be placed in this position at two different departments and I would be lying if I hit the mark at every attempt to support both administration and the crews in the field without bias and or periodic failure. I have learned enough to know that for me to expect to be successful every time is not possible but knowing what I want to do in a certain circumstance helps me to align and re-align my actions to the standards I have set for myself and the type of leader I admire and aspire to be one day. This is a continual and ongoing process that will have set backs. The key is to never give up and always to drive forward. It's not a problem when people tell you that you can't—it’s only a problem when you begin to believe them. No matter whether you believe you can, or you can't... either way you're right.
The pearls below are just a few of what I have learned and tried to apply over the years:
Circumstances + or - Attitude = Character
Never let your circumstances effect your attitude. Attitude is the bridge between your circumstances and your character. You choose to have a good or bad attitude about your circumstances. How your attitude is ultimately affects your character and how you are viewed by others.
Be careful not to make promises you can't keep.
Not delivering on promises leads to decreased trust. Don't set yourself up for failure.
Spend time with your crew without any purpose other than getting to know them.
Schedule time to eat lunch, watch TV, clean the bay floors, and wash the truck with the crew.
Focus on Cultural Change, Before Procedural Change.
If the culture of the environment you are in works well, procedural changes will be easier to implement. If the overarching culture is negative, it will set the tone for how all changes are received and implemented.
If there is a bad culture, give it time to adapt to you. Be steadfast but don't rush it.
Cultures don't develop overnight; they are determined by years of input. Only by consistent direction, clear expectations and consistent feedback can a culture begin to move in another direction. Trust is essential. Learn the history of why the culture is the way it is from the crews and not just from the other leaders. They may be part of the reason the culture is what it is.
Build trust first... Then make changes.
This can't be reiterated enough. If the crews don't trust you, the changes you make will often get overlooked or even worse, completely ignored. Trust takes time and effort to build and the most important thing is that it remains consistent. Once trust is starting to form, then begin to make changes by addressing the "low hanging fruit"; easy things that will affect morale positively. You can then start to work together on the more difficult items. With that said, morale is a fickle thing and is ultimately the choice of the individuals. Do not gauge your success solely on the perceived morale of the crews. Your success will be evident by the conversations that continue, and not stop when you enter the room.
Make sure the crews stay informed.
Rumors typically result from not keeping crews up-to-date on pertinent department information and not immediately correcting “bad information. If the information they are requesting is unable to be discussed, then tell them that. Always answer and remember by not answering, is
You need to be open and honest with yourself and those around you.
Know your limitations, abilities and strengths. Don't be afraid to let them show. It makes you approachable and human. Everyone has limits and weaknesses.
Be who you are... Not who you think someone wants you to be.
It's ok to be you. That doesn't mean that there is no room for improvement. It just means to not be fake, be who you are at that time. Be humble and honest about your own weaknesses and improvements needed. Have a plan on how you are going to get where you want to be as a person. Be ok with set-backs and learn to put protections in place to help avoid future duplicate set-backs. Do not give in to ideas or opinions that don't align with your values. Never compromise values.
Be Quiet and LISTEN...
Some of the best conversations I have had, have come after I listened first. When I say listen, I mean LISTEN; no distractions and not with the intent to have an answer. We often spend time listening and while we are listening we are formulating an answer and are waiting for a lull so that we can provide our answer. We should listen to understand—not merely listen to respond. During this time, we are not truly listening.
Prepare your statements before you spew them.
There have been several times that I have said something that I immediately regret. In those times, I allowed my need to be heard interfere with my ability to say something that was needed and appropriate at the time. There are times when you need to say what you mean immediately; however, we need to keep in mind that simply taking a pause... before saying something can provide enough time to decide about not only what we say but also how we say it.
Be Personal and Intentional.
The greatest leaders spend time to get to know the people that work for and with them. This means taking time out of your day to listen to family stories, complaints, and opening yourself up to conversations about things in general. Now this does not mean that leaders need to become sounding boards for people that want to complain without goals. What it does mean is that you need to be intentional about making time to get to know those that support you, genuinely. This takes being intentional with your time and conversations without making it seem like every conversation has an underlying agenda.
When coming from the outside, your agenda must be timed perfectly and can only succeed over time. Never move too fast without a good reason to.
Often times when you are hired from the outside into a leadership position, you are inheriting whatever ideas, culture successes and failures your preceding person had. It can be daunting task to try to discern what is true and false. What you have to remember is that you are a stranger to them and fear often prevents any forward movement. You must do whatever you can to build a level of trust between you and those you serve. This does not happen overnight and sometimes the agenda and ideas you have in mind may have to wait until this trust is built in order for you to move things forward. No matter how great your ideas are, if the trust is not there and your team does not fully trust you, you will not be as successful as you would like to be. Be patient and choose your timing wisely. There are times when you have to make progress before it is the “appropriate time” and if this is the case, make sure everyone understands why. Be open and honest. It will pay off in the end.
You are still a servant even after you promote.
We as first responder's join the fire and EMS "services" to serve the public and help others. When you are responding to calls it is easy to know who we serve, the public. When you promote, you not only serve the public, but you also serve the people that work for you. And as you move up the chain of command this service becomes broader. One of the most common things that gets forgotten when promotions occur is that we are still servants and we should spend just as much time serving those around us as we did when we were making calls. This has to be a priority.
Make sure what you preach is what you follow (Practice what you preach). ALWAYS! And if you screw up own it and move on.
Enough Said...
No excuses... ever!
Own everything you are responsible for.
