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Evolution And You

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You can choose to keep your head in the sand or come up for air. It's really YOUR choice.

In an uncharacteristic Firehouse Zen moment, I’m going to share some not-so-heartwarming news with you: If you fail to evolve, you will die. It’s not all about cheerleading and mentoring. Some of this motivation has to come from the subject themselves. If you are not intrinsically motivated, you can only be kicked in the head so many times before it’s time for us to move on to someone who genuinely WANTS to succeed.

I am inspired by this post from the New York Times that discusses what is known as the Dunning-Kruger Effect — our incompetence masks our ability to recognize our incompetence. In essence, some people are so stupid, that they don’t even recognize that they are that stupid.

It’s like the contemporary fire officer who continues to discuss his or her lousy computer skills.  Do you know one?  While twenty years ago, it might not have been a big deal, but virtually everything we do these days as a company or chief officer requires a certain understanding of how to complete forms, create documents and memos, and to analyze data.

I don’t know of a single department in the nation who is still using a typewriter to perform these tasks, although I’m sure someone will pipe up and claim that distinction.  Unless you are some superstar fireground tactician, I don’t know anyone so gifted that they can forgo the skills required to cover the administrative requirements of the job, and those skills include basic computer use.  Claiming you can’t work a computer just doesn’t cut it in the 21st Century; if you are so confused by a word processing program that you can’t manage to put out a coherent memo, it might be time for a career change.

But this isn’t a rant about not being able to use a computer.  The point is that as times evolve, so do our jobs.  You can complain about it and moan about it all you want, but the expectations placed on us as leaders require us to understand and manage change. You may not be an early adopter, in fact, you might be the last one dragged kicking and screaming to the next level, but at some point, you must make the change or expect to become irrelevant.  As a company officer, your redeeming skill might have been that you could last the longest in a smoky room without puking your guts up, but now that we have methods to skip that desired attribute, you’d better polish some of your other abilities up soon else you will be yesterday’s news.

We must constantly evaluate our knowledge, skills, and abilities and determine what we can do to evolve.  If we fail to do that, we are dooming ourselves to obsolescence. If retirement is within your sixty-day window, that might not matter to you, but if you plan on hanging in for the next few years, I suggest you learn more.  You have to be smart enough to realize you don’t know everything and certainly not so stupid that you think you do.

Posted by truck6alpha on July 24, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Nation, General, change, education, fire service, leadership, motivation, officership, planning, professionalism • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Dedication to Customer Service

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How dedicated to serving your public are you? We seem to pay a certain amount of lip service to “serving the public, 24/7, 365″ in our mission statements. I always hear how proud we are to “serve”, but do we draw the line at putting out fires? Carting them to a medical facility? Or are you in an organization who will put someone back in bed or stop a leak until a plumber can get there?

I hear about all-hazards response all the time, but do we draw the line at “hazards”, or do we raise the bar a little? While I don’t advocate anyone in our jurisdiction calling 9-1-1 because they need help completing their tax return, if a situation really does affect our customer that they had to dial that number, aren’t we charged with understanding how this is perceived as an emergency before saying we won’t help?

My wife owns a flooring company. While a floor product delivery may not constitute an emergency issue to you, to her company, when a customer needs a product someplace at sometime, if it isn’t there, it creates issues that may effectively stop the completion of the project, be it a remodel or new construction.  This week, a delivery had to go from the manufacturer directly to the project location in another state.  To the trucking company, excellent customer service was a non-issue: After neglecting to send the materials in a truck with a lift gate, they decided, “Oh well, you’ll just have to wait until we can get a truck to do that later.”  Later being three days later.

They had a pretty blase attitude about the whole thing, despite the fact that they were contracted to deliver something, they had an obligation to deliver it at a certain time and place, and being the subject matter experts on shipping, should have probably realized that they weren’t going to just hand-carry 3900 pounds of product off the truck (especially since they had to use a fork-lift to get it on there). Then to compound the issue, they weren’t very careful about how the product was loaded and they damaged some of the pieces. Again, “Oh, well…”

Dedication to customer service requires a “can do” attitude; it might seem to be outside your scope of practice, but depending on what your marketing strategy happens to be – and make no mistake about it, your mission statement and vision is your marketing strategy when you are fighting for ever-dwindling tax funds or donations – your organization will be faced with very specific situations in which you will have to stretch your resources to “make it happen”.  In our case, we rented a truck, picked up the material from the trucking company and delivered it ourselves.  The customer was completely thrilled.

