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ATTITUDE – Difference between Success and Failure

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History’s greatest achievements have been made by individuals who excelled only slightly over the masses of other individuals in their respective fields.  I am reminded of this when you look at athletes.  Most have significant levels of talent.  The same is true for the fire service.  Most of our personnel have strong predicated skills, abilities and knowledge.  So what puts the people excelling in front of the others?  Most times that small difference is attitude.  Over the years I have had the opportunity to spend time with many different fire departments.  The difference was captured by the late Ralph Jackman, Fire Chief in Vergennes, Vermont.  In a conversation standing in the apparatus bay of the Vergennes Fire Department he commented that his department did not have the greatest equipment or the fanciest of fire apparatus.  In fact he stated the sometimes struggle with the financial end of keeping up.  He did quickly point out that that his personnel had passion, desire and the right attitude to serve, which was the critical factor in the success of the organization.  He went on to further reiterate the importance of having a positive attitude and what that brings to the formula of success.  He stated, “Give me someone who has a good attitude and I can work with them on the other things.”

Certainly aptitude is important to our success in life or the success of an organization.  Yet anyone who has been around the fire service for more than a few days knows success or failure is precipitated more by mental attitude than by mere mental capacities.  We have to recognize the true importance of the total equation I.Q. (Intelligence Quotient) + A.Q. (Attitude Quotient) = Success or Failure.  We have all witnessed individuals whose I.Q. was extremely high and their performance was low and the opposite of low I.Q and high performance.  The difference in each of these formulas is the attitude quotient.  There is very little difference in people, but that little difference, attitude, makes a big difference.

So how do we become successful organizations excelling in all aspects?  First we must have talented personnel in place.  We must foster positive attitudes.  This fostering is critical and it is not just the responsibility of the Fire Chief.  Sure it may begin there but the critical dimension is within the officers, especially company officers.  It is paramount that officers maintain a strong -positive attitude.  The true leaders and trainers of today’s fire service are the company officers.  In many organizations it is glaringly apparent that the company officers don’t possess the correct attitudes.  This is a serious issue because they begin to affect the troops as their leadership is mostly what these individuals see.  Just like cancer growing, attitudes spreads very quickly whether it is positive or negative.

Some Individuals would look at a pile of rubble and say “what a mess” while others will look at the same pile and say “what an opportunity”.  Which one of these individuals would you want leading the fire department in your community?  Most would say the one who has a vision of what that “mess” could be.  This is an excellent example of a positive attitude.

With all this said…how is your attitude?  Before you answer, what would others say if they had this opportunity to answer? I encourage you to take a true examination here.  As a chief officer, I hope my personnel have excellent minds and outstanding attitudes.  But if I have to choose an “either-or” situation, without hesitation I would want their A.Q. (attitude) to be high!

Posted by on April 21, 2013 • Filed under: Attitude, Chief Fire Officer, command-leadership, company officer, Culture, Doug Cline, Future, Leaderhip, Mentor, Officer, Professional Development, Succession Planning, thecompanyofficer.com, training-development

Attitude is Everything

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commandsafetyfinal 1233701582761_P2020333 It is great to be back after a fairly lengthy hiatus due to the need to focus on the organization I serve Horry County Fire Rescue. Since coming to Horry County Fire Rescue I have had the opportunity to serve with a very dedicated caring group of people who have to overcome a lot of adversity everyday. These great men and women who serve tirelessly everyday serving the over 300,000 citizens and 15million visitors to the Grand Strand each year. With adversities like understaffing, aging apparatus, increased response volume and no pay increase comes the opportunity for individuals to become very negative and even disgruntled. I am sure this was the case with some but the majority always kept that competing edge of a positive attitude even when they were faced with issues. The Attitude is Everything series will embark on a journey looking into the components of just how Attitude impacts organizations and especially leaders. TheCompanyOfficer.com will explore further the concept of Attitude is Everything especially in servant leadership. Stay tuned to as we embark on a journey at one of the paramount times in the year for the fire service as we come together next week in Indianapolis for the 2013 FDIC Conference. I would like to invite you to come to my program Training Today’s Fire Service Wednesday afternoon April 24, 2013 at 3:30 in the Walbash 2 Room at the convention center. I hope to see you there!

Posted by on April 18, 2013 • Filed under: administration-leadership, Attitude, Chief Fire Officer, command, command-leadership, company officer, Culture, Doug Cline, Education, Leaderhip, Officer, Professional Development, thecompanyofficer.com, training, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Leadership Got Your Department Boogered Up?

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Leadership is the Key

Across the world I bet if you sat around the table on the tailboard of an apparatus or at any conference you would hear some folks that are talking about how “Boogered up” their department is. So what do you do when your department is “Boogered up”? The important component is to look in the mirror first and see if you are part of the problem. That’s right; I put the blame on you. Why? Well you are part of the department and most often we have a contribution to everything that occurs in the department at some level. So are you contributing to the “Boogering up” of the department? Well let’s look and see if you are part of the problem or part of the solution.

Let the Department Clarify Our Motive
Let each individual in the department examine themselves thoroughly and know their hearts. With that we mean are we following the mission of the department or are we working to meet your personal mission. Remember there is no “I” in team, so if you are more focused on your own mission than the department’s, then you are making a major contribution to the “Boogering up” of the department. With this we also need to look at this from both sides especially if you are an officer. I question you folks to look and see if you are servicing both customers; the public and the troops. Often you will see individuals who make the officer level forget where they came from. It is important that you serve both sets of customers. So bottom line is if we get in tune with what the mission of the department and the strategic plan of the Fire Chief then everyone will have ample opportunity to most often meet both the mission of the department and their own mission. This is possible because most times these have many similar aspirations if you just really look at them.

