Do You Posses the Qualities of a Successful Follower?

One aspect of the fire service that often goes unnoticed is the act of being a follower. Being able to follow the direction of your department’s leadership is a trait that is rarely taught, learned or discussed. How many chiefs can there really be? As jumpseat riding firefighters, we must learn to be good followers who develop the needed skills to take direction, follow orders and fulfill the positions that are being asked of us. Sometimes being a follower can be difficult, especially as we gain knowledge and experience.  We develop our ways of doing tasks that may or may not match that of our leadership. Setting aside our opinions and taking the direction of leaders can be one of the most difficult tasks asked of us. 

Having the Courage to Follow

Learning how to be a good follower should become a topic that all firefighters and fire officers spend time on.  Yes, even current officers need to learn the concepts of being an effective follower as they will be following the direction of the chief officers. In the fire service there will be times when we can offer our views on a task, but many times we will need to follow the direction of our leaders without question.  An example of this would be on the fire scene where we must receive a direct order and perform a task. An example of a direct order that a fire officer could give a firefighter is “ladder the second floor and wait until I give you the order to break the glass.”  This example must be received, understood and executed with restraint.  What would happen if the firefighter took the window before the command was given?

Dr. Robert Kelley, who teaches at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University, wrote about the role of the follower in an article for the Harvard School Business Review.  His article titled “In Praise of Followers” examined four key qualities of an effective follower. These qualities can be utilized by all ranks in the fire service to make the entire department stronger and help develop good followers, who will eventually become the leaders. Let’s take a look at Dr. Kelley’s followership qualities and how they apply to your fire department.

Self-Management

Self-management is being in control of your actions, thinking critically and working independently.  These traits are great examples that we need in the fire service. Freelancing is the perfect example of being in control of our actions. If we are not following the directions of our officer and taking on tasks that are not directed, we are freelancing on the fireground. We must stay in control of our thoughts and actions while operating under the command structure.  If we complete the first task, we need to communicate the completion and wait for the next task to be assigned. This control can become harder as experience is gained because we know what the next task is. Keeping your actions to within the command structure is still required for the success of the operation. 

Being a critical-thinking firefighter is an essential skill on the fireground. We need to understand the whys along with the hows of each action. Two examples are why we choose a 2 1/2-inch attack line or maybe a defensive attack. Understanding that every action has a reaction or consequence should be understood while we develop as a follower. Learning this skill from day one will start to develop our thought processes, encourage learning and establish the base understanding that will carry over as you become a leader. 

Perhaps the biggest, and most important, quality in self-management is the ability to work independently. When the time comes or order is given to carry out a task, you should be able to do so without supervision. This skill is essential for all firefighters. “Grab a 24-foot extension ladder and raise it to the roof for the vent crew’s secondary means of egress” is an example of a direct order that could be asked for you to perform, alone. Do you really need someone to supervise this basic foreground function?  Hopefully not.  It may seem trivial or shouldn’t be included in this article, but this task could be dangerous if the follower doesn’t understand how to carry out the task unsupervised. 

Commitment

Commitment is defined by Dr. Kelley as being committed to the goal, vision or cause of a group, team or organization. If we are not committed to our departments goals or cause we should hang up our helmets, now.  The buying in of the entire department can be difficult to obtain. Especially if the leadership doesn’t include everyone in establishing the goals, directives and procedures they will be using.  No matter what the reason is, we should be committed to the number one goal of the fire department, to save lives. If we don’t remain committed to the mission it could fail, costing the lives of civilians and firefighters. 

Before joining a department, we should understand their mission statement and goals and visit with the leadership to ensure that we share the same values.  Belonging to a department that has different opinions and values can cause ill feelings, frustration and separation between the members. That is why it is important to make sure that the departments values mirror yours before signing up.  The other option is to join and assimilate to their ways or bide your time until you can contribute to the mission.

No matter what you choose we all should stand behind our leadership while on emergency calls.  These situations could be life or death and is not the place for dissension.  If we have an issue with a task, that we feel would endanger our lives, we should simply ask for clarification or confirmation.  It’s not the place to yell, scream or be out of line in doing so.  Expressing your concern in a respectful, direct and non-confrontational manner will keep the focus on the mission.  Inside the firehouse, we should use the same tact in approaching our leadership when asking for clarification of the issue, preferably behind closed doors.

Competence

Being a competent firefighter is where the rubber meets the road. If you don’t have the skills and understanding that can carry out fireground functions what good are you? Without the understanding and ability to perform the required tasks, you become an unreliable firefighter who will take focus away from your officer to either help perform or supervise you doing the required task. The inability to perform these tasks can cripple a first-arriving crew.

The question is raised who is responsible for ensuring you are a competent firefighter, the officer or you?  Responsibility falls on both the officers and the firefighters. It’s the officer’s responsibility to set up training drills and introduce you to new skills and refresh your old skills. All departments should have a yearly schedule to cover all the basic fireground functions to ensure they all receive attention.  During these sessions, the individual firefighter’s skill level should be evaluated by the command staff and given the chance to remediate in a non-confrontational manner.

The other side of this equation is the firefighter themselves being responsible for how they receive the training and seek help for skills that they struggle with.  While the officers set up the classes, it is the jumpseat rider’s job to show up with an open mind and receive the new skills while refreshing the old.  If a firefighter shows up with the mindset that they know how to perform a skill and don’t want to participate in the training, the weakness may not be exposed until a failure or struggle on the fireground.  No matter what your skill level is or the number of years you have been on the fire department, it is our job to participate in the training functions and practice our skills to ensure that they don’t become rusty.  Skills are perishable and if you don’t use them you will lose them. 

Courage

The last part of the followership is courage.  Courage comes in many forms, such as the courage to follow your leadership, even when it isn’t popular, courage to stand up for what’s right, or courage to speak up on a safety issue.  This courage should come in a respectful manner that relieves tension, not build it.  If you have strong feelings for a needed change, express them with information that substantiates your side.  With the internet and all of the available information you should have no problem finding research, articles, videos or other media to either back up your side or help you discover that you are not right. 

The most courage is required to stand up for the department when it isn’t popular with the firefighters in the fire station.  Supporting the mission should be everyone’s focus, but when this focus goes astray it will take courage to stand up and do the right thing.  An example of this would be the constant loss of staff and cutting of companies.  While we all agree that it is troubling and concerning, we should not take our eyes off the mission and waver in our support of each other.  If management hands down a blow like this we should remain focused on the task at hand.

Conclusion

Without a doubt, the fire service needs solid leaders. Strong leaders who stand up for their firefighters, lead with pride, and ensure to keep us all on the task of saving lives and properties. More importantly, we should take the time to become strong followers who learn, challenge and push to ensure we are ready to follow our leadership when the alarm sounds. Even if it is unpopular, make sure you’re ready to take direction, work independently and get the job done.

RYAN PENNINGTON, a Firehouse.com Contributing Editor, is a firefighter/paramedic for the Charleston, WV, Fire Department. He is a member of the West Virginia Task Force 1 USAR team and has over 20 years of combined fire, rescue and EMS experience. Ryan is currently a West Virginia State Instructor 2, Hazmat Technician, and Certified Fire Officer 2. He is the author of the "Views From the Jumpseat" blog on Firehouse.com. You can also find him on chamberofhoarders.com and reach him by e-mail at: [email protected].