In my wife’s company, we hope our efforts will be recognized in customer loyalty and a willingness to pass the word on. In emergency services, we hope that the care we take with each challenge is shared loudly when budget time or the annual fundraiser comes around.  You can draw the line where you choose, but in these times of limited funds, can you afford to ignore the added value of extraordinary customer service? It is extra effort that will distance you from the rest of the pack.  When a decision must be made between funding an analysis of the migratory path of earthworms in your community and cutting firefighters, that’s ammo you can’t afford to ignore. The next time you are drooling over your wish list and realizing you can’t afford things, remember the choices you made as to where you drew that customer service line.

Posted by truck6alpha on July 18, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Nation, Firefighting Operations, Funding & Staffing, General, Media Relations, Patient Management, change, customer service, education, fire service, government, leadership, motivation, planning, politics, professionalism, revolution • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In Any Change, Timing Is Essential

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According to Musashi in The Book of Five Rings, timing is the core principle in strategy.  You must adapt your strategy to coordinate timing with your skill, and you must know when to attack and when not to attack.  All things ebb and flow and so there is cyclical timing, as in waiting for the proper time to execute, when the energy of the defenses are low or distracted.  There is also the benefit of understanding when the energy of the defense is at it’s peak and to use varying methods to either stall, divert, or spread out the defense until the timing can be right.  Sun Tzu said: “The victorious army first realizes the conditions for victory, and then seeks to engage in battle.  The vanquished army fights first, and then seeks victory.”

I know company and chief officers who have no sense of timing.  They’ll go off half-cocked at everything and anything, thinking that by brute strength and a full-on frontal assault, they’ll impose their will on whatever comes along.  Imagine their surprise when not only do they get it wrong, but they look bad in the process.  It doesn’t matter how right you are (or think you are), if the time and opportunity don’t meet, you will find yourself on the losing end again.

As frustrating as it can be sometimes, the officer must determine which way the wind is blowing and then introduce the change (or proposal for change) when the opportunity presents itself.  And I’ll tell people again and again, as I’m telling you now, watch officers who don’t understand this and I’ll bet they’re not perceived as very successful at their jobs.

Just as water flows to conform with boundaries and seeks the most efficient path, so should the officer possess the ability to change with one’s own situation to shift between options when presented with new information.  Be aware of where loyalties lie, with the old and with the new, seek the chance to win over those on either side, and be the master of change.

Posted by truck6alpha on July 15, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Nation, change, customer service, fire service, leadership, motivation, officership, politics, professionalism, revolution • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Finding Art in Unexpected Places

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The phalanx was an example of artform, of excellent teamwork.

The phalanx was an example of artform, of excellent teamwork.

Firegeezer posted a very recent article that reminds us art, as in beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.  I found this interesting, especially since I just finished writing this post as well and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect (and the image he posted I’m sure attracted a lot of curiosity as well).

While there are individuals out there who think that art is only art if it speaks equally to everyone who views it, there are those of us who see things differently and can see beauty and form in things ranging from a symphony to that of graffiti. It’s a matter of being open to what constitutes art.

Now before you think I’m one of those people who think throwing a bucket of paint on a canvas is art (I don’t),  I think there’s a quote that defines it very nicely, from my own perspective, of course: “Art should not have to be explained”.  There are individuals who think that anything is art, and yet, to me, if it is ambiguous and requires explanation, then it hasn’t conveyed any message at all.

Art in its most basic form, to me, has to send a message.  If you can examine a piece of art, even some of the most hallucinogenic pieces, and at least grasp the concept, or can see or smell or feel something about it (even revulsion, I guess, if that’s what you are trying to convey) then to me, you are creating art.  Whether I should have to FUND your wild-ass version of art, we might have a discussion about later, but I digress.

Just as a musician composes her artwork, or a painter his, or a photographer, or a chef, we as leaders should consider our masterpiece in people and in developing the synergy of teams.  We should have vision and an understanding of what it is we want to convey when others engage our artwork; we should choose objectives like colors and use those directions to define our artwork; we should compose our piece by insuring that the people, their output, and their interactions work together like colors and the perspective and the proportion work together.

Leading is an art form.  There are those of us who can appreciate a well-orchestrated, professional team and conversely, we can recognize bad art, that is, thrown-together, amateurish, and discordant “teams”.  Does your team reflect art or is it haphazard and lack thought?  Is it a free-for-all like a bucket of paint thrown up on the wall (that even my three-year old could do) or has it gone under the microscope and been honed into perfection?

