What's So Damn Offensive Anyways?

(Photo: The Odyssey Online)

We are living in an age where everyone seems to be offended by everything and everyone.  The fire service is certainly no exception.  What was once advertised as a brotherhood of selfless individuals committed to serving the community often seems more like a fraternity of entitled brats complaining about who’s way is better than it does a group of public safety professionals.  We waste our time arguing about who is better, who is more educated, and who’s way is right instead of combining our efforts to form the most efficient, productive methods to accomplish the tasks of our mission.  Unfortunately, this trend is eventually going to destroy the fire service as we know it if left to fester and spread!

I think it is safe to say we are all basically raised knowing that everybody is different.  So why is it that these differences seem to be such a problem?  The underlying cause is simple: we have replaced opinions with offenses.  Essentially, we have become unable to disagree with each other.  In a world where the answer to most things is at our fingertips, we have become not only unable to fathom that there could be more than one solution, but also that someone might not agree with the one we provide.  There seems to be an expectation of blind followership which is partially to blame for this phenomenon.  We have lost our ability to teach, explain, and grow our people and replaced it with a premise that they should listen to us simply because we have managed to maintain employment for a certain amount of time or have a certain title.  We have placed a greater emphasis on years of service than we have quality of service, resulting in egos that self-inflate when a certain tenure has been achieved rather than an accomplishment or skill set.  We have stopped caring about each other and started caring only about being right.  If you expect others to conform without education, you are creating a lose/lose scenario. 

Now I know what some of you are thinking, “but WE have a way that WE do things! It is TRADITION!”  Well, yes and no.  Tradition is defined as “the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation.”  Nowhere in that definition does that say methods, procedures, routines, or techniques.  This is because those terms represent an actual way to doing something whereas traditions are the overall beliefs of a group or organization.  You can have a tradition of wearing black helmets, however you aren’t likely wearing metal helmets.  Your fire engines may be red because of tradition, but they are no longer pulled by a horse.  Consider for a moment that if things never changed we would still be using buckets as a primary suppression method, relying on open windows as an air supply, and wearing hip boots.  Although there are some seriously demented and ignorant individuals wearing our patches who think things should still be that way, I would say the majority of us realize that change does, and needs to happen in this business every day.  Many seem think if they ignore it, they can never become outdated or unimportant.  In actuality, the more you choose to ignore change and create your own fictitious reality, the faster you accelerate the rate at which you become irrelevant.  Remember, traditions are supposed to bring us together, not pull us apart.

(Photo: Fire Rescue Magazine)

The biggest problem with everyone constantly acting offended is the division it is creating between us.  The give and take which once existed has been replaced with finger pointing and name calling.  Nobody wants to work together, they just want to be right.  Every comment, suggestion, and observation is turned into a personal attack.  We have closed our minds, along with our fists, turning every interaction into a confrontation.  The art of communication has been lost.  We are blankly staring at each other waiting to respond as opposed to listening.  We hear noise, not language.  We take almost pre-planned pauses during our rants, granting the other party an opportunity to empty their agenda.  While this may be some sort of informal etiquette, it should not be confused with genuine interest or admiration.  This is simply a learned response which is designed to make the other party think you are paying attention to them.  In reality you are taking a breather to prepare your next list of demands so you can spew them out when it is your turn to accept the pause in your counterpart’s tirade.  This results in lower morale, freelancing, turmoil, and decreased production as we hear each other yet don't listen to anything that was said. 

