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Do It Right The First Time

I can't remember if I blogged this before, but if so, it bears repeating. When my brother and I were very young, my father, who was also a fire chief, brought home from work some pencils with the phrase, "Do it right the first time" inscribed on them. This message was brought up by my father many times throughout my life, although I'll admit, there are days even today when something goes wrong and I think back to that message.

It may take extra time that you don't think you have. That time may seem very valuable. The shortcut you take may seem like it saves those precious seconds. But I have seen in my life, many times when those shortcuts have proven catastrophic, and in most of those situations, I look at them and wonder, had someone taken a few extra moments to do it right, what the outcome might have been.

While the historical issue between response to rescues in New York City is frustrating and sad, since it seems to me to be the confluence of a power struggle and turf battle, instead of celebrating a terrific save the other day, instead we have this tragedy to contend with, as shared with us by Dave Statter on his blog.

I have always learned and always taught that when lifting, we "crib to the lift". And while the spreaders are not the desired lifting tool, I have used them before and they have worked just fine. I preface that, however by explaining that I am also passionate about physics and when I have used spreaders, I also understood that the force applied must go somewhere, and if the load isn't stabilized, the force is going to create motion we don't want. In this case, the force displaced the object alright: lateral to the support (the spreader) and with nothing to support the load (cribbing) the load went to ground (and victim).

I don't care if you are FDNY, ESU, or anyone else. I have seen this very same shortcut taken before in departments that have had identically catastrophic results. I also recall other times when the load has shifted on the column, in one case, three stacked air bags. In this case, the firefighter, who happened to also be the salesman of the lift bags and should have a little expertise in their use, himself was killed.

There's a lesson to be learned in every tragedy. Aside from the physical principles that apply to all of us here on this planet, there's another very important one. Driving recklessly, failing to wear your seatbelt, not wearing proper PPE, not paying attention to overhead power lines, and in this case, not providing an alternate column to support the load via cribbing, all might seem like they are saving precious seconds, but failing to do the right thing the first time, ended instead in tragedy.

Take a moment to ditch the emotion and be the professionals you are. Do the right thing the first time.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on September 3, 2011 • Filed under: administration-leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, leadership, News, professionalism, rescue, safety, US&R • Tagged: car, change, conflict, crib, customer service, Dave Statter, EMS, ESU, fail, fall, FDNY, FHZ, fire service, Firefighter Nation, Firehouse Zen, government, Hilton Head Island, leadership, lift, management, Mick Mayers, motivation, motorcycle, New York, opportunity, politics, professionalism, resources, risk reduction, safety, South Carolina, Task Force 1, Training, truck company, vision

Mick’s Maxims: Rules You Can Live By

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"When planning any prank, it is considered a bad idea if the event involves explosives, flammables or combustibles of any form including gases, liquids, or solids, oxidizers, poisons, radioactives, corrosives, or other regulated materials. Keep to materials that don't have a requirement for a material safety data sheet and you should be okay."

"Requirements for any individual to expose a body part in order to do something in your station activities is probably not something you want to be around when the planning or implementation is underway. In fact, anything that could be considered 'criminal conspiracy' should be avoided at all costs."

"When advising civilians on how to thank firefighters, the best advice is baked goods. I suspect there are very few departments out there who approve of tipping, providing tickets to sporting events, or special considerations like that. Food is always good and baked food is even better. And dessert is the best."

"No matter how much that Junior wants you to hang out with them, any interaction between an adult male and a juvenile of either sex that doesn't involve mentoring, coaching, or training is likely to involve jail time."

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on August 28, 2011 • Filed under: Command & Leadership, professionalism • Tagged: customer service, FHZ, fire service, FireEMSBlogs, Firefighter Nation, Firehouse Zen, government, Mick Mayers, Mick's Maxims, motivation, politics, pranks, probie, professionalism, thanks, thought

An Atmosphere of Growth

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One of my best friends (who happens to be my "B" Shift counterpart) came back from his NFPA Committee meeting (mine was in Baltimore and his was in St. Louis. I'm thinking we need to start doing these in Hawaii). He was telling me that during his travels, he happened to be having a discussion with an airline pilot. I guess the conversation came to the subject of safety and near-miss procedures.

According to this pilot, Chief H said, when there is a landing that isn't perfect, there is a culture of not pointing fingers that encourages the flight crew to report the event, discuss the factors, and to come up with methods to improve their performance. Sounds a lot like a near-miss policy to me, but the difference is that apparently, there is absolutely no resistance to reporting these issues because there is no threat of repercussion.

Now we have the Secret List and the Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System, and in our organization at least, we discuss standard operating guidelines in post-event critiques, but I don't know that those concepts even go as far as what Chief H was suggesting they do in this airline program. To me, it sounds a lot like common sense: instead of focusing on the situation that has already occurred, focus on the events we can fix or those we can grow to recognize and solve, and move forward.

But there is no way this kind of concept can evolve on many of these blogs. Hell, if anything is seen, like a glove missing or God forbid, someone isn't wearing their SCBA, it becomes a litany of what a dumbass the individuals are and how is it that these people are even still fighting fire.

Now while our department is very strict about the use of safety equipment and insuring best practices are followed, it is hardly a slamfest out there. If we see you don't have something, we suggest (pretty strongly) for you to go get it and wear it. This happens pretty rarely because we have squared away people who have been doing this stuff fairly often (with the exception of some of the rookies, of course). But really, we do make mistakes and there's a lot of times we laugh about it because once pointed out, everyone is pretty good about doing the right thing.

I'd hate, however, for someone to take a photograph of us when we rolled up on a scene, however, and someone just so happened to have missed putting a glove on. In the case of a recent fire we had, there was significantly enough fire on the outside to cause the arriving officer to order a transitional attack. His company deployed two lines to the exterior to knock down the rapidly extending fire, which they did without donning masks.

The next due engine stretched an attack line to the front door and using proper PPE, made the knock on the inside. Confined to the two rooms we found burning when we got there, nobody hurt. Nobody was coughing or hacking and honestly, the most difficult part of the evolution was dealing with the mosquitoes. But just on the chance there was a picture taken of those first few seconds, we'd have heard cries of "sissy" and "outdoor firefighter" from half the crowd and angry accustations of unsafe activity and amateurism from the other half.

Instead of showing the world you are the resident expert on firefighting (which I suspect half of the trolls would run crying at the sight of a real fire), why not use what you see on the blogs and posts to learn something from it and instead of sharing your incredible insight with us all, perhaps make some intelligent observations that could help others remember not to make those mistakes. I doubt any of the haters are reading this, so I doubt it will have much impact, but perhaps, maybe it will.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on August 12, 2011 • Filed under: leadership, professionalism, safety • Tagged: airline, best practices, change, customer service, education, FHZ, fire service, FireEMSBlogs, Firefighter Nation, Firehouse Zen, Hilton Head Island, injury, leadership, management, Mick Mayers, motivation, MVA, MVC, observation, opportunity, pilot, professionalism, research, resources, risk reduction, rules, safety, science, South Carolina, Training, vehicle operation

Zen Zone #2

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Professionalism begins at using our skills, abilities and past experience to improve service quality and to provide excellent service not just to the taxpayers, but to our colleagues. If you don't like the thought of referring to these others as customers, that's okay. Just think of them as human beings who need your help, because really, that's exactly what they are. How you label them is your choice.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on July 9, 2011 • Filed under: administration-leadership, Command & Leadership, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, leadership, professionalism • Tagged: Command & Leadership, conflict, customer service, education, EMS, EMS Topics, FHZ, fire rescue topics, fire service, Firefighter Nation, Firehouse Zen, government, Hilton Head Island, leadership, management, Mick Mayers, motivation, opportunity, police, politics, poor leaders, professionalism, resources, South Carolina, thought, Training, Training & Development change, vision

The Antidote To Road Rage

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Being a reader of FHZ requires you to maintain an open mind. Even if you don't agree with both sides of the issues here, understanding the contrary view permits perspective and in some cases, deeper understanding of the root causes of things we consider trouble. For an example, consider the recent road rage incident that seems to have piqued a considerable amount of interest. While I in no way sanction what was done, nor think it was a mature or acceptable way to handle the situation, realize that in many cases, feelings of frustration manifest themselves in angry, retaliatory behavior.

Who among us has not experienced anger at the inconsiderate moron who fails to pull to the right when we are well behind them, permitting us a free lane on the way to some emergency? Even in your personal automobile, how about the idiot who not only signals they are going to take a right turn, but then shoots across to two lanes of traffic to make a left? Like he couldn't just make the wrong turn, make a u-turn, and make things right?

Individuals have given themselves the freedom to make poor decisions, then be let off the hook because we shouldn't "judge" them, or because their mommy didn't hug them as a child, or whatever victim story they happen to choose this week. The reality is that while reacting negatively to those who act in error is not acceptable, neither is the act that sparked the reaction in the first place. Perhaps if our nation's law enforcement would start hauling off people who run red lights; who make erratic and unanticipated turns without use of a signal; those who drive too slowly in the passing lane, who fly down the shoulder to cut to the head of a merging line, or those who fail to pull to the right when an emergency vehicle is asking for the right of way, perhaps you might see a considerable decrease in road rage.

The base cause of indignity is usually the result of inconsiderate behavior. Someone flaunts the rules and disregards the normal values of society, and the enraged individual is angry at the injustice of the situation. I would be willing to bet that if anyone could write a ticket (not that I am an advocate of that), you'd see a lot less road rage.

Why? Because if there were a non-violent method of resolving the conflict, I would be willing to bet that people would take that option. The problem is that there is no resolution. The enraged individual feels as if there is no way the situation will be resolved, they feel the injustice of the situation, and they act out in frustration, sometimes regardless of the consequences.

Now let's take this a step further. Think of a non-driving situation in which you were pushed to the edge…Was this reaction a result of powerlessness, of frustration evolved from conflict in which you were victimized and felt no method to resolve your issue? Perhaps it was an automatron manning the phone at your credit card company, or the cashier at Wally World, or the cable guy who doesn't show up when he says he will. You percieve a lack of power to change the situation and that lack of control becomes overwhelming. Over time, you may even be willing to act on it, in such a possibility, even inappropriately.