Purify Our Thinking
In getting focused on the mission of the department you will see that the “Boogering” will just blow away. To do this the department needs to have pure thinking for the department and not the individuals in the department. By focusing on the good of the community we will again go back to focus on the mission. This is something that leaders must do every day. As we talk the talk we must also walk the walk. The troops can see past the transparent membranes we try to hide behind as officers. If we focus on being pure of heart we will see the focus from the troops will come in line. Community relations are a big job, too big for a single person to handle. It will require the efforts of every member of your team to make this a successful venture. Of course it starts with you as the leader. As the leader you must sell this concept to the group of people who deal with the community on a daily basis, the emergency responders. During their work delivering emergency services they must execute the plan. I know you are asking what plan. The plan is what you want to accomplish in gaining community support. One of the more common theories that I heard recently at a conference made perfect sense. As an emergency services department you must make yourself so desirable that it would be political suicide for the governing agency not to give you what you want because the community would be upset. For this concept to work each individual of the department must buy into this concept of community support.
To think correctly as an officer you have to have to be honest with yourself and everyone else involved.

Reveal the Department’s Problems
I have always heard that everything in the department is g-14 classified and if administration told you they would have to kill you. Well where that anomaly came from…I don’t know. I have been in administration for several years now and it seem to me that if you want to know something you need to go to the troops as they seem to have some major inside connection that tells them everything…even some things that really never could be possible or true. As a leader you need to be open and up front with your folks. I have a hard time seeing where anything we do other than personnel issues and business deals is such a big secret. Here are some ideas:
1. Make your budget proposal available for your personnel to see.
2. Have input from others on the budget.
3. Have a web site section or a book for department communications.
4. Strategic plans should be shared and reviewed by others.
5. Conduct a Post Incident Analysis on responses
6. Have personnel situations where there is tension have to address the issue head to head.

These are just a few ideas that can open up the department’s ability to identify issues and make improvements with buy in from all levels.

Replace Old Thoughts with Modern Truths

I know everyone has heard or said the following statement, “That is the way we have always done it.” If you are not in one of these categories you have either just got into the fire service about 10 minutes ago of you are in complete denial. These words have been spoken more times than we care to think. The problem is we never seem to move on from what we have always done.
As times change so do the situations that we are confronted with. Responses are much different than they were 20 years ago. Firefighters whom have entered the fire service over the last 7-10 years have strong computer and technology skills. Fires are fueled with different materials. Building construction has drastically changed. However we are still in some cases deploying the same old tactics that were taught 20+ years ago. The two do not match up. The contents of our homes and businesses emit gases more quickly during fires and laden the smoke with more volatility than did the smoke witnessed by experienced fire officers from previous decades. To make matters worse, we are responding to fewer fires which significantly decreases our experience. As a result, we are seeing an increase in the number of firefighter injuries and deaths from flashover and other hostile fire events. It is time to take the no changes mentality off the back-burner and update it to the challenges of today.

We are finding that current research shows what we have done for years is not the best tactics. If you are not reviewing the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Underwrites Laboratories (UL) research you need to begin. The information presented is astounding and will make you begin really analyzing what you do every day on the job.

Help Each Individuals Identify Their Own Short Comings
A skills gap analysis is undertaken to identify the skills that an employee needs, but may not have, to carry out his or her job or to perform certain tasks effectively. The skills gap concept is used in areas such as businesses and educational institutes. The fire service falls under both of these areas. The first step in performing an analysis is to identify all the skills required by an individual to carry out his or her work. It should then be possible to identify the critical and noncritical skills that are needed to carry out a role effectively.
A critical skill is one that is required to complete a task successfully. Noncritical skills enable a task to be completed more quickly or efficiently, or at less cost than would otherwise be the case. There is a relatively simple method for determining whether a skill is critical or noncritical. Quite simply, if an employee lacks a skill but completes a task satisfactorily, the skill is noncritical. Conversely, if a person completes a task but the outcome is unsatisfactory, the missing skill is critical.
By applying skills gap analysis across fire companies it is possible to find out which skill and knowledge shortfalls there are in an organization. It is then possible to target training resources on those necessary skills that require the most attention. This should result in the optimal use of resources in terms of improving the overall performance of the individuals thus impacting the organizational performance. For individuals, skills gap analysis can be used to produce personal development and training plans. It can also be used to bolster morale by showing how they have progressed over time.
For a department, skills gap analysis can be used to identify which staff members have most knowledge of particular aspects of the profession as well as those with skill gaps. Furthermore, it can aid recruitment by identifying the candidate whose skills best match those needed to function effectively in leadership roles. For example, in an application of skills gap analysis to the role of a firefighter, the essential skills considered were: critical thinking, oral communication, and the ability to work with others. Analysis also allows benchmarking and encourages tutoring and mentoring within teams.
Skills gap analysis can be undertaken using paper-based assessments, evaluations, assessments and supporting interviews. However, if an analysis is to be performed across a large number of employees, it can create a huge management and administrative burden. Many departments therefore use skill management software.
Analysis can be applied on a continuing basis or as a one-off exercise. Specialized software can generate a skills gap analysis report with a few clicks of the mouse. Paper-based reports take somewhat longer, depending on how many questions there are to answer.

Advantages
• A skills gap analysis can provide a critical overview of a company, allowing management to determine if staff has the necessary skills to meet department objectives or achieve a change in strategy.
• It provides an analysis of skill gaps in an organization, department, or individual role.
• Analysis helps departments to prioritize their training plans and resources.
• Analysis can help with recruitment and training, and it gives management a basis for deciding which staff should be retained and which are expendable.

Disadvantages
• Conducting a skills gap analysis can be costly in terms of the required investment in paper-based assessments or software, as well as the time required from staff to participate and for management to evaluate the results.
• It may be simpler and more cost-effective to ask company officers to identify skill gaps in their fire companies, or simply to ask staff in which areas they need additional training.
• The assessment can be subjective and open to distortion if staff do not answer questions correctly or do true assessments.

Dos and Don’ts
Do
• Consider the potential impact of a skills gap analysis on morale. Assessing an employee’s capabilities can create fear and suspicion unless the reason for the analysis is understood and communicated effectively or done without the employee knowing it.

Don’t
• Don’t assume that you need to create a bespoke (in-house) framework to perform a skills gap analysis. Off-the-shelf frameworks can be suitable when adapted to your department’s needs.
• Don’t focus only on training needs. Skills gap analysis can be used to plan recruitment and redundancy programs, support organizational restructures, build effective teams, and manage business change.