(Photo: The Odyssey Online)

Accept the fact that not everything is about you once in a while!  When you operate under the delusion that your preference is the only way, not only do you drive others away, but you also create an environment which does not support growth and performance.  Why are we so concerned with HOW others do things rather than WHAT they are doing?  There is a significant difference in stopping someone from taking part in an unsafe action and stopping someone because you don’t like the way they are doing it.  You aren’t actually offended by their actions, you are simply passionate about the way you think things should be done.  Passion is not exclusive to those who seek to advance an organization or skill, it is processed by anyone who attaches strong emotion to a particular subject.  Therefore, you could have two individuals who are passionate in completely opposite ways about the same topic.  If there is no mechanism in place to bring the two sides to somewhat neutral ground, than one or both will claim they are “offended” when they really just cannot cope with things not going their way.  Have an open mind.  If they don't like your plan or way, SO WHAT?!  Agree to disagree now and then.  Have the hard conversations and admit when someone else's way is better than your own.  Someone doesn't always have to be wrong in order for someone else to be right.

Also, can we all please stop pretending that there has never been a conflict between generations in our profession?!  The only thing that is actually offensive in the fire service is the honest belief that one generation or the other is going to “destroy” it!  If I have to read one more story, article, post, or gripe about which generation is to blame for the current state of our craft, I may just vomit!  Every generation will inevitably have conflict with the one it is going to replace.  Why?  Well simply because the outgoing generation has come into their own, the middle generation is trying to make a name for themselves, and the incoming generation is ignorant with inexperience.  Each generation has likely had a slightly different upbringing resulting in different values in life and on the job.  If left unchecked due to lack of standards, expectations, and policies which are enforced fairly across the board, each generation will do as they see fit which will almost always cause conflict with the other two.  This results in division where we should have unification.  No one is entitled without someone enabling them to be privileged.  If you want to the "kids" to change, than you are going to have to lead them!  You can't simply break people down without building them up.  The military has laid the groundwork for this very idea in the way they conduct basic training; use it!

(Photo: MommyPoppins)

We have become so scared to be flawed that we have focused on exposing everyone else's flaws in order to hide our own.  The competition for career progression is now so entrenched with looking good by making others look bad, many are solely focused on the “me” rather than the “us”.  The is further compounded by those in “leadership” positions who condone and reward this type of underhanded tactic.  If you want people to act like adults, treat them like adults!  The reality is, if we are the “brotherhood” we claim to be, then we need to start treating each other like family instead of enemies.  Sure, we all have conflict in our families, but we almost always come together when it counts.  I intentionally used "we" often while writing this because WE own everything that occurs in our profession, good or bad.  YOU may not have an offended attitude, but WE as an occupation are ate up with it!  So how about we focus on being offended by something that makes sense, like the fact we have people taking up space on our rosters who are stealing our benefits and our good name!  It is time we stop whining about all the things that are amiss and start doing what needs to be done.  If we stop tolerating a lower standard, eventually it will disappear.  We need to learn how to work together, bridge the gaps, and accept the fact that our differences are in many cases the individual strengths which combine to make us a complete team!  Stop wasting your time on being offended and start using your time to help make things better for your replacements.  Perhaps it is time we stop blaming society and start taking some ownership of our profession!

Resurrection of the Senior Guy

(Photo: Salty Dog Apparel)

I have seen a growing number of posts and articles calling attention the disappearance and subsequent need for the “senior guy” lately.  The concept of an older, experienced firefighter just itching to take the new fireman under his wing and show him the ropes is certainly a desirable one.  In many ways the senior guy represents everything many are trying to bring back to our profession.  A firefighter, not an officer, who has a wealth of knowledge, real-world experience, and a burning desire to share what he knows with the newest members, is just what the doctor ordered right?  Well, perhaps the concept of the senior guy isn’t the problem but the expectation is.  Could the senior guy be just another part of our craft which we have failed to adapt with the times?