So what is the solution for our version of road rage? Education? Humorous attempts to enlighten the inconsiderate sometimes work, as in this fine example from the Tuscaloosa Fire Department. Other attempts like this one from Eugene, Oregon and this one from an agency I can't read on their final slide aren't as memorable (IMHO) but still get the message across.

But the more in-depth solution would be for individuals to maintain less distrations in their vehicles (phones, texting, and radios come to mind), and more overall awareness (simply paying attention to the fact that you SHARE the road with others). And likewise, the way for you to avoid conflict that cascades into an intractable situation would be to step back for a second and understand the other person's perspective, and recognize that your escalation of the incident, although it may very well be warranted, is pushing you and the other party toward a battle that someone is going to lose.

Conflict in life is inevitable. Conflict escalation and intractability is not. Be one of the first on your block to be the voice of sanity and work to understand, not to react.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on June 26, 2011 • Filed under: administration-leadership, change, Command & Leadership, customer service, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Nation, leadership, Media Relations, motivation, politics, professionalism, rebellion, safety, Training & Development, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances, Videos • Tagged: anger, change, conflict, consideration, customer service, Dave Statter, driving, education, empathy, EMS, eugene, FHZ, finger, fire service, FireEMSBlogs, Firefighter Nation, Firehouse Zen, go right, government, Hilton Head Island, idiot, inconsiderate, leadership, management, marketing, Mick Mayers, moron, motivation, officer, opportunity, politics, professionalism, red lights, risk reduction, road rage, safety, South Carolina, STAT911, tips, Training, tuscaloosa, understanding

A Belated Father’s Day Tribute

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I probably could have posted this on Father's Day, but after the events I experienced this week, it's really good to see it in context. I continue to believe that being a father is a very difficult situation to be in sometimes. The other day, after being challenged by my daughter Caroline’s afternoon (and evening) at the ER, I was dealing with that and put the other two out on the deck to play. We have a large kiddie pool, since I don’t have the time, money, or patience to deal with a real pool. At one point, I noticed my oldest daughter Emma walking around with one of two Blackberry phones that were on our kitchen counter. These were phones previously used by my wife's company, and she wanted me to extract the data from them, especially pictures she had on one of them. Seeing this, I told Emma that they weren’t toys and to put them back, but being a little distracted dealing with Caroline, didn’t follow up on things.

Later that evening, while tucking the girls into bed, my wife found the second of the two Blackberries in my youngest daughter Honora’s bed. The screen was waterlogged and upon opening the battery door, it was full of water. In short order we found the other Blackberry similarly waterlogged. The good news is that the children are still alive. Hopefully we are not out $750 worth of phones and a whole bunch of important work pictures. The phones will be sitting in rice for a few days and the culprits sitting in room restriction for a few days as well.

All children get into mischief and I weigh the situation against the likelihood that it wasn’t intentional and maybe someday soon we will laugh about it. But the issue is that a certain amount of discipline must be leveraged to provide an effective and memorable lesson. The discipline must be appropriate for the situation, and of course, past infractions have to be counted. They haven’t been very cooperative lately, so this really upped the ante. And while a spank on the rear might handle a quick tantrum or something like that, punishment for an event like this must deliver a life message and spanking won't cut it. So room restriction it is, and while they are there, we want the rooms spotless.

But as a parent, in this case, the effort is difficult. My wife is going out of town for the weekend and I had some fun things I wanted to do with the girls. I could easily change the discipline but what message would that send? I want badly to go into their rooms and hug them and tell them that there’s a good chance I can resurrect the data, but after having specifically telling them the phones were off-limits, they disobeyed the order and everything ISN’T just okay. Smiling and making nicey-nice is not going to help things any, except in the immediate moment. Failing to listen to an order must bear repercussions.

People often remark about how good our children are and we take a lot of pride in that. But they see the result of lots of second-guessing, mistakes and heartbreak, because that’s what being a parent is like if you are doing your job. You struggle between doing what’s best to positively reinforce good behavior and what’s best to discourage bad behavior. And bad behavior, regardless of fun plans and the desire to kiss and make up, must have consequences. To not have consequences invites repeated poor performance.

Honestly, I have it easier than some people have it, because my kids are pretty good. But it’s a continual cycle; they are good, and they make it easier to provide positive experiences. When they are bad, we struggle with wanting to continue to be affectionate and supportive, even though we know that to act like everything is okay would not send the right message.

Caring leaders endure the same exact experiences. If you choose, re-read what I just wrote and insert “leader” in the context every time you see “dad”. As a command officer, I make decisions that on occasion, must be followed regardless of what those who are recieving end want to do, or feel like doing. They may even want to question my decision. In this case, there must be repercussions to disobeying a direct order.

Making discipline mean something is required to elevate the attention level of the subject. Some people can be reached with something as simple as a look. Some require the equivalent of a 2×4 across the head. And enforcing discipline hurts for us sometimes as well because those decisions are based on experience and understanding of a particular situation, but those decisions are contrary to the desires of the "children". Sometimes, despite insisting that what we say is right, our children disobey us, and discipline is invoked, in order to reinforce a message. Likewise with our subordinates.

I try to support positive behavior through positive reinforcement. And when I have to administer discipline, I struggle with doing so, because, as a good leader, I probably care more than I should. But I also know that I am fortunate to have good people who, given the chance, will make good decisions, and I like to think that is a continual cycle.

Consider this when you lead. You are responsible for the welfare of the people who you supervise. If you are the designated leader, you have to be proactive, and provide opportunities for success. But when things don’t go right, it is not time to be everyone’s best friend. It is time to do what is right and that involves, more often than not, making hard decisions that benefit all involved. As I say often to my children, "I am not your friend, I am your father. If we get along we can be friends, but I am your father first." Feel free to insert "boss" in lieu of "father" in that statement as well.

My children will survive this event and live to tell about it, as will we. But hopefully we will now have further understanding as to what is expected and the consequences of failure. And in the same respect, when you have that moment with your charges, they should too.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on June 23, 2011 • Filed under: administration-leadership, change, Command & Leadership, Firefighting Operations, leadership, motivation, officership, professionalism, Training & Development • Tagged: change, children, command, conflict, customer service, discipline, education, EMS, father, FHZ, fire service, FireEMSBlogs, Firefighter Nation, Firehouse Zen, Hilton Head Island, leadership, management, Mick Mayers, motivation, officer, opportunity, politics, professionalism, resources, risk reduction, safety, South Carolina, team, Training, understanding, vision, welfare

We Try Harder

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SC-TF1 Demobilizing From Chalmette, LA after Hurricane Katrina, 2005.

I had the opportunity to be part of a test rehearsal for a web conference going on Friday. In one of the questions, we were asked, “If you had to give your department a grade, what would it be?” I was the only one who gave my department an “A”. Of course, when you see that you have made a choice like that, you immediately begin to second-guess yourself.

I was pretty self-conscious about that decision, even though nobody knew who answered each question and nobody would have known it was me that graded us so. I actually thought about it long afterward, in an attempt to understand in my absolute certainty with 10 seconds on the clock, that we deserved the highest mark on a standard grade. It was, frankly, a little presumptuous of me.

The quick answer is that we don’t deserve an “A”. We are definitely customer oriented and we are definitely aggressive firefighters who use best practices and manage our risk appropriately. We are definitely on the leading edge of EMS delivery and while we are not THE organization by which all should be measured, many would be doing pretty well to do so.

But while we are definitely making huge strides and we have many accomplishments, we aren’t where we feel we should be. That is universally agreed upon in our organization. There is just too much to do, and while we are hitting the high priority items, there are so many things we want to do, and have begun doing, but there are only 24 hours in a day and finite resources otherwise at our disposal.

It is for the same reason, perhaps, that I should instead embrace the criticism of some in the knowledge that the minute we stop reassessing our service we become complacent. Don’t believe for a second that I don’t take the criticism personally, because although I shouldn’t, I do. Just as you know all the idiosyncrasies of your own children, you’d never stand for anyone else criticizing them. And, after 29 years of being part of the core individuals who pushed, pulled and shaped what is now known as our department, I have very little patience for the particular individuals who have come along since with a lot of criticism and no substantive contributions. My personal take on it, in fact, is that we have a list of people who would be happy to take their jobs.

Our line of reasoning, however, should be to embrace the constructive criticism that can be drawn from some of the comments. We should always perform self-critique, but self-critique is not self-immolation. We should always be pulling lessons from where we are and where we want to be, and the reason why we aren’t where we want to be. But this isn’t an effort to tell us what a bad job we are doing, but ways in which we need to improve.

The minute we begin to believe we are Number One in the county, the state, the region, or the nation, and we begin to believe we are “The Best”, we (all of us) tend to believe we can’t learn from others or from ourselves. It also demeans the rest of those who do an excellent job providing service with the resources they have in the community they must serve. Of all things, though, it’s pretty presumptuous again to suggest that we are the best at anything other than delivering the emergency services on Hilton Head Island, because really, that’s all that matters.

My own personal vision for our organization is to be one of those departments that others hold up to say, “This is the gold standard. This is how we want to be”. We continue to make leaps in that direction. We are, though, our own worst critics. We need to always be looking out for better ways to improve. Daily, we must try harder.

The effort must be placed on continual improvement. “Zero defects” is a pretty lofty goal, but in our business, zero defects may be the difference between life and death, between going home in the morning or going home in the hosebed of the rig under a pair of crossed aerials.

Never get complacent. Never believe you are the best, at least not for longer than it takes to get to the desired result, then to take a breath, look around, and say, “Where to from here?” The moment we stop, we die. We should always resolve to do better each time we are presented with a new challenge and to dig out whatever lessons we can observe from our current situation. There is no time to dwell on it, though. Digest it, make the adjustment, and move on.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on April 27, 2011 • Filed under: "accident prevention", administration-leadership, change, command, Command & Leadership, customer service, education, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, fire service, Firefighter Nation, Firefighter Safety & Health, firefighting, Firefighting Operations, Fires, Funding & Staffing, government, leadership, motivation, officership, planning, politics, professionalism, rebellion, rescue, revolution, technology, Technology & Communications, Training & Development • Tagged: 2005, accomplishments, aggressive, challenge, Chalmette, children, complacent, conflict, constructive, continual improvement, contributions, core, criticism, crossed aerials, customer oriented, customer service, emergency, EMS, FHZ, FireEMSBlogs, Firefighter Nation, firefighters, Firehouse Zen, gold standard, Hilton Head Island, idiosyncrasies, Katrina, leadership, leading edge, Louisiana, management, Mick Mayers, Number One, opportunity, professionalism, resources, risk reduction, safety, SC-TF1, self-critique, self-immolation, South Carolina, SUSAR, Training, US&R, USAR, web conference, Zero defects

Power of Positive

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I have heard it said that the only reason a bee can fly is because it doesn’t know it shouldn’t. And I am fully aware that this notion has been debunked because those beliefs were originally based on fixed wing aerodynamics, however, I wasn’t interested so much in that as I was in the quote.

