Building Loyalty and Respect

I recently had a request to write an article on building crew loyalty and respect.  From the standpoint of an established officer with a proven history, this concept isn’t very difficult however; being a new or acting officer can leave you at a major disadvantage in this crucial area.  The question remains: how do you establish and build these key components needed for proper team development?  Although there are many books and articles you could read, I have found the solution to be much simpler.

The golden rule I was taught as a child is often the fix to many of a company officer’s problems.  “Treat others the way you want to be treated!”  When I look at building respect the first step is to give respect.  To build loyalty the first step is to give loyalty.  Depending on your competence level and confidence, the time needed to see a return of that investment will vary however, if you don’t initiate the process don’t expect your peers or subordinates to do the work.

The second part to this which if you are already having problems may be a little late to consider is setting up the right attitude before you become a leader.  The way you follow your superiors will often be the way your people will follow you.  If you are a good follower and become a leader, the ability to demand higher of your subordinates will appear less hypocritical and genuine.  Take the example of a guy/girl that is always bad mouthing their leaders behind their backs.  When they become a leader, what precedent have they set as acceptable behavior?  You cannot expect someone to get your back when they know you are always stabbing people in the back yourself.

Here are some things you can do to facilitate building respect and loyalty with your peers and crew:

– Act with INTEGRITY, Speak with INTEGRITY, Listen with INTEGRITY!  INTEGRITY, INTEGRITY, INTEGRITY!!!

– Explain your intended goals and how you intend to get there.

– Immediately start to consider and correct the way you are treating people.

– Seek out classes and opportunities to better yourself to show you deserve the loyalty and respect.

– Do not partake in gossip!  You cannot expect loyalty if you are talking behind someone’s back.

– Maintain an “open book” personality, what you see is what you get, no hidden motives or agendas.

– Stand up for your crew and yourself!  If you make a mistake own it, if your crew makes a mistake, own it!

– Handle things at the lowest level possible, no one likes a tattle tale especially when the tattle tale is their leader.

– If someone tells you something you have to report, tell them you have to report it and give them the chance to report it with you rather than throwing them under the bus.

– Know who you can trust when discussing issues (hint: when in doubt you should be able to go to a higher rank).

– Become a stable person.  It is hard to back someone who is never in the same place emotionally, physically, or intellectually.

– Stick with it because it will take longer to build loyalty and respect after you have already lost it.

Like any other relationship, building the loyalty and respect needed to have a functional team will take time.  The process in never ending and even the best leaders can destroy years of work with a single mistake.  In my opinion, he best way to have the crew you always wanted is to be honest, keep an open line of communication, and avoid damaging the progress you have already made.  Integrity is key to every step and often begins with an internal look.  If you can be honest with yourself, it will make being honest with everyone else easier.  Beyond that just follow the golden rule “Treat others like you want to be treated!”

Reflections of a Chief

Today another good man and chief received the full honors of a Fire Department procession.  He was loved by all, which was evident by the support of the local departments.  For me, it was more personal than professional.

Throughout my career, I have witnessed many horrible things.  From my time in Afghanistan to just working on the streets of Charleston, several visions will continue to haunt me in my sleep.  While most of these were put off until I had the ability to deal with them, I realized after my first encounter with Chief Winn, that they were not something I had to handle alone.

After holding the hand of a dying 16 year old in the back of an ambulance, I returned to my station to find Chief Winn and his associates waiting for me and my crew.  Years of experience had led me to the conclusion that they were the Critical Incident Stress Management team sent to see how we were doing after a tough call.  What I did not know at the time was that they had heard about the call through informal channels and volunteered to show up.  The smallest gesture of giving me someone to talk to has helped more than imaginable.

Many of the tough calls I have been on, including a 76 person mass casualty event in Afghanistan, still bother me from time to time. Even after the mandatory Critical Incident Stress Debriefing, I was bothered by the images of dead people.  The one difference between the 16 year old and all of the other bad calls is that I don’t remember the specific details or the kids face anymore.  While many people can argue as to why, I like to think it was Chief Winn’s intervention that allowed me to process everything and let it go.  In a career that exposes you to many gruesome and sometimes despicable things, eliminating one of the “ghosts” is a huge deal.  Knowing Chief Winn has made me a better and stronger person.  Prior to him touching my life, I always blew off the debriefings and defusing sessions as a necessary thing to be checked off.  The traditional concept of being the “big tough firefighter” stood in the way of seeking the help I needed.  Being a company officer, it is sometimes hard to see the long lasting effects of the decisions we make.  Turning down help for you or your crew is never the smart thing to do.  We are charged with the responsibility of sending our people home the same way or perhaps better than they arrived to work.  This includes mind and body.

For me, saying good bye to Chief Winn was more than a professional gesture that was deserved by his years of service; it was saying thank you for supporting me when I didn’t even know I needed it.  My story is one out of many that attests to the life of a hero and like other heroes, the stories told of someone’s deeds will make them live on in the hearts and minds of others forever!

Thank you for your service and for helping me!

