Leadership Essentials for Fire Officers

It often is stated that a person’s true leadership ability is related directly to his/her ability to influence others. A leader is only as effective as the people who follow will allow.

Nobody can be successful in life doing things alone. So very much of what we accomplish only can happen through the efforts of many. True leadership involves getting extraordinary results from the combined efforts of ordinary people. Good leaders utilize the talents of those who are around them, seek advice from those who have more experience and treat others with respect. It’s rather simple, but it’s a powerful premise.

Management vs. leadership

Often, the word management is used when discussing the role of a fire officer. However, caution must be used, because management and leadership are very different animals and shouldn’t be confused for each other. Management is the process of controlling people or running systems to get results. Leadership involves using skills to produce positive changes. For the fire officer, it’s absolutely necessary that a mixture of both of these are utilized correctly. Fireground decision-making doesn’t allow for discussion when time is critical and lives are at stake. As well, day-to-day things that affect members inside of the firehouse definitely allow opportunity for leadership principles to be employed.

Leadership begins with making certain that a sense of safety and trust exists among your people. Our job deals with life and death on a regular basis as well as other forces that try to keep us from success. We have no control over these external forces but do have control over the internal environment of our organization.

Why are we willing to put ourself in danger when one of our own is in trouble on the fireground? Simply put, because they would do the same for us. This comes from a deep sense of trust. This trust is unlike any that’s experienced in any other line of work outside of the military or emergency services. As human beings, we are no better than others, but the environment that we work within is different. The corporate world is willing to put profit margins ahead of people; our profession always puts people first. It’s why we exist. The terms colleagues and co-workers are utilized when talking about the environment in the corporate scene; in the fire service, we use the terms brothers and sisters. Inside of the fire station, we will tease, joke and fight with each other, but if there is some force from the outside that threatens the safety of one of our own, we will go to the ends of the Earth to help them—no different than a real family. This becomes possible through common beliefs, values—and good leadership.

Trust

Leadership comes down to creating an environment of trust within an organization. There isn’t one thing in particular that can be told to aspiring leaders to get others to trust them. There are no shortcuts. Patience, time and experience are necessary, because trust is an accumulation of doing the right things consistently, time and time again. You must believe in your message and be consistent. Results often aren’t immediate, but they will be realized in terms of loyalty over the long haul.

Think about when trust for a leader doesn’t exist. People in the organization won’t deviate from the rules of the organization out of fear, which can severely handcuff the organization from moving forward as well as lead to missing valuable opportunities. People will learn to work around leaders who are untrustworthy and don’t keep their word.

People must have the power to act, so they have a sense of pride or ownership in a group. A leader who delegates effectively gives people a sense that they can have some control of their work environment. Constantly checking and correcting the work of others will come across as micromanaging and will convey to people that they aren’t trusted by the leader. When this trust doesn’t exist, people will lack the confidence that’s necessary to take risks in relation to bringing new ideas forward.

Clear and simple

What leaders expect from and how they treat their workers determines how their people will perform. Expectations are the boundaries for people to work within and are part of a motivational environment. Expectations need to have purpose, be reasonable and be in line with the mission of the department. If a leader communicates high expectations and demonstrates confidence that the workers are able to fulfill those expectations, the workers generally will.

People also need to know how they are to meet those expectations. Communication will need to be very clear and simple in regard to priorities and objectives, so people understand expectations. Definitive plans will produce definitive results. Without fully understanding, people will formulate their own objectives or follow someone else who seems to have a vision or purpose. This might or might not be in the interests of the organization.

Communication is the single most important factor that can make a difference in the behavior and morale of an organization’s members. So, in today’s world, why do problems with communication exist, when the mediums to communicate are so numerous? Email, voicemail, text messages, cellphones and social media outlets permit information to be sent between individuals, but this isn’t good enough. Often, the problem isn’t the quantity of communications, but the quality. Quality communication must be a two-way process that includes both sending a message as well as receiving it. Today’s communication media that are commonly used have depersonalized this process.

The context of what things are supposed to mean and why decisions are put into place needs to be made clear to people. Without this, people are apt to give their own meaning to issues. When communication isn’t open, the “grapevine” and “rumor mill” will become prevalent, which causes problems that will be very difficult to repair later.

Having information is considered to be a source of power, but true power comes from the dissemination of information and the empowerment of members of the organization. Some of the greatest advice for leaders is to make themselves visible and available to the people who they lead.

Confrontation

The more successful that you are in moving up the ladder in your career, the more likely that you eventually will move into a position in which you will be taken away from your comfort zone, from doing things that you like or are good at. One of the most uncomfortable things about moving up as a leader is dealing with confrontation.

Human nature is to want everyone to like you, but that isn’t always possible when tough decisions within an organization must be made. Confrontation is necessary and must be met head on. Avoiding it destroys a leader’s credibility more quickly than anything else. Remember, our job is a dangerous profession that requires serious people. Being a good friend can lead to someone getting killed; being a good leader can mean your members return home safely after their shift.

When something goes wrong, confront the problem, not the people. Discuss “what” went wrong rather than “who” when discussing issues. Leaders need to tell it like it is, always using the absolute truth and known facts. Using “fluff” in expressing priorities and goals should be avoided at all cost. Truth that isn’t necessarily nice is better than having to explain lies that could be detrimental to a project later.

It is very easy for a leader to become emotional when confronting issues. Showing some emotion is good. It expresses the passion that a leader possesses. However, emotion must be balanced to have an effect. Too much isn’t a good thing.

A leader must avoid taking things personally, so get to know and understand the “triggers” that cause you to become frustrated. Of course, this can be easier said than done. Leaders have no control over how someone thinks about them.

Losing your cool as a leader demonstrates instability, which diminishes credibility. People won’t want to bring things to a leader or to help a leader, because they will fear that their leader will lose it. Set the example by showing the performance, attitude and commitment that you expect from the group. Human nature is to imitate actions that are performed by others.

As a leader, if you “talk the talk,” you better “walk the walk.” If you find that you can’t do something as said, follow it up and explain why. Also, the fastest way to lose credibility as a leader is to fail in obtaining and maintaining the knowledge and skills that are required of your job and of the people who work alongside of you. This doesn’t mean that the leader can perform the skills better than the others, but the leader can understand them to look after the safety of their people and develop them.

Are you ready?

Leadership isn’t easy, particularly inside of today’s fire service. Everyone has the opportunity to lead at any level. Just because someone has a rank or title or because he/she is the biggest, strongest or fastest member of a group doesn’t mean that the person is the best leader for a group.

With hard work, believing in yourself, having courage and taking ownership, the best leadership skills can surface in all of us.