The Cost of Criticism

Humbleness and humility are essential qualities of the modern fire service leader.  It is a shame we don’t touch more on them in leadership courses as they are huge parts of leading a team.  The modern fire officer must have the ability to admit they are wrong, both to administration and subordinates.  It is crucial to gaining the respect of your crew that you are not too arrogant or entitled to use yourself as an example when appropriate.  While your goal should be to not make mistakes, they are going to happen.  Failure is one of the best tools for improvement as it keeps us on our toes and pushes us to train harder and do better.  Humility also lets your crew know that you aren’t full of crap.  The wealth of information at everyone’s fingertips has essentially created the end of the “because I said so” days.  In reality, those days should have been over long ago.  As I have previously discussed there is a time and a place for unwavering orders and training is simply not one of them.  The goal of training should be to hone your team’s skills and grow as a crew.  This is the time for your crew to ask how and why.  This is the time for the officer to answer these questions.  If this is not accomplished during training evolutions, it will spill over to the fireground where there is no time or place for it. 

One of the worst things that can happen to a young officer is harsh criticism of the way he or she is training their crew.  There is a difference between constructive criticism and attempting to belittle someone just to feel superior.  The effects of such actions are negative for both the sender and the receiver of the hostility.  I have been told such reactions to young officers teaching different methods are because older members are threatened.  While I cannot discount this assessment I have to wonder, why someone of equal or greater rank with a significantly longer tenure would possibly be threatened by a junior officer.  Regardless of the reason, the how is more important than the why under these circumstances.  It is the how that can have a seriously detrimental effect on upcoming officers and the department for years to come.  The only things that will occur from such tirades are a crew who does not respect their senior officer and a junior officer who will likely be unconfident in his or her abilities.  We need more mentors to teach our personnel how to operate in their new role rather than the berate them with what they are doing wrong!

When I was in my first year as an acting officer in charge I made the mistake of correcting my

subordinate in an embarrassing manner in front of multiple people during a training evolution.  What I did was wrong and something that I had been conditioned to think was normal.  A Lieutenant pulled me aside and explained to me how I was the only one that looked stupid in the situation.  He also asked me how I would feel if he was doing to me what I had just done to my subordinate.  What a huge wakeup call and important lesson!  Mentoring at its finest!  He went on to explain to me that when your subordinates are doing the wrong thing, you are the one who looks bad.  You look even worse when you embarrass them for messing up because you are ultimately responsible for how they operate.  He was absolutely right.  I tell this story to demonstrate my humility which has taken me years to find.  I screw up more often than I would like to admit and have learned that being up front about your shortcomings goes a long way with your crew.  It also puts a quick stop to outside criticism as owning your mistakes leaves nowhere for others to go. 

Where there real issue lies is in situations where you aren’t wrong and have only been perceived by others to have screwed up.  Perhaps it involves a new tactic you learned at a class or you are teaching a method which wasn’t around 20 years ago.  Outsiders will often inject themselves into your training evolution in a negative manner which not only interrupts the training session but also demeans that officer running it.  This is completely UNACCEPTABLE!  The cost of such actions is chipping away at the confidence of new or young officers.  The implications will eventually lead to second guessing and poor decision making out of fear of reprimand or mistreatment.  There is no reason to make anyone feel inferior in front of their crew.  If there is a real or perceived safety issue, it should be discussed to the side and out of earshot from other members of the training session.  Also learn to accept that not everyone will agree on everything and doing something different doesn’t mean it is being done wrong!  Obviously I have been on the wrong end of these situations and I am going to try and use my experiences to stop it from happening to others.  Many new officers are met with harsh criticism which may or may not be accurate.  As a group, the fire service is HORRIBLE about accepting new information or tactics.  As with most things in life, the older we get the more we are set in our ways.  However, that is not an acceptable practice in our trade as it continues to evolve. 