I happened to be listening to a podcast of TEDTalks, in particular, the disabled activist Caroline Casey speaking about looking past limitations. It is really a motivating talk when you listen to it and I don’t want to spoil the surprise for you, but the point she humorously makes is that often, the limits on what we can do are ones we have put there ourselves. If we don’t know we have limitations, there’s really no saying that we can’t do something. This of course assumes that whatever it is that you are trying to achieve is possible within the laws of physics; for example, I don’t know if I can or cannot lift a Yugo because I have never tried, but something tells me that it’s not likely. I know I can’t overhead press a Suzuki GS750E, so logically I know certain limits.

But in achieving our dreams, the amazing thing about the human mind is that if we don’t know how to do something, and we are innovative enough and curious enough, we can take what resources we have and solve problems. After all, mankind has been doing this since the invention of the wheel, and our creativity continues to evolve daily with each new thing we know (and each thing we don’t).

As leaders, we have to not just eliminate barriers for our subordinates’ success, but to avoid putting ideas of failure in their head as well. I can think of a number of occasions in my life where I was discouraged from doing something because the individual themselves saw it as “impossible” or “unrealistic”. I know of times where my own vision was belittled by people whom I should have been getting encouragement from instead.

There is a difference between coaching or mentoring to consider timing and resource allocation, or simply looking at alternatives, and complete undermining of your dreams. In my own case, sometimes I wonder what those people say now that I have made some of those dreams possible?

Failure is something to be expected when we are stretching forward. We reach until we slip and fall. But success comes when you learn to recover from failure. If you have to be propped back up every time you get knocked down, it doesn’t build resilience, it builds dependence. A key secret to success is to appreciate the failures for what they are: a lesson. Develop ideas based on those experiences and get back on the road again.

We need to understand that dreams are what positive change is made of. If we aren’t focusing on the hurdles, we won’t be worried about clearing them. And if we happen to hit one of those hurdles, we keep our eyes on the goal and figure out what it takes to get there. Look to the finish line and reap the reward of success.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on April 22, 2011 • Filed under: change, command, Command & Leadership, customer service, education, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, fire service, leadership, motivation, officership, professionalism, Training & Development • Tagged: Battalion 1, beach, coaching, customer service, education, FHZ, fire service, FireEMSBlogs, Firefighter Nation, Firehouse Zen, Hilton Head Island, leadership, management, mentor, Mick Mayers, motivation, officer, opportunity, positive, professionalism, reinforcement, resources, South Carolina, team

Tillered Aerials and Safety Collaboration

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Hilton Head Island Truck 6 working in Palmetto Dunes.

In the years before becoming a chief officer I spent the very large majority of my career as a truck company officer. The last ten years of my assignment to Truck 6 was spent on the tractor-drawn aerial we currently have. The crews assigned to Six-Truck will have a “new” ride soon; our reserve tiller is off being re-tractored and the trailer refurbished. Once the new one returns, the ALF piece that served us valiantly for all these years will then rotate to reserve status.

Since I was the lifer truckie captain and one of only three in the department who had even sat behind the wheel of a TDA before (I’m pretty sure that’s the only reason I got the job), I got to shop, spec, purchase, equip, and train the company in our new concept. We brought in an expert who was likewise, a lifer truckie, and learned to drive the TDA the old fashioned way (drive it around the parking lot for a while).

My observation was such that, as an educator, there was probably a more effective method of developing drivers for this specialized piece of machinery. When we were doing research on writing a course on driving tillers, I found a shocking lack of information (at that time) on them and ultimately, a few colleagues and I developed the coursework from which we certify our personnel to drive. This, to satisfy the naysayers, also involved INTENSIVE driving of the vehicle: beachfront parking lots during summer, night driving, driving in the rain, and lots and lots of situational stuff. Needless to say, when we were done, that first round of drivers was pretty proficient.

Lately we have been finding that there is a desire for some to want to reduce the requirements for TDA chauffeurs and tiller operators and I expressed my opinion that this was not the way to go. Our organization does all kinds of stuff in our community in conjunction with our customer service outlook, as well as respond on emergencies. Time is very valuable, but I also know of a long and distinguished history of TDA mishaps that each time point to a missed element of discipline and training. There are basic laws of physics that really come into play with a tractor-drawn aerial that don’t in your basic straight frame aerial, and I have been less than tolerant of relief drivers who don’t understand that.

So you can imagine my interest when I found out about this video collaboration between the Raleigh and Seattle Fire Departments as can be seen here:Raleigh and Seattle Collaborative Training Video I have been watching to see what lessons we might get out of the Raleigh TDA rollover and it seems as if we will have a very valuable tool for educating not only TDA drivers, but all firefighters as well.

But while this could evolve into an entire lesson on driving tillered apparatus, the discussion I want to actually have is that there is a wealth of information out there that you all have the opportunity to obtain. We find too often that people are unwilling to accept the observations and experiences of others and instead “reinvent the wheel” regularly, wasting time and money in the process. But these two departments saw needs and worked together to produce a valuable teaching tool.

There is no shame in finding out what mistakes (or positively, what efforts) have been previously made in our business and asking questions about he good, the bad, and the ugly. This is called research. We ask questions to determine an answer to a problem and rely on science and experience to make decisions. The problem is, it requires effort and it requires being candid about the issues. But no progress gets made without learning about what went right and what went wrong.

Check out the video and tell me what you think. I have already viewed it a number of times and take away something new each time. We are fortunate (and thankful) that no one was killed in this event. And it goes without saying, I thank both departments for their sincere effort in making the job safer. But the lessons learned are no good to anyone if we keep them locked up in a closet. Share the knowledge, collaborate, and learn from one another.

Note: I meant to add this link as well and failed to do it: The Fire Engineering article that spurred my interest. I like to give credit where credit is due.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on April 20, 2011 • Filed under: "accident prevention", administration-leadership, change, customer service, education, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, fire service, Firefighter Nation, Firefighter Safety & Health, leadership, motivation, News, officership, planning, professionalism, rollover, safety, seatbelts, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics, Vehicle Operations & Apparatus, Videos • Tagged: aerial, change, credentialing, customer service, education, FHZ, fire service, FireEMSBlogs, Firefighter Nation, Firehouse Zen, Hilton Head Island, injury, ladder, leadership, management, Mick Mayers, motivation, MVA, MVC, observation, opportunity, professionalism, Raleigh, research, resources, risk reduction, rules, safety, science, seatbelt, Seattle, South Carolina, TDA, tiller, tractor drawn aerial, Training, truck, vehicle operation

The Way of The Chief

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The chief who is resolute, brave, and strong is capable of leading fire companies into battle. The chief who is intelligent and visionary is capable of developing the department. Chiefs who are strong and brave, while possessing intelligence and vision, are capable of leading thousands.

We tend to think that one set of characteristics is independent of the other, when in fact, there are those who have learned to develop all of these qualities. Rhett Fleitz, over on Fire Critic, posed the question, “Who will be our new leaders in the fire service?” Who are tomorrow’s Brunos and Yvarras? Our Downeys and Dunns? The Brennans and the Brannigans? What did these people possess that we, perhaps, do not?

Maybe things like charisma, or an innate knowledge of what ideas stick and how to sell them to others? Or perhaps it is simply a passion for their ideas? Is it that they cared for others so much that they were/are compelled to share all of their riches, which in their cases were their vision of something better than the status quo?

If you look at my list, you’ll note that some of those names are no longer with us and some still are. While legends may grow after someone passes away, none of the individuals identified in my short list became legendary only after their demise. In fact, when they left us, they were very much in the leading edge. Those on the list who are still among us, although retired, are still sharing their passion with us today. They could easily have gone to hang out at the pool and sip Mimosas, but they still can be heard and seen, sharing their vision, and probably will up to the day they too leave us (hopefully nowhere near soon).

When you think about who these new visionaries are, do you say to yourself that they should be instruments of conveying today’s knowledge or are they those who share the idea of what it could be if we all apply ourselves? Because of today’s ability to reach out over the internet, I’d suggest there may be more “candidates” for those “positions”, simply because we were limited, in the early days of my career, to those who were able to come to me, or I to them. Now you can find an expert on every click of the mouse.

What constitutes the next leader of the fire service? Which qualities break someone out from the pack? You tell me. As far as I am concerned, we have lots of leaders now, and we have none. We should all be reaching out to exceed even what we perceive is our potential, understanding that the only limitations we possess are the ones we have given ourselves or gave permission to others to place on us. Until we can look past what is and look toward what can be, we will remain right here in our own existence. As Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” If you want to be the next leader, it’s yours to reach out and grab.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on April 15, 2011 • Filed under: administration-leadership, Command & Leadership, customer service, education, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, leadership, motivation, officership, planning, politics, professionalism, rebellion, rescue, revolution, Training & Development • Tagged: Alan Brunacini, blog, Brennan, change, charisma, charismatic, conflict, Dunn, education, EMS, FHZ, fire service, fire service leader, FireEMSBlogs, Firefighter Nation, Firehouse Zen, Francis Brannigan, Gandhi, government, Hilton Head Island, leadership, management, Mick Mayers, motivation, officer, opportunity, passion, politics, professionalism, resources, Rhett Fleitz, team, The Fire Critic, vision, Yvorra

Shut Up

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Do you know what this is? No? Then shut up.

According to my children, “shut up” ranks up there with the worst of the “bad” words a primary school child is forbidden to say. Not too long ago, I used that phrase and here again today, “shut up” is the only rebuttal appropriate for a comment I was reading on a major media site.

