Looking back at my first years after my previous promotions (medical officer, lieutenant, battalion chief), I could see the natural progression from optimism and excitement to normalcy and routine. Normalcy and routine aren’t bad things. They are a natural transition that comes from hands-on experience and education.
That said, there is something very special to that “new” feeling of optimism and excitement in the first days and weeks of a new position, and we should hold on to it as long as we can.
Similar to this is the career bell curve. It starts with the first third of a firefighter’s career, in need of experience and education, and it must be spent learning from everyone. Even bad examples can teach good lessons. The bell curve should be as sharp as the firefighter can make it, becoming a sponge in learning the job.
The second third of a firefighter’s career sits at the top of the curve and should be the firefighter’s most productive years. The individual must still ask questions, but now he or she starts to answer questions of others, too. Firefighters who are in the second third of the process become a critical learning tool for new firefighters. Because they just got done asking the questions themselves, they are the closest peers to be able to answer the questions of the new members.
The final third of the bell curve is represented by the senior members — the “been there, done that” members. These members answer more questions than they ask and have the most understanding of the department’s policies, procedures and culture. Supposedly, they have all of the answers and experience, too. This simply isn’t the case. Furthermore, personally, I like asking questions, and I like doing the work, so I’m not ready to be pushed down the curve completely.
This motivated me to write these 10 “commandments” to be a good fire chief. I won’t be a new battalion chief for long.
1. Thou shalt be honest
This seems so easy on first consideration. Guess what, it’s easy on second and third consideration as well. As a new fire chief, you must put all information in one of three categories when the line starts to ask questions.
Category 1 is “I know the answer. Here it is.” Direct information, from the horse’s mouth, stops, or at least slows, the gossip that’s going around the kitchen table.
Category 2 is “I know, but I can’t talk about it.” With this one, you have to set the boundary, so that once you say it, the conversation must change.
Category 3 is “I have no idea.” This is the most difficult one for the line to believe, but over time, they will learn to believe you, particularly if you are diligent with Categories 1 and 2.
2. Thou shalt remember your engine days
Riding the seat as a company officer probably is/was the dream job of “rookie you.” On that seat, you probably got your first taste of crew integrity and understood that the company was your responsibility, and you learned to trust some of the stuff that you read in all of those books. You also began to see that, as great as your job, your crew and your department are, you could make them better. That optimism has a tendency to fade. Don’t let it.
3. Thou shalt remember to train and to be seen struggling at it
Confession time: I always thought of myself as a boat guy. Part of being a boat guy is being a “trailer guy.” I can back up a boat trailer at the ramp like a champ, unless I can’t. During a recent training, I couldn’t. Three engine companies, a medic unit and the department training officer watched me take three attempts to successfully get the trailer in the water. I finally got it. With
the boat loaded, I pulled the boat out and opened the door of my vehicle to a rousing round of applause. I accepted the aforementioned applause, a little embarrassed, but human. Remember, as a new chief, you still are human.
4. Thou shalt show them when possible, tell them when necessary
As a chief, not every day requires a white shirt. Hopefully, you learned a lot of techniques when you were riding that engine. Show the line how to do it. After that 3 a.m., fully involved house fire, when you have two hours of reports to complete, go out and help to wash the dirty hose. Get up on the hosebed to load it. Those crews have a chance to salvage some sleep, you don’t. Lean into it, and watch a spark reignite in that crew.
5. Thou shalt keep an open ear with subordinates
Be honest, you have sat at the kitchen table and listened to the senior blue shirts solve every problem that the fire service ever had, real or imaginary. You even might have added to the solutions. What we learn after getting the gold badge, though, is that those black-and-white answers conveniently gloss over all of the gray areas. That said, we still can learn from these sessions. As a chief, sometimes we are bogged down in the gray areas and lose focus of what is most important. Listen to those conversations and remember that, sometimes, the most important action that a chief can take is to simply acknowledge the effort in brainstorming for ideas.
6. Thou shalt not always be the smartest person in the room
Diversity is a strength, and it comes with many different experiences. Listen to those experiences. As a second-in engine to a house fire with reports of people inside, I once witnessed the first-in officer walk right past an obviously distraught woman in a bathroom, covered in soot, crying for his attention. Do you believe that she could be considered an expert in the field of that house and the people who are inside of it? We run into more subtle examples of this every day in the fire service. Maybe that new recruit used to be a utility line person and probably has some firsthand insight that the entire department could learn from. Maybe the firefighter who left an accounting job to be a firefighter can assist with some budget issues. Find your experts and use them.
7. Thou shalt cultivate your management skills, supervision skills and leadership skills
These are three distinct skills, and as a new chief, you will be lucky to be good at two of them. That isn’t good enough. You must be good at all three.
Use of good management skills at the start of the shift allows you to at least set an outline for your day. It addresses the most important jobs of the day and prioritizes them.
Some of the best supervision skills that you will learn are what I call “ninja supervision.” Simply put, it’s listening actively to radio traffic, it’s observing personnel interactions from a distance and it’s critiquing reports. News flash: It’s human nature to be on your best behavior when you know the boss is watching. It also is human nature to be nervous when the boss is watching, so don’t appear to be watching.
Here is the beauty of your position: You can delegate while you learn the first two skills, but you can’t do that when it comes to leadership. Leadership is learned through everything that you did to get where you are right now.
8. Thou shalt know when the white helmet can come off
If members ask you to play golf with them, do it, but not every time.
This chief gig is special. There must be a division somewhere between the staff and the line. You must keep that in mind, as do they. However, it doesn’t have to be an impenetrable line. You must find the balance. Too stiff, and you appear cold and uncaring. Too loose, and you lose the credibility of the position.
9. Thou shalt expect more but acknowledge enough
I had a childhood friend who was super intelligent and another one who struggled. One would get yelled at for bringing home a B on his report card. The other got ice cream for Cs.
Was the fire extinguished? Did the victim survive the extrication without need for amputation? Did every responder go home after the shift? These all are very good things that must be acknowledged as successful calls. If you believe that it could have gone better, training on it soon afterward is critical. It’s important that crews realize that you aren’t happy with C work but aren’t scolding a B.
10. Thou shalt remember that if you fail the line, you fail
If you only remember one of these commandments, let it be this one. Let the line know that you work for them, that you work with them, that you work because of them. Watch them do more because of you.
William Beck
William Beck is a 17-year veteran with Waterloo, IA, Fire Rescue. He served as firefighter, paramedic, medical officer and lieutenant prior to becoming a battalion chief in 2020. Previously, Beck was a volunteer for the Cresco, IA, Community Fire Department.