(Photo: Firefighter Toolbox)

Let’s break down the traits of the senior guy that make such a person so desirable and necessary in our firehouses.  First, the senior guy was a firefighter.  No rank makes him that much easier to approach and enforce the all-important “unofficial” rules of the house or department.  It also provides a common ground for other firefighters to approach him without fear of official reprimand or remediation.  The senior guy offers that big brother feel rather than the dad complex which often gets assigned to our officers.  Next, the senior guy knows his stuff!  He has been on for 15, 20, 25 years or longer!  In that time period he has taken in more runs than most of us could dream of.  He has seen it all and done it all yet remains modest and continues to learn even though he is likely well into the twilight of his career.  You will certainly have to be on your “A-game” if you are going to get one past this guy.  Finally, the senior guy’s main mission in life is to teach and develop the probies.  The senior guy is often considered the most knowledgeable person in the station or department, so who better to spread their knowledge than him?  Even better, he WANTS to share his knowledge!  He knows his days are counting down which means he needs to share everything he can so his legacy will live on through others.  The senior guy basically enables what all of us would want in a model firefighter.  The real question is; does he really exist?

The short answer is sort of.  No one can dispute the stories told of people who had the senior guy so he does exist, or at least he did exist.  I think the reason we seem to come up empty in our search for a senior guy these days is because we haven’t changed his image as our departments have changed.  With the exception of large metro departments, staffing is falling to what many consider unacceptable levels.  The days of 5, 4, and even 3 men companies are a thing of the past in many corners of our country.  Sure there are anomalies such as FDNY, Chicago, LA, and Boston who still have what most of us would consider more than adequate staffing, but they too are seeing cuts as well.  Not only does less staffing mean fewer people, it also means many of the tenured members have found their way out the doors.  Whether it was through normal attrition, collective bargaining, early retirement buyouts, health issues, or layoffs the average age of firefighters, particularly fire officers, seems to be getting lower all the time.  The effect of all this is a seriously shrinking pool of prospective senior guy candidates.

(Photo: Pintrest)

Part of the problem is the iconic vision we have in our minds of who our senior guy should be: the slightly gray-haired, weathered face, middle-aged, salty fireman just waiting to save us all from the perils of probation.  The reality of the situation is we need to adapt what a senior guy is to fit the makeup of our firehouses.  Sometimes our senior guy may not be so senior.  He may only have as few as 5, 10, or 15 years on the job.  This means he may not have a ton of experience or knowledge BUT he has been through probation, he knows how the department works, he knows more than the newest member, and can still be a valuable shoulder to lean on for the overwhelmed new member.  But wait, who says the senior guy even has to be a firefighter?  What if you only have a 2 or 3 man company?  One of the crew is going to be the officer and he, or she, may very likely be the most experienced member of the group.  While it will pose challenges, sometimes that officer will be forced to be both the officer and senior guy of the crew.  That is a slippery slope in some cases but you may have to make do depending on your staffing levels.  Speaking of crews, does the senior guy necessarily need to be on your crew?  Does he even need to be at your station or a member of your department for that matter?  Perhaps there is someone who fits the bill that you see at shift change, train with from a mutual aid agency, or someone who you have met at a conference or through social media who is willing to provide the mentoring you need.  While these individuals may not have that specific in-house knowledge a traditional senior man had, they can still be invaluable in your development.

(Photo: Heard County Fire & Emergency Services)

The moral of the story is perhaps we need to stop searching for a unicorn in a field full of horses.  Maybe our expectation of the traditional senior man is just not practical these days.  Like many things in the fire service, we may be forced to do more with less.  If we can learn to fight fire with fewer people, surely we can figure out how to continue the tradition of mentorship as well.  If your organization is fortunate enough to still have a traditional senior man covet, cherish, and protect this vital position.  If you are one of the many firefighters searching aimlessly where the senior man used to be, perhaps it is time to adjust your perception of what that individual looks like and where you will find them.  Sometimes we have to let certain traditions become part of our history in order to build new ones.  In the case of the senior man, it is time we resurrect his spirit into the form which fits our department in modern times.