This post has nothing to do with the actual article, though. In fact, my viewpoint on the situation is irrelevant. The reason I am saying “shut up” is that in a lot of comment and “letters to the editor” pages, the compulsion for someone to take away any doubt that they were an idiot outweighs any prudence or embarrassment that they are, in fact, an idiot.

What gate opened up to motivate these morons to chime in with their obvious, ill-timed, or just plain stupid observation? And to make things even more traumatic, in a lot of the news, the victim’s privacy and anger over the event, the hurt and embarrassment visited on the perpetrator’s family, the shame felt by coworkers, colleagues, etc. far outweighs the absolute insanity of “anonnumus” posting that “maybe it was the victim’s fault”, or “Obama’s birth certificate” was involved, or our mystery writer expounds on their experience being similar to when their front porch fell and killed all their dogs.

Apparently, none of this outweighs the need to be a public dunce. Perhaps part of the problem in anonymity is that people feel compelled to say what they think, which in this and more than a few other cases, isn’t much.

Back to us, though. I did see a similar reaction to several April Fool’s posts on FireRescue1.com. In pulling the page back up tonight to link at it, I’m amazed that seven days later there are still people who don’t stop, read the whole article, then read to see what others have said, before posting their own completely moronic response. “Shut up”, remember?

While the headline drew me in that day and my initial reaction was “WTF?” I was happy that I take a lot of what anyone says at face value anyway. Of course, I then took the time to read the entire article and got all the details prior to opening my mouth, or in this case, tapping out a comment that would expose my ignorance. You would think that the Mayor’s name in the one article might tip you off. Instead, a few of our own read what, two sentences, and type.

I can appreciate the pent up rage and frustration felt by those of us trying to maintain a positive image of our business. And I too see red at some of the statements made by politicians, the media, and others. But before posting your manifesto, do us all a favor and save us the embarrassment of having to explain the joke to you.

I guess the same could be said about my blog, but if you will take careful notice, I rarely write a rant. Want to know why? Because first, unless I am there, I don’t have all the facts. So I prefer to read things and believe there is probably more to the story. Secondly, even if what is said or done is really inflammatory, I give credit to the writer for putting their own personal spin on it, regardless of whether the bias is intentional or unintentional. So sometimes the headline is being written to draw us in and sometimes, it’s to pick a fight. And certainly not least, I believe that there are plenty of places on the internet you can go to if you want controversy, or negativity, or anger. I’m trying to provide a forum. I ask for people to embrace ideas they don’t necessarily agree with. You don’t have to own it; I just want you to look at it.

Before going off on someone, perhaps these people should write what they think, then save it. Walk away and if you still feel compelled to share it, then do so. But think about what you say, especially when all you plan to say is stupid anyway. Your fifteen minutes of fame may be your only fifteen minutes. Make it count.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on April 7, 2011 • Filed under: change, Command & Leadership, fire service, leadership, Media Relations, motivation, politics, professionalism, rebellion • Tagged: anonymous, Bush, change, conflict, editor, education, EMS, FHZ, fire service, FireEMSBlogs, Firefighter Nation, Firehouse Zen, FireRescue1.com, government, Hilton Head Island, idiot, leadership, letters, management, marketing, media, Mick Mayers, moron, motivation, Obama, opportunity, politics, professionalism, shut up, vision

The Capacity Building Exercise To Change All Exercises

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We are all interconnected; how so remains to be examined. We are part of a bigger whole.

Our industry is in dire need to undergo extensive capacity building. Capacity building is the assistance provided to societies which have a need to develop a certain skill or competence. More recently, however, capacity building is being used to facilitate innovative approaches to social and environmental problems.

Capacity building can be defined as “activity which strengthens the knowledge, abilities, skills and behavior of individuals, while improving institutional structures and processes such that the organization can efficiently meet its mission and goals in a sustainable way.”

For organizations, capacity building may relate to almost any aspect of its work: improved governance, leadership, mission and strategy, administration, program development and implementation, identification of revenue streams, diversity, partnerships and collaboration, evaluation, advocacy and policy change, marketing, positioning, planning, etc.

For individuals, capacity building may relate to leadership development, advocacy skills, instructional abilities, technical skills, organizing skills, and other areas of personal and professional development.

When I began to write this article, I was thinking about a different direction than the one I shifted to this morning. I happened to be listening to Bob Edwards this morning, as I do routinely when I am driving around. He was interviewing Tom Shadyac, best known as the director behind movies like Ace Ventura. I’ll let the I Am video tell the story, but in short, he had a mind-opening experience as a result of a bike accident and the subsequent recovery, and it inspired him to make a documentary which seeks answers to deeper issues.

The point in his interview that really got me was this: We have been taught over the course of our lives when faced with a problem to ask “What is wrong?” when we should really be asking “Why is this wrong?” Shadyac suggests a more metaphysical approach to our cultural issues which revolve around more cooperation and supportiveness and less competition and strife.

When I applied this to what I had begun to write, it occurred to me that maybe we (emergency services and in society as a whole) are going about this all wrong. Our continual inability to work together to foster positive change is likely deeper than even we originally suspected. If we continue to go after each others’ throats in the vollies vs. career, East vs. West, Fire vs. EMS, safe vs. unsafe battles which rage daily in our business, how can we ever expect to achieve any respect from others outside emergency services, much less endorsement on issues we can all agree on.

It seems to me that the KSAs we need to teach are farther removed than basic operational issues, the KSAs we need to emphasize are our greater connection throughout the entire emergency services industry, how we need to get past the things that divide us and unite about things we can agree on and change.

We talk about “brotherhood”, but what really is brotherhood anymore? You have brothers in career shops bashing brothers in vollie houses because of a number of reasons. Shouldn’t we simply agree that we both do a dangerous job, made more dangerous by the bean-counters limiting our abilities to obtain cutting edge technologies, the best training, and sufficient staffing?

I realize that I have indeed been asking “why” things are wrong for a long time, while many of my brothers were and are still focused on “what” is wrong. I just guess I needed someone to point that out to me.
The capacity building in ourselves, in our organizations, and within our industry is essential for our continued survival. Einstein said, “We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity is to survive.”

I’m suggesting that a good place to start is in a society where there are those who have a core value of service to others, a society in which the greater good is supposed to be placed above that of the individual, and where characteristics of selflessness and courage are valued attributes, not hindrances. If there is any established society in which those morals are daily sought and in which we insist they are founded upon, it would be the society made up of fire and EMS professionals.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on April 4, 2011 • Filed under: change, Command & Leadership, customer service, education, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Nation, Firefighter Safety & Health, Fires, Funding & Staffing, leadership, motivation, officership, planning, politics, professionalism, rebellion, revolution, Technology & Communications, Training & Development • Tagged: abilities, Ace Ventura, Bob Edwards, capacity building, change, conflict, cooperation, customer service, education, einstein, emergency service, EMS, FHZ, fire service, FireEMSBlogs, Firefighter Nation, Firehouse Zen, government, Hilton Head Island, I Am, knowledge, KSA, leadership, management, metaphysics, Mick Mayers, motivation, officer, opportunity, planning, politics, professionalism, research, resources, risk reduction, safety, skills, South Carolina, team, teamwork, tom shadyac, vision

Saying Goodbye To A Friend

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We best memorialize our brethren by remembering the lessons they teach us.

I actually started writing this post six months ago. It’s probably not like you’d think. I had my initial moments of grief when a friend and colleague passed away late last year. But after that, like one of us has said, “It’s like I keep expecting her to walk through the door any minute.” It’s like she went away and we haven’t really come to the belief that she’s gone.

Susan’s credentials as a leader were impressive. She came on board not long after our department was in the throes of a major overhaul of our command staff as a result of retirements and going on to bigger venues. But while her impact on our organization was large, her time with us was short and to be quite candid, the changes she endeavored to make didn’t quite stick the way they should have.

I guess one of the reasons I never finished posting (because the post actually went on from here) was that it kept sounding like a eulogy and that’s not what I wanted to do. This issue isn’t about me or anyone else who is still around picking up the pieces, but about moving forward, transitioning, living through a traumatic event and learning how to move on.

I dragged this back out again from my “drafts” pile because for the better part of yesterday, I was trying to catch up on my workload and making pretty decent progress. I think I’m only backlogged to November now (that’s LAST November). Things came to a crawl, however, when I began to tackle the next priority on the list, which was (is, because I’m not done) a “Line of Duty Death” guideline (LODD, for my non-fire readers). While Susan’s death was not an LODD, it was very much about a loss to our fire department family. I have always been impressed by our ability to rally, and of course, the amazing memorial that was virtually shot from the hip.

We can always look back in amazement at what we instinctively got right and make notes about what we probably could have done better at. Her family asked us to coordinate the services and a few stalwart colleagues/friends jumped in there and did a pretty damn good job organizing and contacting and negotiating to create a memorial worthy of commemorating Susan’s impact on our lives. While there’s none of us that wouldn’t have wanted to fill Yankee Stadium for her, we did a good job of filling the venue we had, and the service was both tearful and funny, the way she probably would have wanted it.

But the moral of this story is that when we lose someone dear to us, we have a need to commemorate their life. The deceased are deceased and while it is my belief that we honor them by having a ceremony, and it is also my belief that they are taking in our feelings and understanding how much they meant to us from a better place, when it comes down to it, a lot of that may be more about us processing our own feelings and trying to get us to move on to the next phase of our lives.

I have said before, and again in this post as well, that if we really care about leaving a legacy, we should consider the culture we develop as a result of our leadership of others.

What better memorial to another than to recognize that our beloved was such an important part of our life that the traditions they instilled in us, the commitment to excellence, and the dedication to service so ingrained in our culture, that we refused to let that value die long after that person was gone from this mortal coil. Unfortunately, when I think back on it, I think maybe we might have failed Susan.

With some substantial challenges on our horizon and after talking to others within our organization about a renewed commitment to improvement and service, I have to meditate a little on what that truly means and how to go about facilitating that change among the people I am responsible for mentoring. As a chief officer, one of the hardest things you have to do sometimes is admit to yourself that you have let your vision be narrowed by petty issues. As a chief officer, your vision can’t be obscured by the trees; you need to view the entire landscape.