Don’t go around saying something is OK when it isn’t.
I am sure you have been around people who like to bury their heads in the sand. You know the ones who avoid confrontation and have rose colored glasses. It is important to recognize and identify when situations are not OK.
Now that we know that it is not healthy for any organization, group or individual to go around saying it is OK when it isn’t, how do we fix the problem?
• Admit there is /are issue(s).
• Identify what the issue(s) is /are.
• Search for solutions to correct the issue(s).
• Develop a strategy of solution implementation and evaluation.
• Follow through with your efforts.

Conclusion
The single biggest way to impact an organization is to focus on leadership development. There is almost no limit to the potential of an organization that recruits good people, raises them up as leaders and continually develops them. Don’t let leadership get “Boogered Up” in your organization.

Posted by on April 16, 2012 • Filed under: Attitude, Chief Fire Officer, command-leadership, company officer, KSA, Leaderhip, Officer, Professional Development, Uncategorized • Tagged: , , , , , ,

“You’ve got to find what you love….and connect the dots”

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 You can’t connect the dots looking forward you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something: your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.

Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path.

Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Adress, 2005

The passing of Steve Jobs on October 4th, 2011 has brought forward a level of attention that for many is the first true glimpse at the man who is credited with influencing so many levels of our lives and that was ubiquitous with the iconic products he envisioned, developed and marketed.

There’s a tremendous amount of writings being posted in the past 24 hours and certainly a considerable amount more to come in the days ahead, so it would better served for you to take some time to surf, goggle and research out your own paths through the internet to find some exceptional perspectives of the man, his legacy and his view on life.

There comes a time when there are some very prophetic and visionary insights in the world that although aren’t directly associated with the fire service, but that resonant with the some of the core values, ideals and principles that we so many times try to strive to achieve or emulate as fire service leaders, officers or just plain contributing members of our respective organizations.

Whether you’re a practicing or emerging fire officer or commander, a designated leader or the unofficial leader, a seasoned veteran or a newly appointed probationary firefighter, there are some very important insights and values that can be identified in the words of Steve Jobs, especially in the context of his 2005 Commencement Speech at Stanford University. The video clip is posted as is a link to the transcript. I’m certain you’ll see the value in these perspectives and their relationship on what we work to acheive each day in our richly rewarding profession.

Simply stated, think about connecting the dots and finding your destiny while doing what you love.

Think about the possibilites that can be achieved, and the contributions that can materialize….think about your potential

 

  • Take the time to READ the text of the Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005. HERE
  • A Collection of Inspirational Steve Jobs Quotes, HERE

Think about it:

“We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know? And we’ve all chosen to do this with our lives. So it better be damn good. It better be worth it.” – Fortune

“Almost everything–all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” – Steve Jobs’ Stanford Commencement Address

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.” – Think Different, narrated by Steve Jobs

Posted by on October 7, 2011 • Filed under: Attitude, christopher naum, Leaderhip, Mentor, Professional Development • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Front Seat Responsibilities; On Both the LEFT and RIGHT Sides

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Front Seat Responsibilities Artwork by Paul Combs All Rights Reserved

 A few days ago I posted an article entitled here on TCO: Front Seat Responsibilities; On Both the LEFT and RIGHT Sides, however the original article was lost as a result of the site’s melt down on Friday; thus resulting in the loss of the posting (which I didn’t save-anywhere).

Thus, we have a more subdued post and insights in response to the publication and media attention brought forward from Orange County (FLA) fire and Rescue with the release of a video clip depicting less that desirable defensive driving techniques and questionable public relations and sensitivity. The media clip shows Orange County (FLA) Fire Rescue Engine 58 while enroute to a reported MVA with entrapment becomes embroiled in a vivid example of fire truck road rage with a POV which almost contributed to an accident and loss of control of the apparatus and the potential for serious repercussions to the entire crew of the engine. The mounted dash cam within the cab of the engine captures the entire event and provides a shining example of what NOT to do while engaged in emergency response OR what to emulate in the form of company officer leadership.

In the video, the apparatus drive and the company officer can be seen tailgating a car and continuously trying to alert the driver by using the horn over and over again, even with the sirens blaring.

Fire officials said the apparatus driver could have veered into the other two lanes, which were open, to avoid confrontation, but instead he tried to cut off the driver of the car while dash cameras caught officer flipping off the driver.

The Orange County Fire Department said Fire Fighter David Jordan and Lt. Thomas Veal were caught on the dash cameras of the fire truck driving recklessly, hitting a curb and giving a driver the middle finger. FF Jordan, the driver of Engine 58 who had been with the Orange County Fire Department for 22 years, was fired and Lt. Veal was demoted.

The Orange County Fire Department stated, “If this car in the video would have stopped he would have no choice but to run the vehicle into the back of the car,” a fire official said. The Fire Department said it is apologizing for the bad behavior of the two firefighters. “It’s at the point where he put the community at risk and his crew,” the official said. A Division Fire Chief said it’s the closest thing to road rage he’s ever seen from a firefighter. “I don’t know what the actual road rage definition is, but would I say it’s overly aggressive? Yes. We’re not going to tolerate that here,” said Orange County Fire and Rescue Division Chief Brian Morrow. “(They’re) very, very lucky (it was) a near miss. They didn’t roll the truck and they never would have made it to the call.”

The video also showed FF Jordan running over a curb at 40 miles per hour and then the fire truck swerving back into the lane as it continued to respond to the emergency.

“We are very lucky for what we call a near miss. They didn’t roll the truck, and they never would have made it to the call,” the official said. There was a compliment of a four firefighters on the apparatus at the time of the event. Officials said the video also showed Lt. Veal not wearing a seat belt. This was the second time the company officer was found not wearing his seat belt.

Firefighter demoted after road rage caught on tape: MyFoxORLANDO.com

 

 

We often talk about the responsibilities of riding the seat; which is typically in reference to the right front or Officer’s Seat. But in reality; Front Seat Responsibilities; On Both the LEFT and RIGHT Sides of the apparatus cab are paramount, integrated and shared. It is the ultimate responsibility of the company officer (assigned, acting or covering) to monitor, control and provide leadership in the conduct of all operations of the company; its crew, the apparatus and its subsequent operations and tasks.