The Interaction Contradiction

Something that has been bothering me recently is the confusing message we are sending to the younger/newer members of our departments.  I keep hearing and reading that anyone, regardless of rank, time, or experience level can have a great idea or change their organization.  However, when new members give their opinion they are often cut down for trying to be involved and speaking their minds.  Normally, their lack of time and experience is cited as the reason their opinions are not wanted.  Please understand that we cannot say one thing and then do another.  This constant contradictory cycle creates new firefighters who either become insubordinate or scared to speak up.  Over time this can create self-conscious or gun shy members who will make poor decisions while operating.  It also produces firefighters who will lack knowledge, fear education, perform timidly, and likely succumb to the status quo because they are too scared of being chastised for having and opinion or seeking clarification.  Somehow we have created an expectation that our first day firefighters will show up knowing everything they need to know, but when they try to show us we simply beat them down.  It is time to stop being lazy and get back to working on developing our people!  We, as an occupation, are sending a very mixed message to our most impressionable members and we need to stop!

First and foremost let me address the “everyone is a leader" phenomenon which seems to be slowly growing in organizations across the country.  While in theory everyone is capable of leading, we have a rank structure for a reason.  Rather than encourage the guy with 2 years on the job to strive to lead his crew, why not invest in the development of our people so the guy with 2 years on the job has positive role models to teach him the job?  We have allowed too many private sector management techniques to infect our operational structure and gotten away from the traditions and paramilitary influence which have helped guide us through situations where there is no time to question orders.  Once we engage in battle, the time for conversation has come and gone.  There is no suggestion box, question and answer session, or round-table discussion occurring in a dark hallway as we advance a line.  Promoting an atmosphere that allows the constant questioning of superiors will simply cause freelancing and insubordination during situations which have absolutely no place for it!  I think we are simply ignoring our shortcomings and allowing too many people without a clue to be entrusted with managing and developing those under their command.  To compensate we simply say that "everyone is a leader" rather than replacing those who can't hack it in leadership roles with people who can.  

While the theory of “you can be a leader at any level of your organization” has some validity, it is being misconstrued into something which results in a lack of structure, insubordination, and undermining of leadership.  Although it is true that there is always things that can be improved regardless of who is suggesting the change, I have learned during my career is that you have not matured enough in our craft early on to be as opinionated as many new members are today.  Yes, I too was a snot nosed, know it all kid when I started as well, but I also had great role models who put me on short leash and yanked me back to reality anytime I tried to stray too far.  They let me make my mistakes and then taught me where I had gone wrong.  This is what we are missing in the fire service today!  We have too many company officers who are scared to tell the back-step firefighter to shut up and listen.  We have too many administrations which are taking that power away from the company officers for the sake of the “kinder and gentler” fire service.  There are few things that piss me off more than watching someone with a handful of years on the job ignore or argue with a senior man or company officer while a higher ranking or Chief officer watches and says nothing!

In an occupation which constantly cites safety as the reason for change, we have sacrificed the biggest safety mechanism of all, a rigid chain of command, in fear of liability and complaints!  If we are brave enough to mitigate all of the horrible situations our occupation presents us with, why are we no longer brave enough to tell a 20 year old kid to shut up and listen?  Why are we too scared to tell the city manager there is a difference between discrimination and putting someone in their place?  Why are we more worried about losing our jobs than we are losing our lives when the actions of someone who won’t listen cause a run to go bad?  This is the atmosphere being created in our firehouses as we begin to recognize the chain of command only when convenient.  The rank structure of our craft is more than brass insignia and flow charts; it is the mechanism that aims to place those with more knowledge and experience in decision making roles.  We need to focus more on training and shaping leaders as they promote to company officer than we do on how we can be nicer to each other.

For all the young firefighters out there, these next few paragraphs are for you.  I understand you are excited, hungry, and full of great ideas.  We were all you when we started and believe it or not we all envy the traits of your character at that age.  You are fearless, tireless, motivated, and hungry for the job.  You are the workhorses of our crews and organizations and essential to mission success.  It is very possible for you to have great ideas, ways to make positive change, and possess traits that will make you the great leaders of tomorrow.  However, you haven’t been on enough runs to speak out of turn.  You haven’t performed enough repetitions of a skill to be a master of it.  You have not put in enough time to blatantly disrespect a fellow brother or sister with 30 to 40 years on the job, regardless of how they are treating you.  If you cannot follow the chain of command for stupid things like being picked on or station chores how can we expect you to follow it at 0200 on a multiple alarm fire where I NEED you to listen and not talk?!