My job must be to focus on positive strategic change. I have company officers who must translate that change into daily tactical objectives. If they can’t do that, they have to do some soul searching themselves, because the purpose of the officer on a team isn’t to be one of the gang, it is to lead the team. It is the job of the officer to work with other officers to form an effective cadre of other leaders and to be above pettiness themselves. When you make the choice that your badge will have bugles on it, it’s time to leave the past behind and focus on the future. And if you ca’t do that, then you need to admit that it might be better to return to the gang. No one ever said leadership was easy.

We have many people in our lives whom we love in their own special ways. All of the assembled brothers and processions of fire apparatus, all of the pipes and crossed ladders and other powerful traditions are nothing if we can’t be true to ourselves and appreciate that our calling is to serve others. Service to others is the hallmark of our tradition. People would not revere firefighters if not for their long-standing tradition of selflessness, of commitment despite adversity, and of bravery in the face of death and destruction. If we truly want to memorialize our loved ones and our brothers, we need to re-dedicate our careers toward self-improvement, education, and dedication, as well as to teach and mentor those who are behind us in the ranks.

Don’t make saying goodbye a hollow promise of honoring the deceased. The funeral is just the beginning of a new life without that person standing next to us. If they really mean something to us, we will consider the lessons they taught us and create action instead of words.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on March 28, 2011 • Filed under: change, Command & Leadership, customer service, education, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, fire service, Firefighter Nation, Firefighter Safety & Health, Fires, Funding & Staffing, In the Line of Duty, leadership, Line of Duty, LODD, motivation, officership, planning, politics, professionalism, revolution, safety, Training & Development • Tagged: change, conflict, customer service, death, education, EMS, FHZ, FireEMSBlogs, Firefighter Nation, Firehouse Zen, government, Hilton Head Island, leadership, lessons, LODD, management, Mick Mayers, motivation, officer, opportunity, planning, professionalism, South Carolina, Susan Williams, understanding, vision

Smells Like Innovation

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Lifted from the San Ramon Valley FD website.

While Happy Medic may have beaten me to broadcasting it over Facebook, I am thoroughly overwhelmed by this video on the new app developed by Chief Richard Price of San Ramon Valley Fire in California. I have asked students and others for a number of years, “What changes can you see for emergency services that would revolutionize our industry?” This, to me, is evidence of that kind of innovation.

The advantage of technology is that it can change the playing field dramatically if properly applied. It just requires someone to keep their mind open to possibilities. While I don’t know Chief Price, he certainly seems like someone I’d like to get to know. A while back, I somehow went to his department’s webpage, which I found to be one of the most visually appealing and enjoyable webpages I have ever viewed. I zipped off an e-mail to him about that and almost immediately got a reply back, where he gave credit to the unique individuals he has working with him. This department seems like one that has already begun to make a mark as a leader and certainly has set an impressive bar to reach.

Congratulations, Chief, on your latest amazing contribution to the greater good. Keep up the good work!

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on March 23, 2011 • Filed under: change, Command & Leadership, Firefighter Nation, leadership, motivation, News, professionalism, revolution • Tagged: app, change, customer service, education, EMS, FHZ, fire service, FireEMSBlogs, Firefighter Nation, Firehouse Zen, Happy Medic, leadership, management, marketing, Mick Mayers, motivation, opportunity, professionalism, research, resources, richard price, san ramon valley, video, YouTube

Missionary Work

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Apparently, Firehouse Zen has become the choice blog for commenters with naked pictures of Miley Cyrus and those who have a career selling makeup brushes. There are quite a few other interesting comments that seem to get trapped in the spam filter (Thank God for spam filters, by the way) and yet I waste my time looking through those comments to see if somehow, someone got snagged inadvertently. It has happened several times before and I’d hate to lose a valuable insight because of whatever criteria spam filters use to trap those comments anyway.

So I am left to wonder, does someone actually sit around and come up with some of those bizarre paragraphs? Is that a job somewhere? Is some mother distraught because her child, who she cared for and sent to a decent college is sitting around typing “jeans will advance concoction electric authoritatively patanol over the counter”? (I didn’t dare cut and paste it and thus have whatever link it is hanging out on my site).

I’m assuming that people actually click on some of that, which is why they send it out. Otherwise, what is the point? It reminds of of the point I was slowly getting to, and that’s whether or not a message of enlightened leadership is actually getting out to the leaders of our emergency services. Why does it seem that we have so many in our midst that just don’t get it?

I was having a long discussion the other night with Ron Richards (withthecommand.com and Task Force 1 Training) and his wife, Linda, about the need for our industry, career and volunteer, to begin to agree on some real issues, or else we will continue on being the doormat we have been for decades. I was pointing out that a lot of the problem rests on the shoulders of chiefs and other officers who have no vision beyond lunchtime, much less for the future. Ron equated what we do to missionary work. It’s like we are going out into the unknown, reaching out, and ultimately (hopefully) inspiring some others to also take up the cause.

As with those spam messages, I wonder if what we are saying sometimes falls on deaf ears. Are we proclaiming the vision of something that can never be, because vested interest and egos will always keep firefighters fat, dumb and happy? Should we revel in the presence of the whackers and the unprofessionals, knowing they won’t likely be competing with us for our own jobs?

I take comfort in knowing there are others like us out there, and those who may not know they are yet, but will need to have the shade pulled up so they can see the light. We will, of course, continue to do just that. We need to show people that what we are telling them is true. Our industry, the fire and rescue services, is on the brink of a sea change. There are widely-accepted technologies and best practices that are being used daily out there that won’t see the inside of a fire station for at least another 10 years. It’s a sad state of affairs, but with continually rising costs and continually shrinking budgets, we will have to continue to slog on. And the only people we can blame this on is ourselves, because we failed to draw the right picture for others to understand where we were going and where we needed to be.

Be a missionary of change. Illuminate the paths of others, so they can see where they are going. Help those along who need a hand. But of all things, strive to do the best job possible for your citizens. They deserve it, and frankly, they are why you exist. Treat them like it.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on March 16, 2011 • Filed under: change, Command & Leadership, customer service, education, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Nation, leadership, motivation, planning, politics, professionalism, rescue, Training & Development • Tagged: change, conflict, customer service, education, EMS, FHZ, fire service, FireEMSBlogs, Firefighter Nation, Firehouse Zen, government, Hilton Head Island, leadership, management, Mick Mayers, motivation, opportunity, politics, professionalism, resources, Ron Richards, South Carolina, Task Force 1, vision, withthecommand

I’m With Stupid But Not Right At This Moment

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Lifted from the Canyon Lake Fire & EMS Facebook Page

I’m afraid my strategy for capturing the interest of the uninitiated has fallen through, so I’m going to have to return to preaching to the choir. I guess it’s just as well; I’m not sure I want the lunatic fringe stalking around on my site anyway. It just so happens that I’m in the heart of Texas as I write this, talking about leadership to a class of firefighters at Canyon Lake Fire and EMS. There are also a few from the Bulverde and Spring Branch departments and they seem like a great bunch.

I have had the opportunity to speak a little about what we should be doing as leaders, as well as what we shouldn’t be. But regardless of how impressive our team is, we are probably all cursed with at least one individual on our team who simply doesn’t get it. By saying they are “on the team”, it’s really only in the sense that they are assigned to your team and you haven’t found the way to move them along yet.

There are people out there who are surprisingly reluctant to get with the program. Its as if they have some delusion that if they buck the system long enough, regardless of their piss-poor attitude, archaic methodologies, or lousy work ethic, some sea change will sweep down and save them from the rest of us.

While in my early days I was not the officer that I am today, I still have always said, if you stay off my radar, we can get along just fine. While that may be an invitation to the slackers to do what they do best, in fact, the slackers find ways to get right up there in my sights and hoist a billboard pretty much saying, “Come and get me.”

I believe that if we give people our expectations, provide them the resources necessary, and provide feedback as they move along, we can get excellent results. There are those, however, who are more interested in seeing how far they can push the boundaries.

If we (that is, the team) have a shared vision of excellence and we have a good plan to get there, and doing so is for the benefit of those we serve, and we have the approval of those people as well, what on God’s green earth would make anyone otherwise think that it is okay to steer the team in another direction. My take on it is that if you are that unhappy, just go. Find some other idiots who want to sit around and be negative and hang out with them. I can think of plenty of places to find people like that, if you are looking.

I realize that I don’t have the greatest ideas and to some, they might even sound crazy, but at least I HAVE ideas. I think, therefore, I am. Those of us who, instead of sitting around bitching, come up with ways to solve problems, while we may always be chasing at things, we are at least moving forward to do so.

This group here in Texas is very fortunate. Chief Wherry and his staff seem engaged and professional. They have a bunch of attentive people who are polite and respectful. The Canyon Lake department is a relatively young department and they don’t have a lot of baggage. That being said, they are a department with a lot of growing to do and while the foundation seemed to be intact before we got here and will hopefully be strengthened by the time we are gone, it really comes down to what they do with what we have now given them. From the best I can tell, I think they will be just fine.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on March 9, 2011 • Filed under: change, command, Command & Leadership, customer service, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, fire service, firefighting, Funding & Staffing, leadership, motivation, officership, planning, politics, professionalism, rebellion, rescue, revolution, Training & Development • Tagged: Bulverde, Canyon Lake, change, conflict, customer service, EMS, FHZ, fire service, Firefighter Nation, Firehouse Zen, government, Hilton Head Island, leadership, management, marketing, Mick Mayers, motivation, opportunity, politics, professionalism, resources, risk reduction, safety, South Carolina, Spring Branch, Task Force 1, Texas, Training, vision

In With The New

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It really recharges the batteries to see the new recruits coming in from the academy.

I had the opportunity to attend the graduation of our newest recruits the other day. Unfortunately, given my schedule, I don’t get a chance to do this like I would like to, but the staffing permitted it so I took advantage of that. Having been doing this job for a total of 31 years, I think it recharges the ol’ batteries to go back to those things you found important in the beginning, and remind yourself why you got into this in the first place. Nothing can really take the place of being a newly minted firefighter, not having any idea what your career will be like ahead of you. While I knew from the beginning that I wanted to become a chief officer someday, I had absolutely no idea how amazing and fulfilling the trip between here and there would be.