Treat your teams like a masterpiece and appreciate what you can do if you take the time and refine your people.  Step back and take in what each part lends to the orchestra and realize that if you conduct it, and shape it, you can take even the most out-of-tune elements and weave them into a concerto that amazes all who behold it.  While not every element sounds in tune alone, together, and with the right synchronization, it can be plugged in to create greatness. When you can do this, others will see you as a true leader rather than one who just so happens to be playing along with the band.

Posted by truck6alpha on April 21, 2010 • Filed under: US&R • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Capitalize on Your Strengths

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DC Ed is not happy. I didn't break it and don't ask me to fix it either.

DC Ed is not happy. I didn't break it and don't ask me to fix it either.

I was watching a gentleman installing some cabinets in our laundry room the other day. A few months ago, one of the cabinets fell off the wall; luckily, we saw it was going before it did and got the items out before it literally came down. The man was looking over the remnants of the previous installation (I wasn’t the installer) and made some comments about how to properly put cabinets up. I sheepishly informed him that I had no clue. While I’m pretty confident in the belief that if your community is in a total disaster, I’m probably one of the first people you should call.  If you need a cabinet put up, I’d go elsewhere.  Quickly.

I can put up a raker shore, but it isn’t going to win any awards for precision cuts and edges. If you need to dig someone out of a building, or lead a company into a fire, or command a major incident, I’m your guy.  If you want it done right, you can forget anything involving auto repair, carpentry, or the finer points of heating and air conditioner installation.  Asking me to wire something is probably not wise (or safe) either.

We all have our strengths; each of us are good at some things and may be horrible at others. Instead, there are managers who try to fit the proverbial square peg into a round hole. Most of the people I work with can patch something together (see The Fixers), but the attempt is very much something not up to any standard.   When they are showing off their “handiwork” to me, I usually end up saying, “Well, it will hold until someone can get here to fix it better”.   Usually I end that with a little smile to acknowledge their efforts, knowing that I’m certainly not criticizing: if I had done it, it would probably look worse.

When we put together teams, to develop effective teams requires thought as to what is needed by the organization, but failing to consider the small team dynamics and assume everything is going to go swimmingly, is simply nonsense.  We used to have a chief whose idea of improving small team (i.e.; company) effectiveness was to put one good guy into a team of poor performers. That way we could “spread the wealth”. Ultimately, this would result in my look in return (me rolling my eyes heavenward, knowing what was going to happen) and a muttered, “We’ll see.”

No surprise then, when months later the recently transferred good performers were  looking for jobs elsewhere while the poor performers were laughing about how they “ran off another one”. If you really DO want to get rid of your best people, keep feeding them to the sharks. It’s usually not a matter of IF they bail, but WHEN.

Building a good team requires strong leadership. For those of you who are aspiring officers, this is your opportunity to shine. If your officer has some areas where they would like to improve, this is your chance to offer assistance in what he or she lacks (subtly, I’d suggest). Are they poor at documentation? Offer to help with reports. Are they better at medical than fire training? Offer to help with the former or the latter, whichever would help them. I had officers who wouldn’t know a decent knot if it hit them on top of the head; I was ultimately the go-to person anytime someone needed a good ropes and knots class.  The experience you will get in leading will pay dividends later.

If you are an officer, it is wise to be self-aware of your abilities.  Build on your strengths and surround yourself with those who can help you with your weaknesses. I would suggest informing your crew of how they can help you and ask for suggestions to improve. If done correctly, they will appreciate your candor, they will get a chance to show their particular expertise (and impress you), and put together with each other member of the team, fill an important role.

If you are building a home, you wouldn’t  have the framers do the electric and the roofers do the plumbing, would you? If it doesn’t make sense to do that with something as trivial as putting together a building (said tongue-in-cheek, I hope you realize), why would to take that same chance when building an effective fire and emergency response team?  Be smart and seek the people out to best fill the important roles on your team. You all will be that much happier with the end result.

Posted by truck6alpha on February 21, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Nation, Funding & Staffing, Training & Development, change, customer service, fire service, leadership, motivation, officership, planning, professionalism • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Get Your Facts Straight

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DSC00043As usual, Dave Statter is hard at work getting us News from the Beltway, where there always seems like something is going on (it’s a happening place).  In this case, crews were on scene preparing to extricate a patient declared deceased when it was determined that the victim was in fact, alive.  While I was not there, nor are all the facts out there for examination yet, it makes for a very graphic illustration of today’s discussion: What facts may seem to be in evidence right now may not always be accurate, thus the need for continual re-evaluation of your situation.