If you are new officer meeting such resistance, just remember to stick to your guns and do what is right.  Attend as many classes and conferences as possible to learn our craft from those who take is seriously rather than from those who take from the job yet never give back.  There will be times those who work against you are right.  You have to be willing to accept and recognize these moments as part of your path to humility.  There will also be many times where they are wrong and this is where you need to prepare to feel lonely and beat up.  Push through, be the wave of change that breaks the sea of content.  Don’t let people put you down or belittle you.  Only you have the power to hold your head up high and push through their nonsense.  I struggle with this on a daily basis.  The main reason I run my page and write these blogs to let others know they are not alone.  While it hurts to be hated, in some cases it means you are winning because they are talking about you and the changes you are trying to make.  The ladder to the top isn’t at an ideal angle, it requires smart and steady climbing.  Pace yourself as you suppress ignorance and better you crew and your department.    

Knowledge Is Power

We have all heard the saying knowledge is power.  It refers to increasing your ability to control situations by having as much knowledge as possible.  This includes knowledge gained from formal education as well as that which is gained from experience. Obviously formal knowledge coupled with experience is the best scenario for creating well rounded individuals who excel at problem solving.  A well educated, experienced firefighter is one that is able to rapidly make critical decisions.  While knowledge is an overwhelmingly positive attribute I have also noticed over the years that knowledge seems to be used as weapon as well.

All of us had different levels of knowledge when we entered the fire service.  Some of us were hands on learners, some were book learners, and some excelled at both.  Those who enter our ranks come from all walks of life, different jobs, and various levels of education.  Regardless, when it came to our craft we all had a lot to learn.  This learning is where I am noticing a large generational disconnect in our occupation.  The older generation seems to think the younger generation doesn’t know anything, while the younger generation seems to think the older generation doesn’t want to teach them.   Both sides have a valid argument as I have discussed before but for the purpose of this article I will discuss how withholding information is being used as a control mechanism.

Everyone wants to be the go to person for something.  It is a source of pride and accomplishment to be an expert on a topic and rightfully so.  However, this can be accomplished without locking your knowledge away in your own personal vault.  Firefighting is a team sport.  I highly doubt the New York Giants put the offense on the field and only give the quarterback the playbook.  If you don’t share your knowledge with the rest of your department, that’s exactly what you are doing.  While there are situations, mainly with administrative functions, where information cannot be shared most information should flow freely with your peers.  Sharing knowledge makes the whole team stronger.  You may be surprised what you can learn from someone else as well!

We have all heard the accounts of first year guys who don’t know how to start a chainsaw, mop a floor, or cut the grass.  For the majority of my generation and those that came before me these skills were learned at a young age.  It can be difficult to comprehend that kids are simply not taught “life skills” anymore.  Blame the schools, blame the parents, or blame society but it will not change the outcome.  You can also blame the fire service because I have heard multiple accounts of senior guys or officers who refuse to teach these skills.  Instead they ridicule these poor kids for not knowing but then push them away when they ask for instruction.  You can’t hold people accountable for things they were never taught.

Think about how information is shared in your agency.  Do people readily share information or do you frequently find things out after the fact?  Unfortunately, many agencies seem to withhold information until something goes wrong or pressure is applied to divulge it.  I don’t see the value of not sending relevant information down the chain to the guys in the street.  Your officers need to know when a new target hazard comes to their area.  Your engineers need to know about road closures before the day they happen.  Your firefighters need to know how to deploy a new hose load before it is put on the rig.  How on earth does not passing along this information help anyone?

I get extremely perturbed when someone answers a question by saying it is none of your business, you don’t have to worry about that, that’s above your paygrade, etc.  I become even more enraged when someone of rank or seniority selects this type of response.  It appears to me that some are a little insecure about sharing their knowledge because they think they will no longer be useful.  If this is the case, you probably weren’t all that useful to begin with.   I think this perception is based on those with time on who STOP learning and then get passed over because they became stagnant.  Sharing knowledge didn’t cause this, ceasing to acquire new knowledge did.  Refusing to share what you know with the next generation will probably not help you move through the ranks either.

I have also seen people try to be the only one who knows something in an effort to move up in the organization.  What is it about knowledge that makes people think it can be used as a bargaining chip when it comes time for a better assignment or promotion?  If the only time you show what you know is in a promotional board, you won’t likely make the cut anyways.  I am unable to grasp how someone of time and/or rank could think that passing along what they know would cause them to be passed over for promotion.  When is the last time a firefighter was step promoted because someone shared information with him? When is the last time you heard of a Captain who was reduced back to firefighter because he shared his knowledge?  I bet you never have.  On a side note, if your department is taking away rank and giving it to subordinates who knowledge was shared with let me know.  I would love to do a case study and then write a book about it because you are probably the only department on earth using this practice!