The job is what you make of it. If you just want to punch the clock and fill a spot, there’s those who do that and coast right on through to retirement under the radar and unscathed. But if you want to be successful and make a positive mark on your community as well as with your family and friends, the fire service provides many opportunities to do that. The catch is that you, as an individual, must actively seek those opportunities and run with them.

I have had very few of my opportunities handed to me and a fair share of them I had to show that I was willing to fight for them. But in the long view of it, those battles and all the studying and planning, they all make this journey worthwhile. If it was just handed to me, I don’t think I would value what I have been through so much (although it certainly would have been more pleasant at times). I say to my charges on a regular basis, “Don’t raise your voice unless you are willing to raise your fists.” The takeaway on that is that if you aren’t willing to do something about your condition, then don’t complain about the situation. There are plenty of times I have fought and lost, and plenty of times I have fought and won. But regardless of the outcome, I’m pretty sure my co-workers would agree with me, I have always been willing to take action to back up what I was saying.

There is a difference between living and surviving. Anyone who can fog a mirror can survive. Living requires action and effort. Choose to make a mark. Set a positive example and stay safe doing it.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on March 2, 2011 • Filed under: change, Command & Leadership, customer service, Firefighter Nation, professionalism • Tagged: academy, change, education, FHZ, fire service, FireEMSBlogs, firefighter, Firefighter Nation, Firehouse Zen, Hilton Head Island, leadership, management, Mick Mayers, motivation, new, officer, opportunity, professionalism, recruit, SC-TF1, South Carolina, Training

Haters Need Not Apply

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Sometimes we have to make decisions in a fog. But not always. Take the time to see the whole picture.

The brotherhood of fire and rescue is but a microcosm of the greater part of society. In turn, a visit to any un-moderated site will reveal that the general public isn’t any better about being civil, so we probably shouldn’t put a whole lot of worry into the declining civility among people who profess to be part of a brotherhood. It’s just become a norm of our victim society that it’s okay to be self-righteous and it’s okay to go after anyone who doesn’t think like us.

You would think a group of people who profess brotherhood as a redeeming value would be a little slower to throw one of their brothers under the bus when something goes wrong, but as I mentioned in the Tuscon post, that is obviously not the case. In the event that an individual within our ranks does something completely against the grain of our collective morals, like set fires or engage in child pornography, I am entirely understanding about the emotion involved in that rage. It is proportionate to the offense. But since I’m sure you all have heard of cases where the other side of the story ends up being a compelling explanation, we need to take care and exercise caution about expressing our condemnation, because, as we command officers tend to say, the truth actually lies somewhere between Points A and B.

I’m not a hypocrite by any means; I am right there with you. I just happen to also take a little bit of time to rein in my passions a little. If you were standing next to me at the moment I got the news of a “firefighter declining to respond to an incident”, I’m sure you’d have seen another side of me. However, the luxury of the internet is not only real-time event coverage, but the ability to pause before re-communicating your opinion, especially since unless you were there, it is your opinion and based on conjecture, not on tangible evidence. You might not be able to take back what you just blurted out of your mouth, but you can certainly check yourself before clicking the radio button. Very few of the stories I hear are actual prima facie cases. Since these stories unfold so quickly, we often find that there is more to the story that doesn’t get revealed due to the emotions choking the lines of communication.

It brings up the topic of this page, however, since some of the e-mail (I typed in “e-mal” in my draft – was that a slip?) doesn’t seem to agree with me and of course, there are those who can hide behind their pseudonyms in the comments. While I am sure the act of someone failing to go to an emergency challenged our beliefs in what was good and right about our profession, on lesser occasions, the anger and vitriol for say, someone not wearing their gloves in a picture, is a little over the top. And I say “a little” in my most sarcastic tone of voice. Some of the comments from the peanut gallery are also those who, given their profiles, probably haven’t seen too many incidents more challenging than a dumpster fire, and even then, they weren’t even in charge of that.

Individuals these days, in this moment of instantness (you like that?), are quick to react instead of reflect. They simply don’t have the patience for the whole story. They want their news, their blogs, their everything instantly and then they act on that information accordingly. In a time-compressed environment, there is only a moment to digest what we have heard and then to regurgitate it so that we can be the first to make a comment. The first to comment must be the best informed, right? The self-appointed subject matter expert? The one on the inside, right?

For me, I see it in the type of readership I get here at FHZ. The comments are usually thoughtful and agreeable. I post every comment, pro or con, so long as it isn’t spam. And although I may not agree with you, I consider your perspective on the issues as valuable and enlightening. But I get the impression that the few individuals who have seen fit to be trolls (with one notable exception) haven’t read farther than the first paragraph anyway. Anything over 140 characters for a lot of these individuals is a lot of wasted time reading.

We don’t do controversy here on this blog. We are interested in a bigger picture. If it is an event that is truly worth discussing and there are alternate points of view, we engage in another time-wasting effort: dialogue. We ask questions. We pose thoughts. We engage in critical examination. We remain open-minded. It’s a little too much for some people, I am aware, but it keeps the riff-raff out.

The readers of this blog generally have proven to be those who I could sit down and have a beer with and talk about something other than the fire service, or have a conversation about the fire service in say, the context of a retail business, or a day care, or the University of Life. They can see things for more than what is printed on the face. They possess deeply considered ideas or are able to see that there are advantages to listening to the opposition. The readers of this blog are those who I consider to be the hope for emergency services to evolve out of the tar pit of whackerdom and rise to the level of professionalism.

If you know of someone who operates on a different playing field than the norm, send them here and ask them to say their piece so we know they are here. But most importantly, we are looking for readers (and commenters) who have ideas to share and innovative ways of looking at things. Just because the issue appears to be obvious, it isn’t often the case. We want to talk with REAL leaders, those of you who consider enlightened leadership to be a desired trait, not a hurdle to our position. We need engagement, not brick walls. Haters and groupthinkers need not apply.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on February 24, 2011 • Filed under: change, command, Command & Leadership, customer service, education, EMS Topics, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Nation, Firefighter Safety & Health, firefighting, government, leadership, Media Relations, motivation, News, officership, politics, professionalism, rebellion, revolution, safety, technology, Technology & Communications, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: anger, brotherhood, change, command, communication, conflict, controversy, customer service, dialogue, education, EMS, enlightening, environment, FHZ, fire, fire service, FireEMSBlogs, firefighter, Firefighter Nation, Firehouse Zen, groupthink, Hilton Head Island, instantness, internet, leadership, management, Mick Mayers, motivation, opportunity, politics, professionalism, pseudonym, public, rescue, society, South Carolina, subject matter expert, truth, tuscon, victim society, whackerdom

Tuscon – There But For The Grace of God Go I

9 comments

We get facts before making knee-jerk decisions on the incident scene. Why do we fail to do this everywhere else?

I sat down to write this not to defend the man’s actions, but to reflect on the collective anger of the masses. I actually picked up the story of the firefighter refusing to respond to the Tuscon shooting incident not off of Statter, as many of you may have, but from a news aggregator on Twitter. I immediately went to the story and while I had to wince at what occurred, I was even more disappointed in the troll activity, which didn’t take long to build.

Before I even went to see what our beloved Fire News blogs like Statter, Fire Daily, Fire Critic, et al had to say (and what you all had to say), I felt it important to say this piece about what went on in that fire station that day.

Unless you are a Tuscon firefighter or officer who happened to be in the room at the time, YOU DON’T KNOW. You can speculate, you can imagine, you can insinuate, and you can opinionate, but the long and short of it is that YOU DON’T KNOW.

Was the firefighter wrong for not responding? Given what I have read so far, and in my opinion, yes, as I believe that it is important as a professional responder to put my personal feelings aside when called to duty. But I wasn’t there. I have no idea what was going on in the station. I don’t know what was going through the firefighter’s head when he got the call. I don’t know what he knew, or what he believed he knew, and I don’t profess to understand what he was going through. But we are dealing with human beings, and not machines, and on occasion, events transpire which cause even the most hardened “hero” to individualize the situation and for whatever reason, experience emotions that we can’t assume are rational or even explainable.

There have been many documented cases where someone froze in the heat of battle because of some emotional trigger. There is a great piece on the differences between choking and panicking that Malcolm Gladwell writes about in What The Dog Saw. Conversely, there are those who were emotionally triggered and acted WAY out of character when faced with a traumatic event, by charging suicidally up a hill to single-handedly take on a machine gun nest, or diving on a grenade, or lifting a heavy object off of someone, when none of those actions were really planned or even considered. The human mind is an amazing place; some of you should visit it sometime.

Those of you so quick to judge should consider walking a mile in someone else’s shoes sometime. For all we know, the individual involved may have been short-timing it. But you know, on the other hand, he might not have, either. When you know for sure what was going on, feel free to share it with us. Until then, maybe you should STFU in the hopes that if this, God forbid, happens to you someday, you won’t have your guts pulled out and spread to the four corners of the planet like some many of you are willing to do on a regular basis.

I’m willing to hear what happened and keep my opinion to myself instead of trying the guy on the World Wide Web. Kangaroo courts went out of vogue back around the time lynching was considered to be a crime against humanity. Get the facts before making a judgment. It’ll pay off in more ways than one.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on February 18, 2011 • Filed under: Command & Leadership, customer service, Fire Rescue Topics, fire service, government, leadership, motivation, News, professionalism • Tagged: Arizona, conflict, Dave Statter, disaster, EMS, FHZ, Fire Critic, Fire Daily, fire service, FireEMSBlogs, firefighter, Firefighter Nation, Firegeezer, Firehouse Zen, Giffords, government, Hilton Head Island, leadership, management, media, Mick Mayers, motivation, politics, professionalism, refusal, South Carolina, tuscon

But Wait! There’s More!

1 comment

There is more to what we do than just "fighting fires".

In a fit of laziness, and believing fell well that I was smarter than any ol’ blogging software, I tried to use a previous blog to shortcut the addition of categories and tags. Of course, this resulted in my changing forever the URL of that post and with my already poor memory, forgetting the previous one so I could revert to it once again. And no, I already tried just going back to a previous version.

Thus our Zen lesson of the day: When it may seem like you are saving time, often, it costs more time to fix when you screw it up. This, however, comes back around to the reason for the post to begin with.

