A Letter To Management

Let me start this by saying that I in no way have things figured out or have all the answers for the things that I believe are ailing today's American fire service. I do, however, want to take a moment to address some things that I have both experienced and witnessed in my short 12 years in the fire service.

I want to address the management. I use the term management intentionally because I believe leadership happens and is needed at every level. 'Management' I am using to qualify a group of individuals who have chosen to be in a position of authority. Those who have decided that they want to be responsible for a crew, a shift, a division, or a department. For now however, I want to address a specific group: The Company Officer.

Whether you are a seasoned company officer, newly promoted, looking at promoting in the future, or anywhere in between, I'm hoping that there is something offered here that can help you be successful. Because, despite what you may believe or have been told, it's not easy to meet the expectations of the people in your charge.

I am not an officer, and have little desire to be one for the foreseeable future. I genuinely love the part of this job that I get the opportunity to do, and because of that, I have a vested interest in my officer's success in fostering my ability

to provide the highest level of service to my community. So, with all of that being said, I'd like to address the company officers from a perspective that you may not have had in an open and honest forum... that of the one who is counting on you.

Let's start with a question: Throughout your agency, would your current crew be your number one choice if your kid, your spouse, or your parent's life was depending on them? And to take it further, would you trust EVERY member of your crew above anyone else to make it happen?

If not, then you should be asking yourself why that is. If your answer is no to either of those questions, recognize first that that is on your shoulders because every single person that your firehouse responds to has that exact expectation of your crew: that you brought the absolute BEST group of people to save or care for their loved ones. You either meet that expectation or you fail. You have a massive responsibility and there is only one way to ensure that you don't let your citizens or your crew down, and that's to lead your people through consistent WORK.

I have heard countless times, both from both my company and chief officers that their number one responsibility is to make sure I go home at the end of the day. Respectfully, that's bullshit and a cop- out.

Your job (as we see it) is to make sure that you have given us every opportunity, every tool, and every bit of your time necessary to ensure that we have the training and knowledge we need to be able to make smart decisions and fulfill the mission.

Your greatest responsibility lies in the preparation, not the emergency. And to make things easier for you I'll even let you in on a little secret: we actually like to work.

When we raised our right hand and took that oath, I can assure you that sitting in the recliners, playing Xbox, or fucking around on our cell phones was not what we were jacked about. It was riding on the big red fire engine with lights and sirens, showing up with people counting on us, and going to work. We didn't dream about being a mediocre firefighter, or just an okay medic. We envisioned rolling up like a badass and making good shit happen (Tory).

You hear all throughout the fire service that we are a bunch of Type A personalities, but we aren't being led like Type A personalities. One of (in my opinion) the best characteristics of Type A's is our need to conquer. To prove. To EARN our way. Pride has no evidence in laziness. Pride is built, and nothing gets built without work. Have you ever noticed that the bitching about training (or bitching in general) stops once the training, aka work, starts?

This leads me to my next observation. The good old 'Expectations' talk. You know the one, the one where you walk in and hand your new crew the list of expectations now that you are the new Boss in charge. That same list of expectations that never seems to see the light of day again, even when those expectations aren't being met.

Now don't get me wrong, I am an absolute believer in having clear expectations and I would even tell you that that's EXACTLY what we want. But allow me to caution you with this: The most effective and most important expectations are the ones set through sweat equity, not pen and paper. Regardless of the intent, if not balanced by performance driven standards, set through drilling with your people, this list will be viewed as nothing more than 'low hanging fruit'.

Here's the reality. We know we are supposed to show up on time, ready to go, shaved, etc. Don't ignore those things of course, but if you're breaking your go getter's stones over their unpolished boots and some scruff while ignoring your slug's consistent under performance, this will create some significant animosity and push back. And rightfully so in my opinion. If you only pick the low hanging fruit, you can expect everything out of arms reach to rot your whole tree from inside out.

What you have to decide as an officer, is what kind of officer do you want to be? There is a falsehood that is rampant in the fire service and that is, "You don't have to respect the person, but you have to respect the position." False. No we don't. The only thing that we are required to do is to recognize the authority in which the position holds.

The decision you have to make as my officer is whether you want me to follow you. I would like to think that if asked, every company officer worth their salt would say that they want their people to follow them, to trust them, to believe in them.

There is only one road to that followership, and it's paved with commitment, humility, consistency, and work.

If you want to know what kind of an officer you are, ask yourself this: "Who is asking to come work for you?" Is it people that come in and sit in the recliner, watch TV, play video games, do their side jobs, and talk about everything except the job?

Or are they the go getters in your department? The people who strive and train and practice and go to training on their own and are students of the job?

The harsh reality is (as one of my mentors Aaron says) LIKE breeds LIKE. The people that you draw towards you are typically a direct reflection of your leadership and their view of you. Do they just like you as a person or do they respect you as an officer? If you are a new officer, you have a very small window to set the tone for your crew. If you miss that window, it's a hard road to correct.

I will finish with this; As company officers, I respect the decision you made and hope that you made it for the right reason. Because if you want to be a good one, you have just signed up for a job that carries an incredible amount of responsibility and is going to require an unbelievable amount of your time, energy, and fortitude.

You not only have taken on a vital role in our development and success, but you have taken on ensuring that the traditions that have made the fire service what it is today continue on.

Trust your people but don't assume anything. Verify your people's abilities through training and practice and once you've done that, turn them loose and watch them perform. Remember, we want to show you we can be trusted to be in position and do good shit.

Don't underestimate the importance of the followers. We are where service gets delivered. You are there to ensure that the level in which that service is being provided is the absolute best.

Lastly, the little things you do make a massive difference. I saw a picture posted on a FB post from a firehouse in Charlotte that summed this very thing up. It was a picture of a newly promoted Officer, Captain Brown, washing dishes. Not just a few dishes, an unbelievable amount of dishes.

In the city of Charlotte, their newly promoted officers swing until they get their official assignment. Well, wash duty is decided by a good old game of cards in which the station makes sure that if they have a swing guy in for the tour, that guy's gonna lose, 100% of the time.

Of course, they made sure to use every dish in the kitchen just to make it interesting. The caption stated, "Welcome R/C Brown, you are not Capt. Smith." And there was newly promoted Capt. Brown with a big smile on his face washing every dish.

Captain Brown had a choice to make. He could have pulled rank and had someone else do it. Or he could take it in stride, exercise some humility, and understand that this is nothing more than a test. What kind of leader is he going to be? His response to that small event was going to be a major defining point of how his people viewed him. It was a test of character.

The little things matter.

If you made it this far, then thank you for your attention, and I'm humbled that you are willing to listen to someone probably much more junior than most of you. I hope it was worth your while, and you found some value in what my experiences have shown me.

At the end of the day, I want the best crew, the best captain, in the best battalion providing the best service. And quite simply, that doesn't happen without you.