You could be withholding without knowing it as well.  Do you have an apartment complex that requires a specific hose layout?  Do you have a piece of equipment that requires a specific procedure to operate?  Do you know how to use a computer program others don’t?  Did you learn a new tactic at a conference or class?  Do you have knowledge of an area or complex others don’t?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, have you shared this information?  If not, you are abusing the power of your knowledge.  I don’t care how monumental that new forcible entry technique is, if you aren’t teaching others how to do it as well then you are holding us back. 

Photo Credit to the amazing Paul Combs

The next time you learn something new see if your crew knows what you do.  Share it with your second and third due companies, the other shifts, and anyone you think has the potential to benefit from your knowledge.  You don’t need 20 years on the job to teach someone something new!  Ask questions often and soak up as much knowledge as you can.  Force those with more time than you to share they knowledge they have acquired over their career because they won’t be here forever.  Remember, once you hang up your gear for the final time, the opportunity to pass on your knowledge has expired.    The only person who looks bad when you withhold information is you.  

Say Goodbye To Your Good Guys

               I have been told my whole career that I cannot expect everyone to love the job the way I do and to that I say blasphemy.  While this may not be a practical expectation, it doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be one.  There are a lot of things which tear at the fabric of a fire department and for that matter the fire service in general.  One of the big ones, which few want to talk about, is the acceptance of employees who joined our occupation out of need for a job rather than any type of calling.  This also exists in the volunteer ranks with those who came to hang out and get a cool T-shirt but contribute squat to the department.  While that may be harsh, I firmly believe that our craft is more than just a job and needs to be treated as such in order to operate at a level which will provide the appropriate level of safety to our citizens. 

              We have all worked around underachievers, less talented individuals, and those who simply never should have been hired.  In many cases the deficiencies with these employees are blatantly obvious and easily dealt with.  A more dangerous type of employee is the one that doesn’t necessarily seem deficient at face value.  I refer to these employees as “good guys.”  Too often people use the term good guy as a cover for those in our ranks who have no business sharing our craft.  If you have never paid attention to how this term is used, I suggest you start now.       

Normally if someone is referred to as good guy it is sort of a polite insult.  Being a good guy generally means you are likely nice, pleasant, and mean well but no one can find anything job related to describe you in a positive manner.  Good guys usually don’t bring any type of operational value to the team and are content to show up and collect their check and benefits.  In other cases they freelance or perform other dangerous acts on the fireground which are accepted because they are nice people.  Essentially, the term good guy is a politically correct tool for describing individuals who are liked on a personal level but don’t seem to bring any specific value to the job.  Think good and hard about what is said when describing those whom you really look up to.  You might hear things like great nozzleman, incredible pump operator, great leader, mentor, etc.  What you will not hear is yeah, he is a good guy.  Now think of the people you have heard referred to as good guys.  I bet they are more useful for borrowing a tool, hobbies, or working on your vehicle than they are firefighting.

The real challenge with good guys is that they are often able to hide, unnoticed, until they slip through the cracks and advance to a point where they are exposed.  They don’t seem to make any waves, they will usually maintain the minimum standard, and aren’t usually the topic of many conversations.  Since most find commonalities with the rest of the team unrelated to the job, their lack of contribution can go unnoticed for a long period of time.  Now I would never insult someone for being a good person, but that alone doesn’t qualify you as valuable to my fire service.  Frankly I am tired of hearing about these types of people gumming up our ranks and delaying a return to a fire service that is full of pride, passion, and skill.

Another problem with good guys is that they are often well liked by middle and upper management.  This is generally because they don’t make waves but also could be due to a previous friendship, family relationship, or because they were recommended by someone trusted by management.  This can make them especially hard to deal with in a traditional manner as they may be protected from corrective action depending on the culture and processes of your department.