As I said in “Hogs To The Trough“, we have been our own worst enemy. We have failed, on any number of levels, to “sell” our message to the people who need to hear it most. Getting the message out requires effort that some of our brothers and sisters simply don’t see as a priority. We are, as I have heard so many times before, the “only show in town”. I’m pretty sure the refrain to that is, “You have no choice but to call us when your house is on fire”. This has been the argument of the Anti-Customer Service crowd for a very long time. In fact, since before some of you little nippers were born.

If we were doing such a great job, this would be a no-brainer. Cut emergency service spending, people die. Well, if that were absolutely true, I’d bet we’d be hearing a lot more screaming from the public. While I believe strongly that cutting emergency service spending does result in a greater flirtation with disaster and mortality, the realization from the public is, we cut emergency service spending and guess what? No one died yet.

These are the same people who, when faced with the addition of a traffic light at the busiest intersection in town, cry and complain in the newspaper and at meetings about the inconvenience, only to cry and complain about the lack of public safety consideration when a family of four dies at said intersection. Then, of course, that horse has already fled the barn, but by God, there’d better be a traffic light at that intersection before the weekend or heads will roll.

There are no switches for turning on the message or turning it off. If you aren’t preaching the Gospel daily, the audience doesn’t hear the message when everyone is shouting and it’s too loud to hear. Our presence in our communities has to be a daily event, so that when you are silenced, it is deathly quiet, and people realize, “Hey, something is wrong here.” If you are saving homes and businesses from fire through your prevention message and excellent response and mitigation, you need to trumpet that to the rafters, and regularly. If your community sees a benefit in early recognition of cardiac arrest, advantageous placement of AEDs, and the presence of a well-trained, well-equipped tiered medical response, you need to share that.

There are no shortcuts to this. Communicating the message of the value of your organization must be done constantly. This isn’t a one-individual task either; it has to be at the very heart of your organizational culture, that service to the community isn’t just a good idea, it is the core of our existence. When we fail to provide an excellent service, the taxpayers will remember it come budget time. If we piss off the masses, they will be the first to stand silent when we are losing personnel, apparatus, equipment, training, and every other enhancement, because frankly, your existence is invisible to them. Given the choice between funding you and not funding you, if the effect is only a subjective loss (just because you SAY people will die, doesn’t mean they will), they are more willing to take the chance of not funding your needs.

My wife owns a flooring retail and installation company, KPM Flooring, here on Hilton Head Island. She is the sole proprietor. She has a vision of what the organization represents to her customers. She doesn’t wait for you to read her mind to find out what that vision is. She doesn’t wait for you to come in looking for tile or a beautiful area rug to show you what things could be like in your home. She creates (herself, I might add) advertisement that portrays her company as being “sophisticated”, “classy”, “exclusive’, “original”, and “innovative”. Those words are in quotes because these are comments we have gotten from people who have viewed her website or her print advertisement. And you know what? They have found this to be true and have told their neighbors, families, friends, etc. We probably advertise less than Brand X, but where we advertise and the message we send says: If I want a really classy look to my home or business, I need to go to KPM Flooring.

Getting your message out requires you to have an idea what you want your message to be, first. Many emergency service organizations haven’t even decided upon that concept yet. They are happy with the status quo. The status quo doesn’t require a bunch of effort. There’s a certain comfort to saying, “We’re okay with the idea the public thinks we are a tax burden, but they don’t have a choice. You know, because PEOPLE WILL DIE.”

We don’t want to change. If we did, we would do it willingly. As Pumbaa said, “You have to put your behind in your past“. Or something like that. If we really do care about serving the public, we will get on board in getting them involved to find out what it is they need, and providing service for that need. When we can do this, the community won’t PERCEIVE that they have a need for us, they will KNOW they have a need for us. And when they do, you won’t have to worry about budget cuts again.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on February 11, 2011 • Filed under: change, Command & Leadership, customer service, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, fire service, Firefighter Nation, firefighting, funding, Funding & Staffing, leadership, Media Relations, motivation, News, officership, planning, politics, professionalism, rebellion, revolution, Training & Development • Tagged: budget, Camden, change, conflict, council, customer service, depression, disaster, economy, EMS, FHZ, fire service, FireEMSBlogs, Firefighter Nation, Firehouse Zen, Gary, government, Hilton Head Island, layoffs, leadership, Lion King, management, marketing, media, Mick Mayers, motivation, officer, opportunity, past, planning, politics, professionalism, Pumbaa, resources, risk reduction, South Carolina, team, vision

Hogs To The Trough

10 comments

I have heard a constant refrain for a few years, as you have probably heard too. With the economy the way it is, the constant drum beat sounds from those who want to radically downsize government, and there is a certain irrational cry from those who resent firefighter pensions and salaries.

A while back, Captain Schmoe over at Report on Conditions spelled it out best (but for some reason I can’t find the specific post), illustrating that our collective hubris has signed our own death warrant. When Fred Taxpayer sees one of the brothers trucking down the road in his Gasguzzler 6000 pickup, towing a boat with three engines on it, laughing because he only works one day out of three, it doesn’t sit well. Especially when that same individual is scraping to make ends meet, can’t figure out where he’s going to get the money to feed the kids, and might not even have a retirement anymore. Do you really find their resentment unfounded?

Recent firefighter layoffs in Camden and Gary, while extraordinarily tragic, illustrate a fundamental issue: people generally aren’t lashing out at the politicians, they are blaming the Union. And while that may very well be unfounded, it is happening, and that is a tangible reality. Why should we care? Because we did it to ourselves.

It’s not a matter that we do or don’t deserve decent salaries and good benefits, it is a matter of our failure to educate the public, to work with them and include them as part of the solution. After all, it was their own elected officials that agreed to these contracts in the first place. They can argue that they did so at the point of a gun, but the reality there is actually that these benefits were often hard-fought for and given grudgingly, so whatever these individuals were able to obtain, it wasn’t exactly handed to them on a silver platter.

Furthermore, like those of us in departments that don’t enjoy the fruits of collective bargaining, we are all lumped in together with the stories like the one illustrated above as a prime example of why we don’t deserve this compensation. I, for one, live in a nice home. But its a home my wife and I ate a lot of waffles and PBJs to save for. We have three children to put through college, but so do a lot of people. I drive an eleven year old truck with 130,000 miles on it. In no way should this be construed as complaining. I don’t make a fortune, but I think it is a fair salary for what the community gets from me, and although I wish I made more, I also understand the realities of the situation. And I have friends that are firefighters who have the truck and boat and etc., but they have in one case invested wisely, in another case happened to parlay their talents into a lucrative side job. Yet another one though, has squandered his money and overextended himself. So it is, just as it is everywhere else, the same.

When we engage in bragging about how good we have it, we’d better consider the consequences. There is a backlash that still rages on against our existence, and it doesn’t stop at the career folks either. If the public percieves that your service doesn’t have value, they will cut it back to where they feel it deserves to be funded, plain and simple. The other parts of public service enjoy a certain paranoia about the public, where those emotions about losing those services are much more tangible. Lose the trash pickup? No cops? Sewer backing up? They will choose and what they will choose is to fund that which they are the most concerned about losing. Since you don’t have fires next door every day, nor does everyone in the neighborhood end up in the back of the ambo regularly, do you believe that when we’re lining up to get our share, that there’s a reluctance to cut our budgets? Not often. The public may complain a little when they see on the news that the Mayor shut down the fire station on the corner, but that sentiment is usually over by the time American Idol comes on.

We can’t continue to take for granted that the public knows why we are there or what we do, or what would happen if we lost manpower, equipment, or other tools. This is the time to insure that the buyer is aware of what they are being sold, and is happy with the return they continue to make on their investment. Yes, that’s called marketing and while that might be a dirty word to some of you, it too is a reality. You can choose to ignore the need or you can get up and do what is needed. We can’t wait until stations are being closed and people are being laid off to insure the message is shared. Anything after that is sour grapes. We can’t scream “people will die” if we didn’t do anything to reinforce it in the minds of the population ahead of that moment.

To the general population, our indifference to their situation while flaunting our current compensation packages is a lot like Marie Antoinette telling starving Parisians, “Let them eat cake”. And you know how that story ended. The backlash against government spending isn’t going away and if we don’t evolve, don’t be surprised to hear this story repeated over and over again until we do. Would you rather change under your own terms or change at the end of a pike? It’s your call.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on February 8, 2011 • Filed under: change, customer service, education, fire, fire service, funding, Funding & Staffing, government, leadership, Media Relations, motivation, News, officership, planning, politics, professionalism, rebellion, revolution, Training & Development • Tagged: change, conflict, customer service, economy, education, EMS, FHZ, fire service, FireEMSBlogs, Firefighter Nation, Firehouse Zen, government, Hilton Head Island, leadership, management, marketing, Mick Mayers, motivation, opportunity, planning, politics, professionalism, resources, South Carolina, vision

Article: Modern Approaches To Fire Suppression

1 comment

Picture from FireRescue1.com

Not long ago I was asked by Jamie Thompson over at FireRescue1.com to write an article on fire suppression. While I wrote it a few weeks before, it published yesterday. But yesterday morning, before the newsletter with my article came out, I was reading the FireRescue1 article on the Chinese water cannon and this inspired my morning “message to the troops” to be about innovation and change. Of course, the point of my article was about innovation and change, so it was good timing.

I have been having some pretty in-depth discussions lately regarding change as related to technology. There are people who feel like all of this technology is overwhelming and distressing and changes should be avoided. There are those who think technology will solve all the ills of the world. And then there are many who see technology as being a useful tool that when applied to the right situation, can produce wonderful results, and conversely, be misapplied and create major disaster. Some think that there should be more emphasis on the basics, which would supplant the need for technological shifts. And there are those like me who see potential in these changes and wonder how we could harness the power of both to provide safer and more effective service.

While the water cannon discussion illustrates an interesting discussion on technology, the comments reflected several differing opinions, and while I noted that there was a lot of discussion about what it wouldn’t do, I only saw one serious commenter reflecting on what it might be able to do. Many think that innovation stops at invention. In fact, innovation can really be considered having a new birth there. Because once something is invented, there are usually a few individuals out there testing it, finding out its limits, and trying to envision what this new development might mean to them. And they tweak and refine and experiment, and then, voila, we have a new way of doing things.