It also is the obligation, requirement and duty of the Apparatus Driver (Chauffeur, engineer, operator) to operate, control and drive the apparatus safely with due diligence, defensively and conscientiously. What the driver does or doesn’t do will affect the entire riding crew as will the commissions, omissions and derelictions of the company officer.  

It would be naive to think the occurrence depicted from Orange County Fire and Rescue is an isolated instance.  This type of behavior and driving habits has occurred and is occurring in other organizations around the country to varying degrees.

Some under the radar and obscured; in others, obviously apparent and blatantly condoned.  Just look at state and national firefighter injury and LODD statistics to see our track record related to apparatus response, operations and driving.  More importantly; look at your own company, department or crew.

For the driver and officer of Orange County Fire and Rescue Engine 58; they just “didn’t get it”. In most organizations, the Company officer and Apparatus Engineer; “Do Get it”. The leadership of Orange County Fire & Rescue took prompt actions to address the seriousness of the issues resulting from this event.

Let’s learn from this incident, look for opportunities and ways to enhance and improve our Front Seat Responsibilities; from supervisory actions, accountability and leadership, to defensive driving, safety conscious behaviors and attitudes, safer emergency response methods and improved and directed responsibilities towards our entire crew and the public at-large.  The next time you’re riding the seat or behind the wheel- think about what’s going on as you make your way in response to that incident or returning to quarters. What are you doing to maintain the safety of your company and contribute towards the safety of the public we are sworn to serve.

  • The Front Seat Responsibilities are on both the left and right sides of the cab and must be shared.
  •  And, are also in the seats riding backwards (buckling up).
  • The question is; “Do YOU get it?”

Links and Resources

Posted by on June 11, 2011 • Filed under: Attitude, christopher naum, Commandsafety.com, company officer, Crew Integrity, Crew Management, Fire Fighter Safety, firefighting-operations, Health and Safety • Tagged: , , , ,

Paradoxical Commandments of Leadership

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Chief Dan Jones, Chapel Hill, NC

1. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway!
2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway!
3. If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway!
4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway!
5. Honesty and frankness makes you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway!
6. The biggest men with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men with the smallest minds. Think big anyway!
7. People favor underdogs, but follow top dogs. Fight for the underdogs anyway!
8. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway!
9. People really need help, but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway!
10. Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway!
     It is always good to be reminded of what we were given as students and mentee’s. This comes at an opportune time in my life to clarify focus, create drive and provide sound direction to my future. I was raised on these commandments of leadership by my mentors, some of the greatest fire service individuals to ever exist. Ironically, I was searching for something else in the office when I ran across an old text book that I utilized when going through the International Society of Fire Service Instructors’ (ISFSI) Company of Development (CODe) Series many years ago. One of the authors of the book ended up being my Fire Chief and Mentor, Dan Jones. The book “Managing People” happened to fall to the floor in my search and opened up to page 32 where the Paradoxical Commandments of Leadership was located.
     Over the past year I have been in many discussions with friends and colleagues across North America about issues that we face daily in the fire service and the many frustrations leaders are having. It often times gets to the point of being somewhat depressing as the future holds so many uncertainties. I know I have had friends with 25 plus years experience layoffs, we see stations closing, training centers shut down and good leaders cut off at the knees by ram-rod political events.
     I believe the book falling open to the page with Paradoxical Commandments of Leadership is one of those events that occur that makes you say…Ok I get it! My frustration with the fire service is like riding a roller coaster. Many issues affect my emotions as I often am finding myself disheartened with the events that have reoccurrence in our business.
     The Paradoxical Commandments were written by Kent Keith in 1968, when he was 19, a sophomore at Harvard College. They were part of The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student Council, his first booklet for high school student leaders. Here is how it all came about.
     As a senior at Roosevelt High School in Honolulu, Kent was heavily involved in student government. He was student body president and also president of the Honolulu High School Association. He was excited about the challenges of leadership and good leadership techniques.

Kent keith in 1969

     Because Hawaii did not have a student council leadership workshop to train student council leaders, Kent founded the Hawaii Student Leadership Institute, which held its first session in the summer of 1966. This was the first leadership workshop for high school student leaders that was founded and run entirely by high school students.
     Kent went on to attend Harvard. During his four years as an undergraduate there, he gave more than 150 speeches at high schools, student leadership workshops, and state student council conventions in eight states. These were the turbulent sixties, when student activists were seizing buildings, throwing rocks at police, and shouting down opponents. Kent provided an alternative voice. In his public speaking, Kent encouraged students to care about others, and to work through the system to achieve change. One thing he learned was students didn’t know how to work through the system to bring about change. Some of them also tended to give up quickly when they faced difficulties or failures. They needed deeper, longer-lasting reasons to keep trying.
     “I saw a lot of idealistic young people go out into the world to do what they thought was right, and    good, and true, only to come back a short time later, discouraged, or embittered, because they got negative feedback, or nobody appreciated them, or they failed to get the results they had hoped for.” recalls Keith. “I told them that if they were going to change the world, they had to really love people, and if they did, that love would sustain them. I also told them that they couldn’t be in it for fame or glory. I said that if they did what was right and good and true, they would find meaning and satisfaction, and that meaning and satisfaction would be enough. If they had the meaning, they didn’t need the glory.”

      In his sophomore year at Harvard, Kent began writing a booklet for high school student leaders that addressed both the how and the why of leading change. The booklet was titled The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student Council, and it was published by Harvard Student Agencies in 1968. The Paradoxical Commandments were part of Chapter Two, entitled “Brotherly What?”

     “I laid down the Paradoxical Commandments as a challenge,” Keith said. “The challenge is to always do what is right and good and true, even if others don’t appreciate it. You have to keep striving, no matter what, because if you don’t, many of the things that need to be done in our world will never get done.”

Posted by on May 26, 2011 • Filed under: administration-leadership, Attitude, Chief Fire Officer, command-leadership, company officer, Doug Cline, Leaderhip, Officer • Tagged: , ,

Combat Ready and the Fire Service Warrior on Taking it to the Streets

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Taking it to the Streets with Christopher Naum

Join in on Tuesday May 17th at 9pm ET for another special and exciting program continuing our series discussion on the Emerging Tactical Renaissance in the Fire Service.