Fortunately, not all good guys are a lost cause.  Many of them can be converted into passionate, contributing members of the fire service.  This conversion starts with strong leadership at the company level.  These individuals need company officers who are prepared to put in the extra time and effort it will take to evoke enthusiasm and passion in personnel who may not be self-motivated.  Sign them up for classes and conferences, make the training area your second home, and reinforce all the wonderful things about the fire service that make you love it.  Do whatever you can within the acceptable limits of your SOPs to either develop these individuals or help them realize that there are other lines of work which offer similar pay and benefits but require less personal investment.  Many good guys will find other employment on their own if you force them to be firemen every day.

You can call me a lot of things, but if you really want to piss me off refer to me as a “good guy” when speaking of me to others.  As far as I am concerned that is a derogatory comment and will be treated as such.  If you describe me as a good guy you will see me rapidly grab some equipment and start doing something to change your mind.  Remember good guys aren’t bad people; they just don’t always belong in the fire service.  Kindly help them find their passion or guide them to the door. 

Fundamentally Challenged

One of the most rewarding experiences thus far in my fire service career has been the opportunity to help teach and train new firefighters.  Whether you call them recruits, rookies, probies, or something else they all have something in common; purity.  These members are just entering our ranks and have not been corrupted by bad habits, shortcuts, egos, or “the way it has always been”.  If you are fortunate enough to be a part of their initial training you are being trusted with shaping the future of the fire service.  The instruction new firefighters receive during their initial training course lays the foundation for their entire career.  The skills they are taught during this indoctrination to our craft should consist of the most important and most used skills we have.  How you teach and train them on these skills will also dictate how they interpret the importance of the training.  Most probies come out of school dedicated and proficient.  So why on earth do we seem to degrade and dismiss these “basic” skills later in our careers?

There is a reason we teach the skills we do during initial training classes: we use them the most!  But it seems that many forget the importance of fundamental skills as the years on the job tick by.  Does the professional baseball player stop taking batting practice after little league?  Does the professional hockey player stop practicing stick handling after junior league?  Do our soldiers show up on foreign soil and figure out how to win the war when they get there?  The answer is a very loud NO!  All of these professionals constantly practice their most basic skill sets in order to perform at the highest possible level when it counts.  So why would a professional firefighter stop practicing how to catch hydrants after rookie school?  Laziness, ignorance, pride, and fear are just a few of the reasons we neglect basic proficiency.  Sometimes we get caught up in all the daily distractions and lose touch with our training and skill level.  Other times the culture of the department discourages this type of training.  Regardless of what the reason may be, you cannot allow your crew to slack on the core competencies of our profession. 

So how do you know if your crew is fundamentally challenged?  First and foremost ask yourself, when is the last time your crew deployed a preconnected hose line other than while operating at a job?  How often do you put hose on the ground and practice hydrant connections?  Are your ground ladders maintained and thrown regularly, or are they ISO ornaments?  Have you practiced donning your PPE and SCBA since you got your Firefighter 1 certificate?  Do you find it takes your crew a long time to complete common assignments while operating at a job?  Is the only training your crew gets mandatory in nature?  If any of these questions are making your feel uncomfortable, you should probably revamp your training plan and reassess your commitment to our profession because you are likely fundamentally challenged.  There is no excuse to not be proficient in these skills when the majority of them require very little equipment and can be done at your firehouse!  All it takes is a little guidance and motivation to keep your crew adept. I don’t care how many runs your station turns out for each tour, you should never be too good to train on fundamentals.  Forcing a door, primary search, water supply, hose advancement, and vertical ventilation are just a few of basic but perishable skills you need to keep your crew current on.  They are the backbone of what our craft is all about, saving lives and property.

 We are quick to get lost in sophisticated, once in a life time scenarios yet will end up on the wrong end of a video comment thread because a citizen records our inability to quickly knockdown a fire in a single family dwelling.  Don’t believe me?  I have seen some pretty embarrassing videos and would be happy to send some examples, especially to those who are too amazing to train on essential skills.  It’s funny to me how a few fires, a few years on the job, a few certificates, and a promotion or two seems to elevate some of our members to a point which makes them feel exempt from participating in fundamental training.   They have seen it all and done it all so in no way, shape, or form will you possibly have anything which could add or improve on their stellar skill set.  I hope you are laughing as you read this because we all know who these people are in our departments.  Do yourself a favor and keep yourself and your crew away from these individuals as they are the cancer of your organization.