We want you to shut up and listen because we want to teach you how to stay alive.  We give you shit because we like you and are testing your resolve!  If no one is picking on you early on, you have reason to be concerned that you are not liked!  Learn the appropriate time and place to interject your opinion.  Learn the appropriate way to accept criticism and plead your case.  Learn and follow how our traditions, chain of command, and unwritten rules effect how our firehouses run.  Solve problems at the lowest possible level and lean on your senior firefighters.  Stop being entitled and start working your ass off!  We will tell you when you can slow down, relax, or pass certain responsibilities down; you don’t get to decide on your own!  You will never know everything, you will never be too good to pick up a mop or wash a dish, and you are only as good as your entire crew; this isn’t an individual sport!  The senior men and officers have already proven themselves to get to where they are, you are the one who has something to prove!

It is really easy to get discouraged when you are new because it feels like everyone is trying to bring you down.  Yes, we all have assholes who love to pick on new guys.  However, we also all have all-stars who will point them out to you and are looking out for you even when you don’t realize it.  On the outside it seems like you have more responsibilities than everyone else, but trust me the rest of the crew does more than you see.  Never forget that every one of us was in your shoes at some point.  We know how you feel, we went through the same things you are, and we grew in our careers by doing the things I have suggested above.  Never give up, never give in, and never stop learning our craft.  Listen to your superiors, make suggestions or clarify lessons in an appropriate manner/place, and make sure you learn something every tour!  You are a part of the greatest job on earth, never forget it no matter how bad things get!

Now it is your turn company officers, you are not exempt by any means!  First and foremost let me congratulate you on being put in what I consider the best role in the fire service.  You are directly responsible for leading, shaping, managing, and teaching firefighters at all levels of your department.  You have also found yourself in a leadership role which still allows you the opportunity to get dirty and fight fire.  You have proven (hopefully) that you are capable and deserving of such a position.  In my opinion making company officer is the equivalent of having your cake and eating it too.  Now in case no one told you, we all know you have a different color lid and brass, we know you have a fancy title, and we know you are in charge so quit reminding us every tour.  If you have to tell your crew who is running the show than guess what, you aren’t!  Get over yourself and your position because you are simply part of the team.  Your crew puts the majority of the labor on their shoulders and makes you look good.  Just because they “have” to listen to you doesn’t mean they will or should.  Your rank is not an excuse to work less; it is a privilege to work more because you now work for them, your crew!  Respect is earned not given!

These new guys are no different than you were when you came on the job.  Stop pretending that this generation is the end of the fire service.  The only thing this generation is missing is GUIDANCE, and that guidance comes from you!  A younger member asking a question is not being rude or insubordinate; it is them asking you to teach them!  Stop being an asshole, get off the couch, and feed them knowledge!  If you are fed up with everyone getting a trophy, STOP HANDING THEM OUT!  It is your job to teach them and that includes when and how it is appropriate to ask questions.  It is up to you to set the standard for how things go.  Stop telling them that their opinion matters and then telling them they have no business giving one.  Either you want their opinion or you don’t.  Regardless of which avenue you choose, they need to know why and you need to be consistent.  The only person to blame for an insubordinate crew member is yourself.  You have many tools at your disposable to fix the problem from remediation to a recommendation for termination.  Stop being their friend and be their boss.  When things are going bad and they are forced to tap into their training, they won’t care if you were friendly or not.

Stop being too proud to learn something from a first year guy!  It is so disheartening to watch someone with 20 or 30 years on the job throw a temper tantrum because someone has opposed them or proven another method to be better.  If you want the newer members to recognize your time and experience you cannot act like a toddler every time you don’t get your way!  A great idea is a great idea regardless of where it comes from.  At some point we have got to put down our pride and do what is best for our crew and community.  The younger members have access to a vast amount of information most of us couldn’t have dreamed of when we started.  While all of the information out there is not good information, it is our job as company officers to help our people filter through it and select what is good and what is bad.  This is done by conducting training evolutions or discussions and encouraging everyone on the crew to give input.  The key is setting the standard for when it is appropriate to speak up and when it is not.