Always know your why... on everything you do.
Have an overarching “WHY” and the reasoning behind the things that you do. My overarching WHY is that during every interaction I have: “To add value to every person, situation or task I come in contact with”. If I am not adding value (i.e. complaining, not providing solutions to issues etc...), then why am I wasting the valuable time?
Don't forget they know your history and if they don't, they will find out. Don't pretend to be something you’re not.
Your baggage follows you everywhere. If you think that you are going to be able to hide your weaknesses, mistakes or otherwise bad stuff, think again. It will be found out, and if it isn't coming from you then there is lots of room for interpretation. I have seen this time and time again.
If you need help, humble yourself and ask for it.
The higher you promote, the more information you are responsible for. Develop a core group of people you can rely on to provide unfiltered feedback and help when needed. Don't be afraid to ask your crews for help. They will more times than not jump in without any complaints. It's in our nature to help others.
Figure out who your champions AND nay-sayers are EARLY on then keep conversations with them fact based and not opinion based.
The quickest way to shut down a complainer is to bombard them with facts. Then require them to provide well thought out ideas on how to address and reach a solution to the complaint.
Don't base a person’s abilities on their personality.
The fire service has very strong personalities in it. And often times these personalities show themselves when the crew member feels like their ideas aren't valued. Some of the strongest most hard to handle personalities I have dealt with in the fire service were also the most knowledgeable and competent at their job. This can present a bit of an issue until you show them how valuable they are to the department and their peers and that the knowledge they have is important to the success of the department. Utilize their strengths and knowledge to better the department.
If you are promoting, you are still the same person, don't forget that. And don't forget the ones that helped you succeed.
Don't forget where you came from. Don't become the person you used to complain about.
Wait to reply when angry.
Firefighters are known for being quick witted. This can become an issue as you move up the ladder. We often times need to hold our tongue and not respond emotionally. This can be very difficult to accomplish. Also, remember that text and emails are hard to interpret emotion. Try not to fire back too quickly without getting the context of the message first. 24 hours is a good rule of thumb when waiting to reply.
Meaningful conversations are always better face to face.
If you have something to say that is important, try to have the conversation face to face (not through phone, email or text). All of the weak points of the other types of communication are gone when face to face method is used. This can limit the interpretation issues and questions can be asked and answered immediately. I use the following rule for communication: If you contact me via text or email, it must not be an emergency. These items can be dealt with and prioritized. If it is something that needs to be dealt with quickly, call or face to face. Do not email me and expect an answer right away.
Ask how you can improve and use the information openly.
Have frequent meetings where you ask for input from the crews about how you are doing. Encourage honesty and open dialogue. This is a humbling experience and a great way to learn things about yourself that you may not see. When you get feedback, follow up and make changes to your routine to accommodate the requests.
Be the first one to step up and the last one to give up.
It's your job to lead. This not only means being out in front of your crews, it also means you now have to step up. This is one of the tough things about middle management. You may be required to lead in both directions. Be the last one to give up as well. Your guys need to see that you gave it all you had, no matter what the task is and no matter how the task is viewed by the crews. It is up to you to sell it.
You are not perfect, don't pretend to be.
No one is perfect and don't be afraid to fail. Build a culture where failure is ok, as long as steps are taken to fix the issue or weakness and move on. Everyone fails, it’s what you do and how you handle yourself within that failure and what steps you take to make to improve that matters.
Always learn something new.
Never stop learning; read articles, take classes and continue being a student of the profession. There are tons of successful people and ideas that could be used in the fire service that don't originate there.
Network, Network, Network.
Meet people and learn from them; go to conferences and teach classes that put you out of your comfort zone. The people I have met in the fire service are some of the most resourceful, intelligent people I know. I have learned so much from them and made great friends too. Network with people from all walks of life: old, young, outside the fire service, large career departments and tiny volunteer departments, etc... They all have something to offer and have experience to learn from.
People don't make you mad—anger and attitude are all a choice. Don't let your circumstances dictate your attitude.
The way you react to confrontation is a choice; therefore, make good choices.
Emotions are like waves, you can't stop them from coming, but you can determine which one you are going to ride.
Pride and EGO can lead to the demise of leadership; lead with humility and with a servant’s heart and you will be right more than you’re wrong.
Keep your servant’s towel handy and ready to use. Always err on the side of what you believe is right for the people that work with you. Make sure your decisions aren't about you. This sometimes takes some time thinking about things and talking to that group of people that keep you honest.
Don't be afraid to push unorthodox ideas.
Some of the greatest ideas may come from the oddest of places. Don’t be afraid to try them, the worst thing that can happen is they fail. You won't know until you try though.
Being promoted is a privilege, not an entitlement.
Clean your own car, take out your own trash & wash your own dishes. Remember, you are to serve others, not the reverse.
Beware of the word "intent".
The word intent has caused more issues with regards to policies, procedures, contracts and other written documents in the fire service than any other word. Make sure when you are creating these types of documents that you spend enough time in preparation to avoid leaving room for questions. This will lead to the word intent being used and then it is up to memory and opinions. Neither of which lead to great outcomes.
Do what you love.
If you choose to do what you love, many of the issues that occur in the workplace effect you less. If you love what you do, the pay means less. If you do what you love you are worried less about the result and more about the doing. If you do what you love, you don't need affirmation from others that you are doing a great job.
Know the difference between happiness and joy.
Happiness is a result of receiving affirmation. Joy is a state of being, constant and doing what we love. Be thankful. Focus on joy not happiness.