What really fires me up is when I see guys who have been on the job for a few years mocking others who train on the “basics”.  These individuals have no business in our profession and as far as I am concerned can hang up their gear.  Maybe instead of running your mouth you should grab your equipment and join in.  If you are a master at these skills you will likely have tons of knowledge to input into the training session.  However, I highly doubt that is the case.  I have found more times than not when I am out making mistakes on the training ground while I polish up my skills, those who chose to mock and not contribute are hiding because they have no clue what is going on.  They can tell you everything you are doing wrong but have no valid reason why it is wrong.  They are also incapable of demonstrating the appropriate way to complete the evolution.  We all know the type and unfortunately if you can’t get them involved all you can do is hope they find another career sooner than later!

Stop being too scared or too proud to train on basic, essential, fundamental skills!  Functions like forcible entry, hose advancement, and search techniques will likely save more lives over the course of your career than any once in a career, specialized scenario ever will.   I am not trying to downgrade any type of training however I think we need to be realistic about what we focus our time on.  What operations will be time sensitive vs. which ones will give us time to make a plan on arrival?  I am also willing to bet fundamental skills will be involved regardless of how large the scenario is.  So next tour get your crew and take the ground ladders off the rig.   Spend a few hours deploying and reloading your attack lines.  Teach each other something.  This is also a perfect opportunity to give your junior member the lead, after all the basics should be fresh in his/her mind!  Ignore the naysayers because it will be clear to other companies and the citizens who is dedicated to professional service delivery and who is dedicated to a paycheck the next time you catch a job!

Time Management: Responsibilities, Distractions, and Leeches

I often find myself wondering how we select who writes textbooks and what goes in them.  The more time I get on the job, the more I realize our occupation leaves out some pretty major things in its curriculum.  Whether it is professional development, strategy and tactics, or fire suppression there is a constant “this is how we do it for the test, not on the job” issue in many training programs.  I feel this mentality is what causes us to skip or breeze over certain things.  One topic I don’t remember being taught in any fire officer class was time management.  If it is in there, I can assure you they don’t spend enough time on it because I don’t recall it.  How ironic!

While this article will not touch on the education debate, I will say that having a college education does help with time management.  You have to organize your assignments and determine how long it will take you to complete them.  College is where I learned I am a procrastinator, which is not necessarily a good thing.  However, I did learn I do some of my best work with a looming deadline which has helped me complete my responsibilities while riding in the seat.  Just another part of my college education which I found helpful as I moved up in rank. 

If you are anything like me you spent a lot of time thinking about what you would do whenever you earned a position supervising a company.  However, one thing you probably gave little or no thought to is managing your time once you achieve a position as a company officer.  If you had descent role models or some sort of professional development then you may have half a clue of what to do your first day in your new role.  If you had crappy bosses and were forced to figure out most things on your own then you will likely show up to your new assignment like the first day of kindergarten; scared and confused.  Although many are quick to forget, promotions generally require additional responsibilities rather than fewer.  These additional responsibilities require reassessing your daily routine.  Furthermore, let me be the bearer of bad news and inform you that there will be all kinds of things which will take up your time.  Many will not be very productive or have nothing to do with your responsibilities as the company officer.

First and foremost you have to understand the responsibilities of your new position.  Do you have additional equipment to check in your new riding position? Has your morning turnover procedure changed?  Are there new systems or files to check and fill out each morning?  Do you have to report your personnel and unit status to a battalion chief or communications center?  Are you responsible for creating training sessions?  What is the status of your subordinate’s evaluations?  Do you have to approve time off or other staffing procedures?  Are there lists of long term projects, inspections, or maintenance to work on?  These few things are the tip of the spear as far as daily functions the company officer is responsible for.  Now work in company training, emergency responses, incident reports, etc. and you can see how the list of things to be done compiles quickly.  These new responsibilities can be extremely overwhelming, especially if you were not afforded any type of training or development prior to becoming a company officer. 