I am sorry but I simply don’t agree with the “everyone is a leader” flavor of the month.  I think everyone can have a great idea, but without followers there is no such thing as leaders.  I believe in setting up systems and procedures which groom and promote leaders.  The right people in the right positions know how to grow new firefighters into senior firefighters, and eventually company officers.  If your company officers are honoring their leadership role you shouldn’t need leaders at every level.  Don’t misinterpret the message of this article; anyone in any position can make a positive impact and improve the team.  However, where we are falling short as an occupation is how we extract these ideas and implement them.  Find ways to allow your junior members to be involved but still understand their role and place in the crew and chain of command.  Furnish methods and training which allow their ideas to be attempted but also show them the other methods you have learned along the way.  Give credit where credit is due and remember, just because you are the company officer does not mean you are always right or always have the best way.  The key is dictating when and how your crew can go about making suggestions.  I am pretty open with my crew, but they also know the situations where what I say goes without question.  Figure out what works for your crew!

Everyone reaches a point in their career where their head gets a little too big for their lid and position.  I have been there many times in my career and have been fortunate enough to find the advice and experience of some great mentors along the way who have kept my passion and motivation on the right course.  It is up to us to stop whining about the way things are going and start implementing solutions to get them back on track.  Never forget that we operate with a chain of command for a reason.  I see too many places that are showing up with individuals and using freelancing as their primary tactic hidden under the guise of limited manpower.  With fires down in many corners of the country, it is more important than ever to make sure we are operating as one cohesive team when a working run comes in!  It all starts with setting a standard and developing your people from day one!

Navigating Successful Change

A week or so ago I posted this picture and I had so much that I wanted to say about it that it wouldn’t have been feasible to do so in a single post.  I haven’t written a blog post in a while so I figured this would be a great opportunity to do so.  My motivation for this picture was the increase in messages I have been receiving through the page.  Interacting with the followers of the page is my favorite part of doing this, so please keep the messages coming!  I have been getting a few messages here and there where people tell me what the page has done for their passion, how frustrated they are with what goes on in their own department, or that the page has been able to put many of their feelings into words.  These interactions started making my brain spin about what I write on the page versus what I am able to accomplish in my own department.

 

First and foremost I think we all need to understand that EVERY fire department in America is the same in different ways.  We all have motivated people, unmotivated people, good rules, bad rules, guys who are great at the job, guys who aren’t so great at the job, problems, solutions, and every gray area in between.  What makes us different is the way each of those components influence and create the culture within our firehouses.  It is very easy to look at someone else’s situation or operation and draw conclusions about your own.  It is also very easy to become discouraged when what they are doing doesn’t necessarily work in your agency.

 

It is much easier to tell others what needs to be done than make it happen yourself.  Telling someone to stop accepting the bullshit or implement a huge change may be the right advice, but can be extremely difficult to accomplish depending on the environment that individual is working in.  “The road to success is easier to navigate when plotted on another man’s map” is something I came up with when thinking about all the advice that is out there.  Simply put, it is easier to fix someone else’s problems than your own.  Sure it is easy to get on social media or correspond with a colleague in another agency and solve the problems of other departments, but how does it translate to your department?  One of the most difficult parts of affecting change is trying to figure out how to manipulate the advice, passion, and ideas you receive from others into a product that will work in your own organization.  I frequently feel like a hypocrite when I write things on the page that I am unable to change in my own department.  However, there is a massive difference between saying and not doing versus trying and not succeeding.  Every tour I strive to make some sort of positive change whether it is in my department, on my shift, within my crew, or in the community.