Taking it to the StreetsTM, radio program hosted by highly regarded national instructor, author, lecturer and fire officer Christopher Naum, continues to provide provocative insights and dynamic discussions with leading national fire service leaders and guests on important issues affecting the American Fire Service with applications internationally within the tradition and brotherhood of the Fire Service.
This edition of Taking it to the StreetsTM the program is all about being COMBAT READY and THE FIRE SERVICE WARRIOR
Joining the program will be special guest, Christopher Brennan the author of The Combat Position: Achieving Firefighter Readiness, published by PennWell Books and the author of the notable blogsite, The Fire Service Warrior.

Christopher Brennan

Christopher Brennan is a firefighter in the suburbs outside Chicago; a field instructor for the Illinois Fire Service Institute; and a consultant for local, state, and federal agencies.

He joined the fire service in 1997 as a paid-on-call member of the Calumet Park (IL) Fire Department.

During his career, Chris has worked for the Calumet Park Fire Department, part-time for the Darien-Woodridge (IL) Fire Protection District, and as a career firefighter and engineer with the Harvey (IL) Fire Department.Chris is an active instructor teaching for the Illinois Fire Service Institute, has taught terrorism response training overseas, and has been an instructor for FDIC.

He is a member of the International Association of Fire Fighters, the International Society of Fire Service Instructors, and the Illinois Society of Fire Service Instructors.

He is also the author of numerous articles for fire service magazines, including Fire Engineering.

Join in on what is certainly going to be an insightful look and discussion of the path of the fire service warrior.

Discussions on what is meant by embracing the philosophy of the fire service warrior, and striving for the ready position—the synthesis of physical and mental readiness that allows for suggested optimum fireground performance— and its potential application towards reducing firefighter injuries and fatalities

We’ll further explore how as Christopher Brennan states; “Today’s firefighter must be a warrior who will unflinchingly put his very life in harm’s way to accomplish a mission, but who is also fully informed about the path being chosen”.

LINKS

  • Surviving on the Fireground: Chris Brennan Talks Situational Awareness at FDIC 2011, HERE
  • A Culture of Excellence – Christopher Brennan , HERE
  • The Fire Service Warrior Blog, HERE

The Combat Position

The Combat Position: Achieving Firefighter Readiness, PennWell Books, HERE

Firefighting is combat and should be viewed as a warrior’s calling.

Firefighters put themselves in harm’s way to protect others, a selflessness rooted in the same noble drive as the military warriors who defend our nation.

This book about combat is meant to be a guide for those who seek to follow a warrior’s path, the path of the fire service warrior.

Today’s firefighter must be a warrior who will unflinchingly put his very life in harm’s way to accomplish a mission, but who is also fully informed about the path being chosen.

Embracing the philosophy of the fire service warrior, and striving for the ready position—the synthesis of physical and mental readiness that allows for optimum fireground performance—can reduce firefighter injuries and fatalities.

The Combat Position: Achieving Firefighter Readiness will be an invaluable tool for firefighters, company officers, chief officers, and instructors.

 

Grab a cup of coffee and sit down for a special one hour program with Taking it to the Streets on FirefighterNetcast.com where we’ll be discussing developing concepts, methodologies and operational perspectives affecting today’s emerging and evolving fire ground operation with Christopher Naum and this emerging fire service leader.

Join in on the live open discussion with other fire service personnel from around the country.

Taking it to the StreetsTM is a monthly radio show featured on BlogTalk Radio and is hosted by nationally renowned fire service leader Christopher Naum, a 36-year fire service veteran and highly regarded national instructor, author, lecturer and fire officer and the distinguished leading national authority on building construction and fire ground operations. Taking it to the StreetsTM is a Buildingsonfire.com Series and FireFighternetcast.com Production, © 2011 All Rights Reserved

Check out the latest downloads of recent programs in the archives by visiting Taking it to the Street’s webpage on Firefighternetcast.com or for program insights at CommandSafety.com.

  • Tune in to the Program Tuesday evening May 17th at 9:00 pm ET, HERE
  • Firefighternetcast.com HERE
  • Taking it to the Streets Radio Programs, HERE and HERE
  • Buildingsonfire.com, HERE
Posted by on May 14, 2011 • Filed under: Attitude, christopher naum, command-leadership, Commandsafety.com, company officer, Culture, Fire Fighter Safety, Fire Fighting, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, Fitness, leadership, Professional Development, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Situational Awareness, skills, Strategy and Tactics, Taking it to the Streets, thecompanyofficer.com, Tradition, training, training-development • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Often Attitude is the Only Difference between Success and Failure

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History’s greatest achievements have been made by individuals who excelled only slightly over the masses of other individuals in their respective fields. I am reminded of this when you look at athletes. Most have significant levels of talent. The same is true for the fire service. Most of our personnel have strong predicated skills, abilities and knowledge. So what puts the people excelling in front of the others? Most times that small difference is attitude. Over the years I have had the opportunity to spend time with many different fire departments. The difference was captured by the late Ralph Jackman, Fire Chief in Vergennes, Vermont. In a conversation standing in the apparatus bay of the Vergennes Fire Department he commented that his department did not have the greatest equipment or the fanciest of fire apparatus. In fact he stated the sometimes struggle with the financial end of keeping up. He did quickly point out that that his personnel had passion, desire and the right attitude to serve, which was the critical factor in the success of the organization. He went on to further reiterate the importance of having a positive attitude and what that brings to the formula of success. He stated, “Give me someone who has a good attitude and I can work with them on the other things.”

Certainly aptitude is important to our success in life or the success of an organization. Yet anyone who has been around the fire service for more than a few days knows success or failure is precipitated more by mental attitude than by mere mental capacities. WE have to recognize the true importance of the total equation I.Q. (Intelligence Quotient) + A.Q. (Attitude Quotient) = Success or Failure. We have all witnessed individuals whose I.Q. was extremely high and their performance was low and the opposite of low I.Q and high performance. The difference in each of these formulas is the attitude quotient. There is very little difference in people, but that little difference, attitude, makes a big difference.