The key to dealing with all of these responsibilities is managing your time.  While it will likely take a few shifts, you will eventually fall into a routine just as you did as a firefighter and/or apparatus operator.  Focus on completing the daily tasks first and then try to make a tentative schedule for completing long term responsibilities such as evaluations and inspections.  Obviously things come up and we have to answer calls as well, so don’t be disheartened when your schedule doesn’t work out exactly as planned.  One strategy I have found which works well for me is to make a plan for the following shift in the evening before I go to bed.  I take this opportunity to review what was accomplished during the current shift, ensure all my reports are filed appropriately, and identify what was not accomplished and will need to be moved to another shift.  From there I make a tentative list of what needs to be done on our next tour.  Another tactic I have found helpful is saving report templates on a USB drive.  For repetitive types of training such as inspections, driver training, apparatus maintenance, etc. this will greatly reduce the amount of time you spend writing training reports.

Once you have finally found your groove you will find that distractions will surely ruin it.  Distractions take on many forms from cell phones to senior officers.  The key to distractions is identifying them and developing a strategy to deal with them.  Cell phones are a double edged sword for the company officer.  I use mine to communicate with my apparatus operator in the morning while I complete my morning tasks.  This way he can keep me informed of deficiencies without us having to meet face to face for each one.  The problem is you can easily get distracted by Facebook, games, and other applications.  You will have to figure out your own way to manage cell phone usage.  Another distraction is random requests from outside sources.  The Battalion Chief may call up with some short notice assignment or training session.  The senior officer of your station may decide their plan for the day is more important than yours.  An off duty or former member may stop by for a visit.  You may have issues between crew members which need to be addressed.  The public may drop by for an impromptu station tour.  You will even have days where you are simply not as motivated.  None of these situations is necessarily negative, but will still impact how you complete your tasks for the day.  Regardless of the cause, you have to find a way to mitigate these distractions just as you would on an incident scene.  Control the distractions you can and learn to accommodate the ones you cannot.

One of the most potent enemies of time management is what I refer to as “leeches”.  They can be anyone from your junior member to the Chief of the Department.  I call them leeches because they will approach you with a request for assistance completing one of their tasks.  However, the term assistance is just a disguise and what they are really doing is pushing their responsibilities off on you.  At face value someone asks you to help complete a task or project.  Next thing you know everyone else is hanging out and you are the only one working on the project.  The new company officer will likely continue on as they are trying to fit in and remain “part of the crew”.  Additionally, a newly promoted company officer can be extremely intimidated to say no as they don’t want anyone thinking poorly of them in their new role.  This is a serious issue for new company officers who have senior men and senior officers who are not motivated.  Remember, sometimes you just have to say no.  It is better to decline additional tasks or duties than accept them knowing you cannot complete them along with your other responsibilities.

Finally, learn when to delegate tasks to other members of your crew.  Contrary to what some believe, it is not practical for the company officer to complete every task without assistance.  While some responsibilities will be yours and yours alone, there are plenty of other tasks which can be delegated.  Station chores, apparatus maintenance, even training duties depending on the experience level of your crew can be appropriate tasks for delegation to subordinates.  Delegation is a wonderful tool for professional development and to observe their strengths and weaknesses.  It can also be a source of pride and accomplishment for your subordinates as they are tasked with taking the point on an assignment.  Delegation does not make the company officer look weak when used appropriately, but rather it makes him looks smart.  Just be careful to avoid delegating officer level tasks to your subordinates.  Doing so makes you a leech as well as provides the perception that you cannot handle them yourself.      

Time management will be crucial to ensuring the company officer completes his new responsibilities.  Learn how to minimize your distractions and steer clear of time leeches.  Fight the urge to bite off more than you can chew and learn how to say no when appropriate.  Utilize delegation whenever appropriate which will free up a little time as well as help develop your subordinates.  There will be times where you will have to respectfully excuse your crew, reorganize you game plan for the day, or change your plan completely to accomplish the most important tasks.  A little thought and planning will help you find your stride much sooner, allowing you to focus your time in the most efficient manner.