 

When our craft becomes how you make a living, there are certainly limitations on how hard you can fight depending on your rank and influence.  We must test the waters and push the limits while ensuring we do so with enough respect and mindfulness to prevent us from being terminated for our efforts.  Pushing for improvement in a manner which costs you your career does not solve any problems but rather creates much larger ones!  There is no road map or fastest route to making change in your organization.  The most influential people of a field are called pioneers for a reason; they forged their own paths.  The best course of action is to find acceptable ways to make an impact and exploit them until you wear the opposition down.

One of the most exhausting parts of trying to change things is preaching to the choir.  The majority of us have a somewhat limited sphere of influence.  You will likely spend most of your time sharing ideas with people who have a similar outlook.  This is because those who oppose you don’t want to hear it.  However, just like a real choir, the more you preach the more people will join your cause.  Influence as many people as possible and watch the culture of passion spread.  Just be sure you are realistic about the time it may take to see results.  Not every change has to be a huge one.  Sometimes many small changes end up creating a larger change in the end.  While it is true that change can start at the bottom, it certainly gains much more traction when it is started and supported on the top.  The power associated with our top ranks generally aids in the successful implementation of cultural changes in many cases.  Regardless of the larger impact, the most important thing is changing what you can and influencing others to change the things you can’t whenever you are given the opportunity.

It is extremely discouraging to dedicate yourself to making your organization better only to have those efforts rejected by the other members.  When you are passionate and outspoken, you can unfortunately end up with a target on your back.  People will pounce on every opportunity to mock, correct, or punish you because what you believe makes them uncomfortable.  You have to be prepared for the resentment and abuse pushing for change can bring.  This normally has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them.  Most people do not like change and those who are insecure about themselves like it even less.  Usually, they have learned to hide behind the status quo and are scared their flaws will be exposed if change is implemented.  Sometimes you will have to burn bridges, but we often build better ones in their place!

Being passionate can be a lonely place depending on the people you are surrounded by.  This doesn’t mean you have to give up it simply means you have to pick your battles.  While making friends is not a primary mission of our profession, we still have to be able to work with each other and sometimes that means you must get creative with how you apply your passion to our craft.  Brush off what you can and enlist the help and support of like-minded people for the things you cannot.  While I think it is complete bullshit we sometimes have to dumb down our passion, it is an unfortunate reality of the current state of the fire service.  Remember, if you push so hard they shut down you will never be successful at changing things for the better.  We all wish we could take the highway but the road of the passionate is usually the scenic route.

I think the most impactful thing I have learned since taking on this endeavor is that there are fellow firefighters all over the place that are simply refreshed to hear someone tell them it is okay to love the job.  There is such a lack of passion and commitment across the board that many of our brothers and sisters are simply relieved to read and hear that there are those of us out there who agree with them.  They are empowered to continue fighting knowing that they are not alone.  In many ways they rely on posts, books, and speakers to reinforce their passion and beliefs as a way to stay motivated.  This is why it is imperative we continue to communicate, influence, and support each other!

 

While it may be easier for someone to offer ways to fix the problems of departments other than their own, don’t take the advice in vain.  It will always be easier to interject your opinion on matters which do not directly affect you.  This does not make their advice or beliefs any less valuable, it simply means that the perspective and environment will greatly influence how those ideas are or are not implemented in your own agency.  The goal should always be to implement as many positive changes as possible in your department.  However, don’t be discouraged if it is not as simple as a post or class may make it seem!   The reality of the situation, which I have learned from interacting with followers of the page, is that regardless of what you can do in your own department, your advice can and will help others.

Community Investment

Ask any of the hundreds of firefighters who have entered our trade over the past 5 years who the number one priority is during emergency operations.  I bet they tell you it is them.  Ask them who comes next.  It will likely be their crew.  I would also be willing to bet they will list the victims in 3^rd; still a podium position but not by much.  Now ask yourself what is wrong with this picture?