Innovation has plenty of effect on your daily life, but you have to take some time and appreciate that effect, because we tend to take it for granted. How many things were invented that aren’t necessarily used for the original intent? In the fire service, we take things all day long and make them do things they probably weren’t designed to do (which isn’t always good). How much better would our organizations be if, instead of looking at the problems, we saw the challenges and rose to solve those issues instead? If we took into consideration the changes we have made and came up with ways to even improve farther on those ideas?

While honing our technique is desirable to improve performance, as one commenter on my article suggested, and he goes on to suggest that CAFS and other fancy things can’t overcome poor technique, I agree in part and principle. But I disagree on a different level, that is, from the aspect that if we have good technique AND technological improvement, we can have an exponentially beneficial effect on solving problems. Good technique AND good tools create a force multiplier.

Solutions for problems are all around us; we just need to take the time to find them. Knowing where we come from is important, because it helps us to understand where we want to be. But abandoning good technique for promotion of good technology is NOT the answer. The answer lies in both, and knowing that in order to improve our condition, we must take advantage of all of the opportunities that come our way, if not to stretch out from that point, to know that this is NOT the way to go. We all must experiment and learn and understand. But most of all, we have to be open to the ideas and see them with clear vision.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on February 2, 2011 • Filed under: change, Command & Leadership, customer service, education, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Nation, Firefighting Operations, General, leadership, motivation, planning, politics, professionalism, rebellion, revolution, safety, Training & Development • Tagged: CAFS, change, conflict, customer service, disaster, economy, education, Elkhart, EMS, FHZ, fire service, FireEMSBlogs, Firefighter Nation, Firehouse Zen, FireRescue1.com, foam, force multiplier, Hilton Head Island, hose, innovation, invention, Jamie Thompson, leadership, management, marketing, Mick Mayers, motivation, nozzle, officer, opportunity, planning, politics, professionalism, research, resources, risk reduction, safety, South Carolina, suppression, Training, vision

Power of a Foot

1 comment

Recently one of my colleagues spent his last day on the job. He is retiring to take on a nursing job as the clinical lead in an emergency room. He got the impetus to do this as a result of his long career as a paramedic. Ironically, years ago he came to be assigned to my command as a firefighter who had been through a few officers, had some not-so-stellar career moves, and was being given this chance to salvage things. At a point somewhere along the line, he came into my office and asked for my blessing for him to attend paramedic school.

Years ago in my department, I got the nickname of “The Hammer”. My natural leadership style isn’t exactly warm and fuzzy. When Kevin wanted to get my signature on his application, I was working diligently in my office with the door slightly ajar. The people who have worked with me for years know I want my door to be open, but it’s really just to give the impression that it’s open. It’s not.

Of course, here comes ol’ Kevin, with a skip in his step and a Training Program Request for me to sign. I glare over the top of my glasses at him and I don’t say anything. The look is generally sufficient, or so I’m told. Kevin slides the paper over for me to sign. He’s persistent, I’ll give him that.

Leaders take chances on people, even when they aren’t ordinarily inclined to do so. While at the time I didn’t really consider him to be that great of an EMT, much less paramedic material, we laugh about it now. As it turns out, he had a real aptitude for medicine and has an unbelievable bedside manner. After medic school came nursing school and now this endeavor. I am very proud of his achievement and so I sent him a note to tell him that I’ll miss him, but I’m always okay with someone moving on to the bigger and better. I got a really meaningful note back from him thanking me for putting a foot up his ass back in those days. Things have definitely changed, as he is now a well-respected veteran of the department and a fixture in the community. We have had a lot of laughs and some not-so-funny moments over the years, but while others were willing to overlook the issues, I was not.

When applying for the Executive Fire Officer program years ago, one of the questions asked, of what contribution to the fire service was I the most proud of? Without even a moment’s thought, I know it is to see the successful people for whom I have served as a leader, mentor, guide, teacher, and coach over the years. Of particular pride are those who are now doing the same thing for others, especially when I hear one of their students/employees say, “Oh, you’re the Mick Mayers they were talking about.” Hopefully that’s good, but I at least know something is sticking someplace.

If we don’t stretch our own expectations of others, they won’t grow. I don’t for a minute believe my daughters could be captains of industry right at this moment, but given the rest of their lives, I can see them being whatever they want to be. Likewise, the people we are charged with bringing up through the organization, they might not be chief material today, but given the right motivation, feedback, and direction, someday they could end up being your boss (I have one of those situations now) or someone else’s boss. And if you truly worked your magic with that individual, that’s okay.

Leaders must constantly consider the potential of others and understand that while they may be very raw right now, this moment is the one where you get to build and form and create. This is the moment in which you truly leave a legacy. Buildings will crumble and fall, apparatus will become obsolete, everything physical you build could one day be dust. But the lasting edifice, the one that stands throughout time, is when you create a learning environment for your people and you help them to grow. When they’re getting pinned with those bugles and grinning at you wildly, you know that you have left your mark on the world.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on January 27, 2011 • Filed under: change, Command & Leadership, education, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Nation, leadership, motivation, officership, politics, professionalism, Training & Development • Tagged: change, education, FHZ, fire service, FireEMSBlogs, Firefighter Nation, Firehouse Zen, Hilton Head Island, leadership, management, Mick Mayers, motivation, officer, opportunity, politics, professionalism, South Carolina

The Sword

2 comments

As I quoted Musashi recently, a warrior must “have a taste for both pen and sword”. And while there is a frequent need for statesmanship, the soft skills are sometimes not fully appreciated unless you can bring some smackdown to the table when pushed. There is a very good reason why I don’t discuss the other aspect of leadership as much. The reason is because too many of us are familiar with that side of the house and frankly, too willing to lay it out there when things go wrong. There is a much more stringent call to educate disciples of enlightened leadership on the discipline of using the stick only when and where it is needed.

Clausewitz suggests famously, that prior to waging war, we must fully understand how we intend to wage war and to what extent we will go to achieve victory. A scorched earth mentality is fine for truly epic battles of wrong vs. right but you will eventually have to live with the outcome. If you choose to lay waste to someone’s career because they got on your wrong side, you must realize the consequences of that decision and as said before, use the power you have to help others, not to hurt them.

I would like to believe that extraordinary leadership will help you retain whatever role you have in your world, but the realities don’t always favor that outcome. Therefore, you must always consider that leadership is dangerous ground. Someone, someplace, is going to perceive that your victory is their loss, and they are going to want to defend their territory. You must be prepared to not lose, or know when not to engage so that you can live on for another fight. Leading is not for the faint of heart.

A non-combatant leader must have some sort of a “sword” in order to be truly effective. The prospect of dealing with adversaries can be likened to dealing with any other belligerent and while physical conflict isn’t an option, the strategies needed to survive even these kinds of battle require similar tactics. Therefore, to succeed, you too must also cultivate your “weapons of war”.

In the business of leading others, that sword is often your reputation and your ability to make things happen, which is often the outward manifestation of political clout. While the politics could be those of the community or your internal organizational politics, if you have none at all, let’s see how things fare for you the first time you do something unpopular and your adversaries decide they’re going after your head. You’d better start off by having ground to fight for.

You can achieve political power in a number of different ways, but the one that is most utilized by ethical leaders and especially by those who are seeking to develop power (in the absence of having legitimate power) can be through networking. The more allies you have in your corner, the less likely that someone with a beef is going to pick a fight. And when they do, it’s nice to know you have backup. Where can you obtain these kinds of friends? You can get involved in local nonprofits, you can volunteer to take on less than desirable projects that will help the organization along, you can teach, or you can get involved in public outreach for ypur organization. In all of these cases, you get out and get seen as a face for the organization and people begin to recognize you as a doer.

When you lead, you are often alone at the front of the pack. Being alone and in front means you are a visible target as well. And when things meet resistance, or trouble is found along the way, the leader is the one who has to deal with it first. But knowing there is a pack behind you gives you strength and courage. It makes you realize there are people to fight for. And most of all, it is those individuals, who are in your corner, who cheer you on and remind you that you are indeed fighting the good fight.

Enlightened leadership requires open-mindedness. But while you can be receptive to others, others will only be receptive to you if you have something they want. The power you have is in your sword, the power of your team and the others who know you and support you. It is up to you to use it wisely.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on January 24, 2011 • Filed under: change, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, government, leadership, motivation, officership, politics, professionalism • Tagged: clausewitz, FHZ, fire service, FireEMSBlogs, Firefighter Nation, Firehouse Zen, government, Hilton Head Island, leadership, management, Mick Mayers, motivation, Musashi, officer, opportunity, politics, professionalism, strategy, Sun Tzu

The New Year: The Object of Power

2 comments

Orwell said:

We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish a dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.

Once empowered, as we discussed before in this blog, what would you do with it? Use it to beneficial means? Punish your detractors? Lift the world?

Legitimate power, in the sense of leading others, is limited to the amount of leverage your followers will permit you. Granted, you can dismiss those who don’t agree with you in some cases, but the shouting never goes away. The powerful may believe themselves to be so, but the mighty can at once be chopped down by the feeble. If you doubt that, there are hundreds of stories in which this can be shown to be true.

I’m not impressed because there’s a bridge named after you, or a building, or even a document. Maybe if your image is imprinted on currency, that might change things. But the truly powerful are so because they have empowered others and that lasting image of mentorship, of fostering knowledge, of truly leading others, because others have granted you that privilege, well, that is real power.

Only the truly transformative and engaging leaders can provide that kind of experience, where their vision is communicated and moved forward by others. This is a concept that transcends professionalism; it is embracing leadership as a calling. Do you want to be an ordinary leader, or one that is powerful? Leadership at this level requires commitment, honesty to self, and an understanding of the world. It’s yours if you can embrace change, open yourself up to it, and to set the example to others.

Happy New Year. Lead on. We’re watching.

Posted by Michael "Mick" Mayers on December 31, 2010 • Filed under: change, Command & Leadership, education, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, leadership, motivation, planning, politics, professionalism, rebellion, revolution, Training & Development • Tagged: change, conflict, dictator, education, empowerment, FHZ, fire service, Firehouse Zen, Hilton Head Island, leadership, management, Mick Mayers, motivation, Orwell, planning, politics, power, professionalism, quote, South Carolina, transactional leadership, transformational leadership, vision

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