I’m not advocating continual monitoring of the “pre-hospital dead”, although I would hope that this is a good case for the medically affiliated that we need to insure pulslessness and apnea, and confirm asystole in three leads (and print it).  That is called triangulating your facts and documenting them in the hopes things don’t change later (like the person is actually alive).

No, what I want to discuss is that in all kinds of places where we need to make a decision, even though something appears to be true right now, it might not be in a few minutes, a few hours, or a few days.  Conditions change and regardless of the origin of the facts you hold dear, they might not always be accurate facts.  The response to this ever-changing environment isn’t to throw up your hands in frustration (like my children and firefighters seem to do sometimes), but to re-evaluate your situation and to flex with the new conditions.  There’s a quote attributed to Whitey Ford I heard years ago (and of course, I can’t find my source now) and I have to paraphrase it because I don’t remember it exactly: “Don’t make up your mind about something until the moment you absolutely have to; it may be that by the time for coming to a conclusion occurs, the conditions may have changed.”

People who worked with me closely before I made Chief probably recall my frustration with schedule changes, personnel changes, equipment and apparatus changes that occurred over the course of a shift, often with no warning.  Now as a Chief Officer, I have a different perspective on the situation because I now have to step back and look at “the whole forest”.  I now understand how and why some of those “course changes” have come about and I also see why frustration with those changes is counterproductive.

As firefighters, we deal with changing conditions on scene without too much drama.  We know Murphy is a constant companion and if anything, we are surprised if everything goes RIGHT on a scene.  No incident is “textbook”.  But because we are good at our jobs, we flex with the new situation, understand it, and make whatever we have work.  Why we can’t do that in our daily operations, I guess, is my question.

If there’s anything I know about myself, it’s that I know I am not a patient man.  In fact, I’m probably one of the least patient people I know.  I also know I don’t have a lot of tolerance for less-than-excellent performance.  But part of maturing and growing involves experience, and experience shows us that there are many changing elements that occur over the course of a day, and a life, and reacting to them rather than soaking them in and understanding them (and then solving the problem) isn’t productive.  In fact, it is stressful and irritating to those who we have to live with.

I have a lot of personal growth and understanding to continue working toward and I wish some of this stuff would have been shared with me when I was a firefighter and a young officer, but it wasn’t.  I now have that benefit of experience, though, and it is my responsibility to share it with you all.  Take the time to understand the situation and instead of criticizing, find benefit in the lessons we learn and resolve not to let mistakes happen again, or at least in the environment we personally control.

Get facts before making critical decisions and don’t dwell on them too long, because in many cases, the facts will change before you even get a chance to decide on them.  Take decisive action when necessary, and when not, take considered action, and always, always, continue to re-evaluate the situation. By understanding your surroundings, you will be safer and your life richer for it.

Posted by truck6alpha on January 28, 2010 • Filed under: Command & Leadership, Firefighter Nation, News, Patient Management, Rescues, change, customer service, leadership, officership, planning, professionalism, revolution, safety, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

US&R in Haiti: Wishing vs. Planning

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SC-TF1 US&R working in St. Tammany Parish, LA after Katrina.

SC-TF1 US&R working in St. Tammany Parish, LA after Katrina.

I’m sure everyone out there continues to keep an eye on Haiti.  I’m not easily shocked, yet even I have been amazed at some of the scenes from down there.  Every time I see another bit of news, I want to go hug my children and remind myself how fortunate we are.

When friends and family see the situation there, not knowing how US&R deployments really work, I get asked if SC-TF1 is going.  Each time, I have taken that opportunity to explain the workings (and separation) between the USAID/DART assets and domestic response (FEMA US&R and State US&R assets) and how “task forces just aren’t sent to international disasters through FEMA”.  Of course, by saying “never”, something I NEVER thought I’d see in all of my years working in this business is occurring: the cooperation and coordination of FEMA with EMAC for the possibility (note I said, “possibility”, not “probability”) of State US&R Task Forces being deployed along with FEMA-sanctioned assets to an international disaster.

But all that being said, in watching the events unfolding, I continue to try to get my head around the response and it frankly has been a challenge.  With any disaster, there needs to be an attack plan, but in most cases, these plans hinge on some basic tenets of organization, none of these which seem to apply in Haiti.  Having been hit by several prior disasters recently, the country was already in extremis and the current situation obviously doesn’t improve things.