So how do we become successful organizations excelling in all aspects? First we must have talented personnel in place. We must foster positive attitudes. This fostering is critical and it is not just the responsibility of the Fire Chief. Sure it may begin there but the critical dimension is within the officers, especially company officers. It is paramount that officers maintain a strong -positive attitude. The true leaders and trainers of today’s fire service are the company officers. In many organizations it is glaringly apparent that the company officers don’t possess the correct attitudes. This is a serious issue because they begin to affect the troops as their leadership is mostly what these individuals see. Just like cancer growing, attitudes spreads very quickly whether it is positive or negative.
Some Individuals would look at a pile of rubble and say “what a mess” while others will look at the same pile and say “what an opportunity”. Which one of these individuals would you want leading the fire department in your community? Most would say the one who has a vision of what that “mess” could be. This is an excellent example of a positive attitude.

With all this said…how is your attitude? Before you answer, what would others say if they had this opportunity to answer? I encourage you to take a true examination here. As an officer, I hope my personnel have excellent minds and outstanding attitudes. But if I have to choose an “either-or” situation, without hesitation I would want their A.Q. (attitude) to be high!

Posted by on April 25, 2011 • Filed under: administration-leadership, Attitude, command-leadership, company officer, Culture, Doug Cline, Education, fire-rescue-topics, Future, Leaderhip, Officer, Professional Development, skills, thecompanyofficer.com, training, Uncategorized • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Training and Tactics Talk

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Training & Tactics Talk: Company Officers and Their Role as a Training Officer

Douglas Cline talks with several fire officers about the role of officers as trainers at the company level.
Chief Cline is joined by Lt. Michael Daley of Monroe Township, NJ, Deputy Chief Spencer Lee of Jacksonville, NC and Deputy Chief Jeffrey Pinelski of Downers Grove, IL.
The group of seasoned veterans, and long-time fire service instructors, share stories that illustrate the important role of a company officer in keeping firefighters trained.

They talk about building a foundation for training with each crew and share tips to keep training exciting and fresh.

For a direct link to the podcast, HERE

Posted by on April 25, 2011 • Filed under: Attitude, company officer, Doug Cline, Education, Fire Fighter Safety, Leaderhip, skills, thecompanyofficer.com, training, training-development, Uncategorized • Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

The Company Officer: Going for it and Belief

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As a Company Officer, at some point in your career, you will come to that one pivotal point, when the clarity of a situation becomes all so apparent and clear.

Sometime you just have to believe and have the resilience, fortitude and that deep in the gut feeling that you know what and how something needs to be addressed; you just “gotta go for it and knock it on and let it rip”.

Sometimes, all it takes is believing in that one last push, that one last effort, when you know there’s nothing left to fall back on, because there’s nothing left in the bag….

It’s that one belief, that singular drive, its knowing; that you can make it across the hazards and drop it in, regardless of how many times you’ve tried before.

It’s that hole in one (hundred….) that you’ll find.

It’s also about coming out of the shadows and playing your game…and being yourself.

 

Posted by on April 23, 2011 • Filed under: Attitude, Buildingsonfire.com, christopher naum, command-leadership, Commandsafety.com, company officer, leadership, Professional Development, thecompanyofficer.com, Tradition, training, training-development • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cultural Change

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Spending time with colleagues is an awesome experience when the conversation focuses on change in the culture of the fire service.  I recently had the privilege to spend several days with great fire service servants at the 2011 Emergency Service Conference at Pipestem (ESCAPe) in West Virginia.  The dialog and conversations about the need for culture change was plentiful especially after delivering a program on the 16 life safety initiative.  We took the opportunity to sit down and talk about some fire service issue and I got their view as well.  Just  listen to what the conversation turned to after the class.

Talking about culture

Posted by on February 24, 2011 • Filed under: Attitude, command-leadership, Commandsafety.com, company officer, Culture, Doug Cline, Fire Fighter Safety, Uncategorized • Tagged: , , , ,

ISFSI Live Fire Training

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      Whether you are a career firefighter, volunteer firefighter, company officer, instructor, training officer, chief officer, or whatever your title or role may be; if you have been tasked or assigned to be an instructor in a training exercise that will involve live fire, you have a responsibility to the people you will train, lead, or supervise to have the proper knowledge, skills and abilities. These responsibilities come from a number of sources. First and foremost, there is the moral obligation that comes with putting people in danger. There are also legislative responsibilities, which could be national industrial standards, state laws, local codes, and even the possibility of criminal charges for acts that could be considered malicious or negligent, not to mention specter of a civil law threat.

            You know that history shows that firefighters and students learning to become firefighters, have died or been severely injured during these live fire training exercises. However, you also know that firefighters who don’t possess the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the job effectively are a danger to their fellow comrades. You also have your peer pressure and superiors’ pushing you to make sure that the drill is “real”. They want to make it worth their time so the rookies can “learn something from it”.

           So you have to achieve a balance of risk in training versus the risk of not having that training. NFPA 1403 was designed to set standards on what should be done to mitigate those dangers and that risk. The International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI) has designed a Live Fire Instructor credentialed training program designed to teach you how to meet the standards while preparing firefighters through the experiences of live fire training, in permanent live fire training props. For more information contact ISFSI.

Posted by on February 15, 2011 • Filed under: Attitude, christopher naum, company officer, Credentialing, Culture, Doug Cline, Education, Fire Fighter Safety, Fire Fighting, Fire Suppression, Future, KSA, Leaderhip, Officer, operations, Professional Development, Risk Assessment, skills, thecompanyofficer.com, training, training-development, Uncategorized • Tagged: , , ,

Are You Prepared to PREVENT a Line of Duty Death?

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Power is the ability to command or apply force.

Authority is the right to command and expend resources.

A leader is one who can generate effective individual and group action to accomplish agency goals.