FDIC Report finally completed

Fire Department Instructor Conference 2012

Here is the fruits of my labor.  Although it was written to my department, I hope that everyone takes the time to read it.  I presented the information with every attempt to leave personal bias out of the information.  With that being said, I need to say that I do not agree with all of the material being presented.  Hope you enjoy!

Positive outlooks and attitude will carry you far

“In every person who comes near you, look for what is good and strong; honor that; try to imitate it, and your faults will drop off like dead leaves when their time comes.”. – John Ruskins

Through adversity and turmoil we are forged into the people who look back at us in the mirror.  Learning life lessons and imitating the good things of those around us can only improve who we are.  Drawing inspiration and motivation from others allows for a limitless supply of options.

It is true that even the best people, who are a driving force behind movements, have a bad day.  Surrounding yourself with good people isn’t always possible which leaves two options:  follow everyone else’s ups and downs or change your perception to focus on the good.

Like all advice blogs, this is sometimes easier to point out for others to do rather than do it yourself.  In the end, you have to strive to be a better person and even if you fall short, don’t give up or surrender.

I have often talked to people about controlling the things they can and for most situations the only thing that you have 100 percent control over is how you perceive the world.  This key concept will allow you to become a more balanced leader.

Most valuable assets

If you ask the average officer what they believe is the most expensive asset, many might respond with the training or fire apparatus.  This is far from the truth.  Although harder to place a dollar figure on, loyal employees and those dedicated to the career of firefighting are far more valuable than any piece of equipment, station, or training. When looking at the budget, it is clearly visible that the people cost the agency the most which in most cases makes them seem to be the biggest liability. Understanding the element of human capital and how every dollar spent on their wages becomes transformed into a useful service is sometimes difficult. The biggest thing behind these concepts is that it is not cheaper in the long run to just hire someone new at a lower rate of pay than the person that has left. The countless hours spent molding that person to fit your agency, the money spent out-fitting that person with equipment and gear, and the development of good group dynamics makes this persons value sky-rocket.

Now comes the part where many of you say…. Ok I get it, how does this apply to me as an officer? The way we treat our most valuable assets often directly correlates to their job satisfaction and determines if they stay or not. Do you treat them like you want to be treated? Are you their mentor and guide to lead them through their career and the intricacies of your department? Are you their advocate when things are going good or bad? This ability to stand up for your people, bear the responsibility for their shortcomings, and ability to foster their growth is the key to keeping the good people we need to enhance our career field. Lead, educate, motivate, protect, and restrain are the building blocks necessary to taking care of our most valuable assets. If our trucks aren’t the most expensive asset and they get cared for every single day, imagine how much effort should be placed on keeping our people.

Leadership analogy

I was recently asked to write an analogy about leadership and organizational design for class.  I immediately began thinking about the line from Forrest Gump pertaining to a box of chocolates however; further consideration led me to look at it compared to a blueprint for a home.

When we first start our journey as a leader, our blueprint is crude, without depth, definition or detail much like a child had drawn it with a crayon.  Not just any crayon mind you, rather the large ones that have only five colors in the box.  As we grown in our leadership roles and understanding we no longer focus on the shiny new badge and must learn the inner working of our organization.  Now comes a graduation in our design, we start to use colored pencils to add in the details.  Just as a home needs electrical, plumbing and other systems to function, we realize that the organization has needs too.  We begin to look at how the people interact, the goals that are being set and the motivation that drives everyone.  For many of us, this is where our design sits.  We never take the time to further understand the intricacies that add to the functionality and overall look of the blueprint.  For the most part, someone could look at it and say, “Its a house right?”

The hardest step in the leadership progression comes from years of practice and a greater understanding of what makes a leader a leader.  Being able to absorb the principles and theories is not enough to make someone an effective leader.  An architect/engineer could understand every math formula in the world and know the perfect combination of form and functionality however, without being able to apply this information to the real world, it is only speculation.  Just as the master builders have done over the centuries, great leaders must dedicate themselves to becoming better at applying their experience and knowledge.  Taking the knowledge of leadership theory and being able to have the fortitude and integrity to follow it up with action is what will make you great.

To truly progress the quality of our leadership/blueprint, we need to take that next step.  This involves in-depth personal analysis and refining our skills.  Obtaining knowledge, maintaining proficiency, stepping back to see the larger picture along with a full understanding of how to read people is key to graduating to a fine point pen to draw with.  Until we reach this stage, in our leadership proficiency, our blueprint will remain the quality suited for hanging on our parent’s refrigerator.  If you are truly serious about being a leader, this will not suffice, you should reach for a museum quality drawing that others will admire.  In the end, the overall goal is to have a blue print, etched with laser precision, that anyone can look at and say, “You are a great leader!.”

Daily thought series: 9

“Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you’ll land amongst the stars.” – Les Brow

The officer that accepts mediocrity is actually setting themselves up to receive less than the standard.  Expect high levels of performance, and in the event that those under you are human and fall short of the expectations, they should still be doing better than what is required.  This goes for everything we do. On the other side of this, you can’t expect perfection without being able to accept that they will make mistakes because no one can maintain perfection.  Like most of the things we do, it requires balance.