I have already heard from my sources that the teams that are there are working under heavy force protection.  Any of us that thought operating in New Orleans post-Katrina was sketchy, one look at the situation in Haiti makes us understand that at least we had the force of law SOMEWHERE on our side.  Reports have indicated that aside from the overwhelming number of missions and dangerous conditions, another part of the reason that engaging missions is problematic is because there simply isn’t any way to get the equipment from the airport to the disaster: roads were bad to begin with, there’s only one active runway at the airport, and there’s no machinery to off-load equipment and supplies.  Once the materials do happen to get onto the ground, no matter what conventions you try to apply for allocating the resources, there isn’t any guarantee the locals will comply with it anyway.

So for this disaster, there are other “sub-disasters” that make it much more dire, and even the media isn’t astute enough to understand it.  This situation is going to get MUCH worse before it gets better, because there’s no way to effectively get the help to where it needs to go, and if it did get there, there’s no guarantee that it will be applied to the right area anyway (unless you count “at gunpoint” as an effective means of allocating resources).

While equipment and supplies are arriving, we could just send everything we have to the area, but without the people who know how to work it, the equipment is useless.  While one friend of mine said to this, “If you gave me a concrete cutting saw, I could probably figure it out”; I mentioned to him that if you didn’t know water was an important part in making the saw blade cut more effectively, failing to do something as simple as that might mean the difference between extricating someone with one blade or a half-dozen blades.  It occurs to me that there are nuances of working with our US&R tools that are completely lost on the uninitiated.  I said this the other day: “It’s the definition between an organized US&R resource and ‘mobs with shovels’”.

My point is, after all this rambling, is that this is very much a teachable moment for everyone, just as I hoped Katrina and other disaster have been.  Even for some of my non-emergency service readers out there, there is an extremely important lesson to be learned: Every community must understand its vulnerabilities and the potential for disaster, and plan accordingly.

The caveat to this is, that despite the presence of a written plan, you can have every contingency covered and discussed, if you don’t understand and practice the plan, it isn’t worth the paper it is written on (Anybody remember Katrina?).

It is imperative that elected officials along with those of us who serve the public safety sector of our respective communities (AND the citizens living in those communities) understand what likely scenarios can occur, know where the vulnerable populations exist, and understand what resources are needed.

For responders: If those resources aren’t readily available, it is then incumbent upon us all to know where to get those resources, how to legally obtain and use them, and even more important, when and how to call them.

For the elected officials: It requires insistence on development of these plans as well as FUNDING to support the plans.

For non-responder citizens: Maybe you should understand that you have a part in this as well, to insure you are prepared to go it alone for at least 72 hours and maybe have some ability to rely on your own preparedness and not look to government for the total solution.  Try checking out the recommendations here at the FEMA website.

So without too much further delay, maybe this is a moment for all of you (elected officials, responders, and citizens) to dig out your volumes of plans and look through them and begin to understand not only what is in them, but at least what your part in that plan will be if, God forbid, you have to utilize them.   While we here in the United States are subject to the same disasters as other nations, at least here, there is the force of law to keep this type of situation from getting out of hand (note the sarcasm).  My suggestion: have a plan, support it, practice it, and if things go badly, USE IT.

Stay safe and let’s keep the responders as well as the citizens of Haiti in our prayers.

Posted by truck6alpha on January 16, 2010 • Filed under: DHS, FEMA, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Nation, Funding & Staffing, Major Incidents, NIMS, News, Rescues, SAR, Special Operations, US&R, USAR, government, politics • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

As 2009 Ends

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Hilton Head Island Engine 1I took some time to be with my family over the holiday so I have a little catching up to do.  I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and now we continue to ready ourselves for a New Year.  Since this might be my last post for 2009, I thought I’d leave you with some thoughts toward something we all seem to do at the end of the year; that is, set goals for the upcoming year.

While we may not necessarily care for the structure of a goal-driven life, our lives demand some organization in order to achieve the things we desire.  If we wanted to get to a destination, we would reasonably choose the best route to get there depending upon what it is we hope to achieve.  If we wanted to get there in the fastest, most expeditious route possible, we should choose a straight route with little to distract us.  If we wanted to take a scenic route and experience the drive, we could look to see what way might provide a view of the scenery.  In either case, the route is of your choosing, but regardless, it still exists as a route to get from Point “A” to Point “B”.