Meddling Millennials and Entitled Leadership

Millennials entering the fire service is quite a hot topic in many apparatus bays and on numerous Facebook pages these days.  It is also a topic I find quite interesting.  This is certainly not the last generational friction that will impact our occupation as every generation thinks the next will be the downfall of civilization.  The old guard claims that these new additions to the work force just don’t get it.  They are lazy, coddled, and don’t know what work is.  Most claim the latest installment of recruits and probationary members have no business in “our” fire service. 

A Millennial is simplistically defined as someone who entered adulthood around the turn of the century.  The generation is characterized by individuals who are coddled, over-confident, politically correct, and entitled.  Knowing a trade or hands on skill is fairly uncommon for this generation.  Most have never operated a chainsaw or learned how to make their own bed.  They were raised in relatively sheltered lives and typically lack life skills.  There aren’t any participation trophies in the fire department so how will these pampered young employees survive?  The consensus seems to be that these new additions are going to be the death of the traditional fire service as we know it.  While these attributes may require new tactics for training, the real question is whether or not this is a generational problem or a leadership problem which is drawing a bad reputation to our newest members. 

On the other hand you have the young guns claiming they have no guidance, no instruction, and no mentors.  Their older bosses have made their mind up about them and don’t seem terribly motivated to help them fit in.  In many cases the older members will taunt them for what they don’t know rather than teach them the correct way.  There seems to be apprehension when it comes to helping the new generation find their way.   Fires are down making it damn near impossible to earn your keep on the fire ground.  Therefore the historical write of passage for earning a place on the crew is difficult to say the least.  It also provides fewer opportunities to demonstrate and hone firefighting skills.  So are the concerns about this new generation their fault or ours?

As an early 80’s baby I am technically a Millennial, although anyone who knows me or reads my work would probably not lump me in that category.  I learned work ethic from my parents who allowed me to do anything as long as I had a job and did my chores.  Sure, they helped me along the way which is perhaps the biggest Millennial trait I have.  I also had some strong leadership examples as I started my fire service career in my hometown districts.  In a lot of ways I walk both sides of the aisle on this debate and I am here to tell you both sides are wrong. However, I believe leadership takes the majority of the blame.

Everything the new generation fails to do or does not know how to do is the root of the discussion.  

Whose fault is that?  I believe management takes the responsibility here.  Education has changed, technology has changed, and right or wrong children are being raised differently.  Things which were common sense 20 years ago may not be today. We are too quick to assume and take for granted that everyone knows the things we do.  Also keep in mind it is extremely important to determine early on your members knowledge level, both on the job and in life.  What you think they should know is irrelevant to everyone but you.  You cannot be upset with an employee for not knowing something you did not teach them. Being unable to operate a chainsaw does not make a new employee a bad one; it makes them an employee that will require a little more training.  It is the officer’s responsibility to teach the probie what he or she does not know.  

Another significant portion of this debate is discipline and accountability.  When I came into the fire service there was a definitive expectation of how things operated and where I fit into that system.   My first assignment before being voted into the department was to read the SOPs in their entirety and know them before I came back for my first drill.  I was told when drill was, how often I needed to attend, the procedure for responding to alarms, etc.  If I strayed from these expectations a disciplinary process was laid out and well known.  More importantly, the system was used when members failed to meet standards.  Today I see many officers who simply welcome a new crew member and fail to provide them with expectations.  It is very difficult to perform if there are no official expectations laid out in advance.  It is even more difficult to discipline without them.

Discipline is yet another area I see dysfunction among the current group of officers and administrators.  Many are nervous they may offend someone or receive a complaint should they impose discipline.  I have even heard of chiefs telling their officers not to address issues because they might offend someone.   Some officers would rather be friends or “cool” bosses which leads them to avoid discipline.  Still in other instances officers and chiefs are too quick to discipline, sometimes even terminate, before all the facts are collected.  All of these practices are all unacceptable.  Perhaps if the current generation of officers stopped frowning on education and took some management classes many of these issues would resolve themselves.