The fire service is a dynamic profession that is richly steeped in tradition, noble in deeds and calling. We know the fire service to be constant – yet ever changing in today’s society. We have built this profession upon man and machinery in opposition with an uncontrolled force known as fire. The last fifteen years has shown a shift from traditional fire service missions to encompass a wide scope of service deliveries that is ever expanding. We are challenged daily on the way we do business.
These changes have affected not only the fire service as a whole but also each level
within. The importance of competencies for fire officers in skills, knowledge and training is of the essence in today’s fire service. Fire officer cultural and attitudinal changes are the crucial links that will ultimately determine the future of our business.
Each year the American fire service experiences an average of over 100 line of duty deaths each year. Further we know that the amount of working fires are down approximately 66% of what they were in the mid 1970’s. So what is the score card saying? Why do we continue to know the causes of line of duty deaths and do nothing to change? Summed up it is nothing more than attitudes. We need to change our attitudes. There is no where in the corporate world that you could come in and give an annual report that stated we had a good year, we only lost 100 employees that you would not be escorted out the door before you could get your personal items in a box. Ron Siarnicki of the national Fallen Fire Fighters Foundation (NFFF) made this statement in one of there program. Guess what…HE IS CORRECT! Why do we as leaders in this business continue to allow these issues to occur? Why do we continue to deem it an honor to die in the line of duty? Why are we so resistant to change? We call it tradition! Well as a fire chief and a fire service member I have to say, “GET OVER OLD and BAD TRADITIONS, START A SAFE NEW ONE!” Ok, if I stepped on some toes here, GOOD, they probably needed it. We cannot afford to continue allowing the same mistakes over and over again to occur. At some point we have to start saying it is not acceptable to have injuries and Line of Duty Deaths (LODD). We must change this culture and the time is now and it starts with YOU!
I recently was shuttled to the airport following a conference. I was able to spend that time talking with a young foriegn exchange fire science student who was asking many questions about the culture of the fire service. I asked me how many people get hurt or are killed doing this job as he had seen T-Shirts this week about this. I was ashamed to say we  usually have an average of more than 100 firefighters a year. He then asked why. Boy did this hit home! We know why and how firefighters die in the line of duty but what are we doing to prevent them? In 2010 we had eighty five(85) line of duty deaths. My question is just how many of these could have been prevented? One area that we know we can control the environment and have good chances of not having a line of duty death is training. But in 2010 we had 7 line of duty deaths in training. This equates to 8.2% of the total line of duty deaths for that year. Secondly responding to and returning from alarms accounted for 16 line of duty deaths or 18.8%. Deaths in crashes continue to account for a significant portion of the annual fatalities. How many of these could have been prevented? How many were not wearing their seat belts? How many was speed a contributing factor? To answer the last two questions is far too many. This can be corrected with an attitude adjustment.
Let’s look at how we can reduce these numbers. We need to first address our culture and make attitude changes. These changes need to be at all levels. We can begin this change today without problems by changing the thought process as new firefighters enter the academies across the United States. We can further push with the existing firefighters. We have to hit the dinosaurs hard because they take the new recruits freshly in the field and create dinosaur eggs that then develop into dinosaurs themselves. The year 2009 we saw a reduction in the line of duty deaths to below 100 again. Are we lucky or are we truly focusing on what the issues are. Thus the culture revolves in a vicious cycle. Ok there is the start but what do we do to impact the fire service?
We need to develop and require Comprehensive Health and Wellness Programs. These programs need to include physical conditioning, medical evaluations, and mental conditioning. With more and more firefighters perishing due to heart attacks and strokes ( 56.4%) we need to make sure that we are in the physical condition to do this job. I further think that the statistics are some what skewed. When we see LODDs of fire service personnel 65 years old or older who die after responses who did not engage in suppression activities it is being question as to where or not these individuals would have had a heart attack even if they were not on scene within that 24 hours. How many departments are providing and requiring comprehensive medical evaluations (NFPA 1582) for all of their members? If you are not, you need to look for a way to make this happen. So many times I hear of how certain medical evaluations have found members of the fire service with health issues they never knew existed. These physicals need to be annually. I recently was running a portion of a department’s physical conditioning program which was a job performance physical agility test. I found one of our more experience personnel to be hypertensive (elevated blood pressure). I refused to let him test and the department sent  him for medical evaluation. Guess what…he is alive today and has begun taking on life style changes and has medication to assist in controlling this issue. He had no symptoms of this condition and was at the potential levels for major problems. Simply as your grandmother would say, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Further we need to evaluate and support physical conditioning (NFPA 1583). These need to set personal goals as each individual is different, department goals and standards as to show everyone who performs must be able to perform at a set level. Lastly, we must have qualitative and quantitative testing of physical conditioning. Not as punishment but as a teaching tool. How many of your members can tell you exactly how long an SCBA will last when they are working at full capacity. As command officers this is important information as we work on scenes and strive to complete accountability of our personnel. More importantly it will keep our personnel safer.
We know this is one of the most stressful jobs anywhere you could travel. So just how well do we condition our folks mentally. Have you ever heard “suck it up it’s your job?” Sitting and talking with some professionals from an FDNY Engine Company they talked about and exhibited significant signs of Critical Incident Stress. This, I am sure, is compounded several times over from the events that affect the lives of these firefighters, but hey lets face facts here. These brothers are hurting and hurting bad. But have we addressed any of this, how about there families? I bet they are hurting too! So what do we do to help this problem? We must provide good Critical Incident Stress (CIS) education and coping techniques not only to the firefighters but also for their families. I know that I have done multiple programs on the east coast about this same issue, addressing firefighters and families together both the firehouse family and our true families all at the table together. This program is titled “Hearts and Sirens” and it explores CIS as it affects both the emergency services working and the family we leave at home when duty calls. My wife tells here heart felt stories of the situations she has had to live through and what helped. Basically we provide education, coping techniques and skills to deal with CIS for families. Let’s face it tough guys, even the hard core folks, struggle with all we face in this job at some point. As they face repetitive issues it becomes cumulative and eventually the levels will build up to the eruption point. This can be prevented and enhance our quality of life with just a little education and swallowing of pride on our part. Face it we are not super human, as much as we wish we were.
Training is the paramount. We must continue to enhance our training in every aspect. This includes going back to the basics. We often see in NIOSH reports where basic and routine components of our job are not performed or are contributing factors to LODD and injuries. So why can’t we do the basics? We have the mentality of hey I been there done that, I don’t need to do that anymore, I have got that down. Ok are you sure? If so show me! If you got it should not be hard or lengthy. Next we need to focus on realism. What are we truly going to face. I deal with the mentality of that wouldn’t happen to us or that’s the big city stuff it’s not going to happen here. Well, last time I checked fire did not discriminate. It does matter who you are or where you are from. Reality check… who would have thought that an aircraft with terrorists on board would crash in rural Pennsylvania. That should prove this point with enough said. We must train hard, train realistically and train often. By doing this we stoke our tool boxes with the right tools for the job.
As we train, we as leaders and trainers must make every effort to pull out the stops. We must not accept or condone any type of training environment or attitude that compromises the safety of any firefighter. We must cease pushing the envelope with cowboy tactics that only prove that you can show boat. If this is you I have a message…Your Dangerous and you need to change. We do not need to hurt or kill firefighters to have good quality training. In fact good quality training starts with no injuries and especially no deaths. In research of training line of duty deaths almost every incident could have been prevented.
In closing we must have to courage to say NO and the courage to be safe. It often is not a popular personality folks want to see, but again is it worth dieing for…Most times not! Come on folks, let’s face it, we are not doing everything correct here. We need to change and we need to change NOW!!! Do your self, your firefighters and their families a favor. Help prevent a line of duty death, change the attitudes and culture in your departments and have the courage to be safe! The families at home depend on you to be a leader and an officer. If you are not willing to do as much as possible to help with the change of the culture, do the fire service a favor, RETIRE or QUIT or RESIGN BEING AN OFFICER because you are part of the problem not part of the solution. Help us support the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and the fire service quest of “EVERYONE GOES HOME”.