Having no course is a choice we make sometimes as well, but the goal might just be to relax a little while, which is a goal in itself.  Just letting things happen and striking out on the road, in my much younger days, was something I’d do with a few days off.  I’d just get on the ol’ Suzuki GS750E (she was a beautiful bike) and just drive.  But to say there is absolutely NO goal would not be very accurate.  At some point I had to return home and go to work (thus, the goal would be to have fun until I had to go back to work).  I guess if I had no job, no home, and no family or friends, I could go aimlessly anywhere, but short of pushing around a shopping cart with my life’s possessions in it, I think you can understand that in order to have the things you want in life, at some point, a goal will be required.  Even then, the goal is to survive.  You may choose to simply exist (in which your goal might be relatively easy to fulfill, if say, someone was supporting you), but even if you chose to do nothing and die, it’s still something you are in pursuit of and as a result, is the target to which you aspire.

Since most of us have a computer on which we are reading this, and a requirement to pay the power bill to keep it running, or at least have to buy the coffee at the free internet cafe, you probably need to help others achieve their goals as part of a job.  While personally, you can choose the route that fits your needs, your goals must also fit the needs of those who are around you (spouse, family, friends, employer, community) .  If your spouse has a need (like replacing the car, or taking courses to advance their career, or anything, really) and sets goals to achieve that need, and you continually undermine those goals, I can reassure you that it won’t be a matter of “if”, but “when” your spouse ditches you.  Likewise, your team has needs as well, and those needs must be factored in whenever setting our personal goals.

Wandering aimlessly through the highways of America may be romantic and very appealing to you, but at some point, someone is going to have to put gas in the bike, lest we end up back at the shopping cart scenario again (And, yes, shopping carts require no fuel, so it’s a very achievable goal).  This all is meant to reinforce to each of you that while you may have personal goals, those around you have goals that involve you as well, and require you achieving your part of the puzzle for them to finish theirs.

Being part of a team defines you as being someone who is part of a group with some common goals.  How you get there from here may not be the same as your teammates, but your goals should not interfere with the achievement of their own goals; that’s called being selfish.  If you can’t mutually agree on how to get to the destination, then someone needs to get out, but it is always an act of assessment, negotiation, understanding, and cooperation, ending with commitment.

As part of a team, we expect you to want to do what you need to do to make your life fulfilling and we understand that as individuals, you have your own way of getting there.  But in setting goals for 2010, you each must consider strongly what it is you want in life, how you expect to achieve it, and how these decisions affect those who surround you.  Just as you need others to fulfill your goals, others depend on your reciprocal efforts as well.  In fire and emergency services, those team goals should revolve around committing to a willingness to serve others, as well as showing compassion for the people we serve.  There are many ways for us all to achieve that.  More importantly, however, as a leader, you should demonstrate to your team that the best way to get there is to always seek to do the right thing, to maintain dignity for our personnel as well as for our customers, and to excel at what we do.

All of us in the emergency service community should agree that it is never okay to just mail it in; we must agree to be THE BEST at doing our jobs.  Not only do the lives of our customers depend on our excellence, our own lives do as well.  I hear so often among our brotherhood a desire for the profession of “firefighter” to regain the trust and respect of the community that we had in the “old days”, but there must be a return to the values we held dearly then in order to regain that feeling.  So long as we allow immature and irresponsible individuals to continue to join our ranks (and be the visible face of our profession), WE CAN’T EXPECT A RETURN TO THAT SENTIMENT.

So the short form of it is this: we can all expect that we will be setting goals in our lives, in one fashion or another, so why not evaluate your needs and formalize those goals so you have a concrete vision of what it is you care to achieve in a month, a year, or five years.  After doing so, look at the people whose lives you touch, and determine whether your goals help them to meet their own goals as well. Then, set a goal of helping others, not just your families and friends and employers, but our entire profession, in an effort to bring honor and pride to our ranks again, through cooperative and meaningful pursuit of excellence.  If doing so means that you just stay out of trouble for a year, or if doing so means that you come up with a new way to fight fires, in either case, our mutual efforts toward keeping the good name of our brotherhood just that, will make us all the better.

It is my most earnest hope that each of you have a successful and blessed New Year, with health and happiness to all of your friends and family.  In any case, I hope we can all work together and re-establish our profession as one which takes the little bit that we get and uses our ingenuity and work ethic to solve the problems of our neighbors.  But we need everyone on board to be, well, on board.  Have a safe New Year.

Posted by truck6alpha on December 30, 2009 • Filed under: Fire Rescue Topics, change, leadership, motivation, officership, planning, professionalism • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,