Finally, many of the current generation of officers are horrible about having a “do as I say, not as I do” mentality.  I refer to this mindset and entitlement leadership.  Now I am sure I am not the first to coin this phrase, it just seems to fit well for what I am discussing.  This type of “leader” feels their position entitles them to do or not do certain things.  You can often find these officers and chiefs sitting on the sidelines during chores, training, or other non-response company functions.  They are quick to find deficiencies with their crews while offering no guidance on how to fix them.  They are also the officers who so grossly misinterpret the term delegation that those under their supervision are likely completing all their officer tasks as well.  This basically leaves the entitled leader with nothing to do all day but be in charge, also known as doing nothing. 

Perhaps the reason the younger members are lazy is because they see their officers sitting around all day.  The officers are too busy identifying what they are no longer responsible for and delegating away all their responsibilities to develop their Millennial members.  In turn, the already entitled Millennials grow tired of being the only ones working and stop putting in the effort or take shortcuts.  I can assure you this will bleed over to fire ground operations as well.  Your influence as the officer is what effects how productive your younger members will be.  They are constantly watching and learning from you whether it is good or bad.  The reason being an officer comes with a pay increase is because of the additional responsibilities the position requires.  The term additional implies you will still be responsible for all the things you did in your previous rank and then some.  If you are lucky enough to promote a few times then the responsibilities are compounded.  Should the Captain be the first one to grab a mop?  No.  Does that mean the Captain will never push a mop?  No, what it means is officers should never neglect a task because of their position and if they set a positive example their crews will make sure they rarely have to do tasks normally accomplished by lower ranking members.

While the newest generation of firefighters entering our ranks does come with some entitlement, the current generation of officers and chiefs seem to be just as entitled.  In turn, these entitled leaders are doing a horrible job of transitioning new members into our profession.  Officers must provide a clear set of expectations along with proper training, mentoring, and discipline to set the right example.  So before you point the finger at your new Millennial member’s sense of entitlement and lackluster  work ethic, take a hard look in the mirror at your leadership.  You just might be the one that needs the improvement!

Origins

I’d like to take a few minutes to discuss how and why I began writing as well as the meaning behind the name of the page.  First and foremost I am by no means some salty old fireman with 3,000 fires under my belt.  In fact, I am quite the opposite.  I have been in the business both career and volunteer for about a decade.  I work for a medium sized, mostly suburban department.   I have been to a few fires over the years but my resume is nowhere near as extensive as some of the other pages out there.  I say that because I don’t think you need to have 3,000 fires to understand the job or speak about it.  All you need to have is desire, heart, knowledge, and the ability to learn from others in order to make a difference.  So after a little help from a fellow brother I decided to take the plunge and begin this adventure hoping to gain and share information to improve myself and anyone who takes the time to read my page.

The name of the page has two meanings.  First I will discuss the more obvious meaning.  When we are summoned for a structure fire, more times than not the “fire” is “inside” the structure.  I am a firm believer that that best means for controlling a structure fire is to put a well trained crew with the appropriate sized hose line, pumped at the appropriate pressure, inside the building as fast as possible.  This does not mean I am against defensive operations or “transitional” operations.  What it means is I feel that the best option is aggressive, interior operations.  Is this possible at every fire?  Absolutely not.  However, I think the fire service as a whole has gotten away from such tactics under the guise of safety and science and quite frankly it is time we get back do doing what we signed on to do.

The second meaning is more on the personal front and that is the passion that I have inside of me for this job.  I love the fire service, always have and always will.   I was that kid that grew up chasing the engines down the road when they caught a job.  I was the kid that was glued to the window when the station siren sounded hoping to grab a glance of the rigs as they raced down the road.  I am also one of the fortunate adults who get to do what I have always dreamed of for a career.  I am passionate about this job and by no means do I feel that is something that I should apologize for.  I am tired of hearing things like train less, get a hobby, slow down, etc.  Screw that, there is nothing wrong with being excited and into the job and I am tired of hearing a passion for our craft being used as a negative.  So hopefully my page can serve as a safe haven for others who share this passion to share their thoughts and experiences which will allow all of us to grow.

I thank everyone who takes the time to read my thoughts and encourage anyone passing through to share theirs as well.  I dream of this page turning into something that will help other young, passionate, rising officers in developing themselves into future leaders of the fire service.