When I came into the fire service 10 years ago it was a transitional period in firefighting culture just as it was in society.  I fall between two very distinct generations for both.  Fortunately, I was indoctrinated in our craft by a lot of old skool firemen who had served their community, as well as their country, for decades before I came along.  The main thing that generation taught me was the importance of serving the community. Fast forward to today and we have recruits coming out of the fire academy telling everyone they come first as their safety is paramount to anything else that happens on any incident scene.  The really unfortunate part of all of this is MY generation and the older generations are the ones teaching them this crap!  If only it was that black and white!

I believe it is pretty simple, if you want the community to invest in your department than you must put them first!  Somewhere along our quest to reduce the number of line of duty deaths we began teaching and justifying putting our safety above the victims and that is just plain wrong.  None of us should be going on suicide missions but rather we should be smart, well trained, aggressive firefighters who will search every survivable space possible.  We must also be proficient in the delivery of EMS, rescue, HazMat, and whatever other endeavors your department took on to justify its existence when the percentage of fires decreased.  I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that we became so good at fire prevention and codes that we felt taking on other roles would make us more justifiable than our track record, but that is a topic for another day.

It is not uncommon to hear people suggest that their community just doesn’t get it.  Sadly there are communities that literally do not support their fire department.  How could this be?  Well, perhaps you first need to look at what you, your company, and your department does to instill trust and support from your citizens.  I firmly believe that the community would rather see its firefighters out and about doing things rather than see their million dollar fire engines parked in their multi-million dollar firehouses 24/7!  I have been told I am wrong about this but I fail to accept that.  If the citizens are willing to invest that type of money in a service, especially one they hopefully never need to use, they at least want to see some return on their investment.

So how can you give them a return without directly providing them the service of emergency

mitigation? GET OUT AND INTERACT WITH THEM!  Take your crew to the grocery store each tour and meet people who live and work in your coverage area.  Don’t act like parolees; take the time to have a dialogue with your citizens because they will almost ALWAYS ask questions about you and the department.  You would be surprised how many don’t realize our tour schedule, if we are career/volunteer, that we do more than fight fires, or even that we pay for our groceries with our own money!  This are all questions I have been asked personally why at the store.  This is a great time to educate the community or even assist them with loading groceries, pumping gas, or anything else that may come up.  The little stuff matters when it comes to community relations!

Always keep PR materials on your apparatus.  Pamphlets, smoke detectors, and stuff for the kids are always useful, especially when you are out interacting with your customers.  That big red fire engine we call our office seems to have its own gravitational pull with our citizens, especially the younger ones.  I think I have done more fire safety education and PR from random visits to local businesses than I ever have from scheduled events.  None of which would have occurred if we are parked in the engine bay all day!

Take your crew training in public places; the citizens are usually amazed to see the things we can do.  Find public locations such as schools, parks, etc. where you will not be trespassing and pull some lines or throw some ladders.  Educate the public about why we train so much and how utilizing different training locations better prepares us for any situation we may encounter.  I bet they will listen and even thank you for your hard work.

The perception of your crew and your department is what you make of it.  Understand that you will NEVER please everyone.  There is always going to be someone who doesn’t think we should be at the store, out of the station, or training on school property.  Respectfully accept their criticism and continue with whatever activity you are working on.  At the end of the day you are going to do more good than harm.  Go the extra mile to assist the public in both emergency and non-emergency situations.  Check on broke down vehicles, changes tires, play basketball or football with the neighborhood kids, and wave to everyone you pass as your ride around in the rig.  Life is so much easier with a community that supports us!  

Make sure everyone on your crew understands that our customers, the citizens, will ALWAYS come FIRST!  They pay for your salary, equipment, stations, and apparatus.  They are invested in us and we owe it to them to be invested in them!  If don't agree perhaps there is another division of the government you can lateral to or another occupation you have been looking for a reason to start.  To say you come first goes against every oath and ethos I have ever seen related to our trade.  Frankly, it is just purely unacceptable and not an attitude I want on my crew.  So please, go put yourself first somewhere else while the rest of us get back to SERVING our community!

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.