Complacency Kills

In most cases, complacency will result in the death of a business due to a lack of innovation and progression in a competitive market however, in the business of the fire service complacency can result in actual death.  This complacency does not have to occur on the fire-ground itself, in fact most of the complacent acts begin long before the bell goes off.  Consider yourself to be in the same line of work as a soldier in a war-zone since both have the same deadly consequences.  Do you think the soldier’s first time checking out his rifle occurs during a firefight?  I bet not!  Do you think the first time a soldier trains on strategies and tactics is as he is entering a building full of insurgents?  I bet not!

The truth is, that we are given ample opportunities to prevent death by complacency prior to the emergency tones going off.  The basics of our job is what kills people.  Firefighter doesn’t check out airpack, air pack fails, firefighter dies.  That is the direct line of complacency killing someone.  The less noticeable line occurs through years of “checking boxes” in regards to inspections, training and other mundane tasks.  This type of complacency becomes a tradition that is passed down through the generations of firefighters.  It may not kill you or your crew but a generation or two down the line, it will.

As an officer, there should be a generous portion of energy expended to combat the complacency that occurs when people are required to do the same thing over and over.  Getting involved, incorporating different aspects of training, and requiring your crew to maintain proficiency are all ways to combat this epidemic.  Ultimately, whether on an emergency scene or sitting at the breakfast table with your crew, complacency has the potential of death!

Are we developing the next generation of Leadership?

Many Departments focus on succession planning training; offer classes and have programs designed to develop the next generations of Fire Ground commanders.  These programs are invaluable; however, with declining budgets and many fringe benefits being cut some agencies are seeing these go away.

What can we do in house or even at the company level to train and develop the next generation?  Two quotes that I have always held on to and tried to live are:

“Teach your job to the person below you and learn the job of the one above you.”

And:

“There is no success without a successor.”

Are we developing true leadership?  I am not referring to an individual who can command a fire scene or a company officer who is really good at being first due to the big one; I’m referring to Leadership qualities not associated with decision making on scene.  There are so many qualities of a good leader that I don’t have the time this morning or the space in this post to delve into it- But one of the most important qualities of a good leader is passing on those characteristics and qualities (good ones) to the next generation.  This is often overlooked, or leaders feel that setting a good example is enough.  Others feel knowledge is power and sharing will diminish their power.  ( I believe these individuals to not be true leaders at all, but that’s another subject) What about a proactive approach?  I challenge you to teach your leadership qualities to your subordinates and teach them why your leadership style has developed the way it has.  Do they know what leaderships truly is?  If you educate them on leadership I guarantee you that will challenge you to be even better.   Sit with them, share why you think some aspects are more important than others.  Share your strengths and your weaknesses.  Then they will begin to develop their own leadership style and hopefully will take your passion for leadership with them.  Sharing your weaknesses will not take away your clout; trust me, you don’t have them fooled.  They know your not perfect.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe in “white board” training only, nor do I tend toward the “touchy feely” but I believe this process in leadership development is lacking.  Someday you will promote, and those below you will promote into a leadership role?  Have you done your job to prepare them?

Leadership Competencies

Some people look at leadership as something obtained through years of experience.  The truth is that just being around leaders or acting as a leader is not enough to make you a great leader.  One thing I see a huge problem with is most people don’t have a clear picture of the competencies that need to be fostered and built upon to become a good leader.  There are many models and lists however like many leadership subjects, the military has had centuries to perfect the type of leadership we use in the fire service.  With that in mind I compiled a list of leadership competencies that are required of military leaders in all of the branches of the military.

Exercising Sound Judgment

• Developing and applying broad knowledge and expertise in a disciplined manner, when addressing complex issues
• Identifying interrelationships among issues
• Taking all critical information into account when making decisions

 

Adapting

• Maintain composure in stressful situations
• Work constructively and resourcefully under pressure
• Demonstrate flexibility and resilience
• Seek and accept constructive criticism
• Balance change and continuity

Inspiring Trust

• Establishing open, candid, and trusting relationships
• Treat all individuals fairly and with respect
• Maintain high standards of integrity
• Place mission success over personal gain
• Demonstrate loyalty to the unit, the mission, and the chain-of-command

Leading Courageously

• Display both moral and physical courage
• Maintain and project confidence in all situations
• Project credibility and poise even when challenged
• Show a willingness to take risks and act independently
• Take personal responsibility and accountability for actions
• Maintain focus, intensity and persistence, even under adversity

Demonstrating Tenacity

• Take persistent, repeated action to overcome an obstacle
• Keep with a difficult task even after meeting rejection
• Be resilient

Leading by Example

• Manage and publicly demonstrate personal and professional priorities that are consistent with Core Values and Competencies
• Show subordinates that actions and words support one another
• Embrace and demonstrate qualities of excellent followership

Assessing Self

• Develop a personal leadership development plan that motivates me to pursue further improvement
• Base this development on an increased awareness of personal strengths and weaknesses, values, performance, preferences, and styles
• Understand how these impact my decisions and relationships with others
• Continually learn

These competencies are a place to start focusing on and may require many different skills and traits to be able to become proficient in them.  The key to becoming a good leader revolves around being willing and able to constantly improve yourself to be someone that others want to emulate.