Posted by on February 10, 2011 • Filed under: Attitude, command-leadership, company officer, Culture, Doug Cline, Education, Fire Fighter Safety, firefighter-safety-health, Fitness, Future, Health and Safety, in-the-line-of-duty, Leaderhip, LODD, Officer, operations, Situational Awareness, thecompanyofficer.com, Uncategorized • Tagged: , , , , , , ,

The Future of the Fire Service

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It is perceived by fire service leaders that fire departments across the United States will see a paradigm shift from just emergency response services to a comprehensive community risk reduction and management focus. This statement is becoming more and more common as you sit and talk with fire service leaders across the nation. National fire Academy Executive Fire Officer (EFO) research documents are being developed and presented on this very topic. It was a discussion topic at the International Association of Fire Chief’s (IAFC) strategic planning meeting. So why do we need to change directions?
The fire service already responds and reactively handles the majority of emergencies and crisis within the community. We need to begin focusing on a proactive approach. With this being said, this would allow for not only a safer community but help focus on the quality of life of our citizens. If we are able to prevent most incidents from occurring the costs of those incidents will be significantly reduced, the quality of life will be improved and the potential for economic sustainability is increased. As government budgets continue to shrink, the impact of budget cuts to departments continue. The impact of these cuts is witnessed almost daily in the fire service with browning out of stations, closing of companies, staff reduction through attrition and yes even critical staffing reductions by employees being laid off. The fire service has reached a new fold in its history. With this new fold occurring we must adapt our philosophies, strategies and even our beloved tactics. When corporations and builders engineer and construct disposable buildings then we need to tactically focus our efforts on engineering and code requirements of automatic fire suppression systems and early detection systems. When the owners and builders ignore this option and a fire catastrophe strikes, we need to utilize the new rules of tactical engagement.
Fire departments will need to shift from traditional emergency responses services and transition into a combination of emergency responses services with a primary focus on being a community reduction team focusing on public safety in a multidimensional approach of safe buildings through code enforcement, building requirements, environmental impact, community safety, responder safety, community health and wellness and community risk reduction through research and education. We will become the mother ship that guides critical thinking in all aspects of safety throughout our community.
The fire service will need to focus on assembling a set of best practices in risk reduction and work diligently to manage risk via educating our communities, proactive engineering practices and code enforcement. However, the fire service does not collect data well at all. We have to transition to being very analytical of collecting certain complete and accurate quantifiable data based upon a standard data model for comparative benchmarking studies.
The battle is won however on the proactive side through risk reduction and risk management. The long term impacts will benefit everyone. Our success will be determined by not solely the retrospective data but community and family buy in. This relates to the true potential risk that exists, verses how it has been reduced.

Posted by on February 8, 2011 • Filed under: administration-leadership, Attitude, BECOME SAFE, building construction, command-leadership, company officer, Culture, Doug Cline, Future, Leaderhip, Risk Management, Situational Awareness, thecompanyofficer.com, Uncategorized • Tagged: , , , , ,

Two Dates and a Dash in the Middle

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What are you going to do with the “Dash?”

Two dates and a dash in the middle…that equates to your day of birth, your life and your day of death. The middle component is symbolized by a dash (-). So what does that dash mean? Well let’s be honest it divides the dates on the grave stone and it is symbolic of your time alive. I heard this as the opening of a church service recently and it hit me like a ton of bricks of just how this symbolizes our time in the fire service especially the portion you are serving as a fire officer.

As a fire officer I am going to challenge each individual who reads this article to live and work the fire service as if you only had one month to live. Recently I was conversing with a good friend in the fire service, Deputy Chief Jeff Pindelski of Downers Grove, Illinois, and we both said it at the same time it is obvious that firefighters and fire officers have lost the passion for the fire service. This concerns me considerably as I have a good ways to go to retire and I am going to see the effects of what this loss will cause. In the 16 Life Safety Initiatives, the first initiative states that we need to define and advocate the need for a cultural change within the fire service relating to safety, incorporating leadership, management, supervision, accountability and personal responsibility. I believe that this loss of passion is the root of the problem. Bottom line if you don’t really give a Damn then there is no passion and no passion leads to lack of leadership, management, supervision and responsibility as an officer. As we see this the way to make this change is that officers should live and perform each day passionately in an effort to change or make the fire service better. So why does this not happen? It is just too easy to sit back and ride the wave and keep the status quo. Well those folks will never leave a thumb print on the organization that way.

This lake of passion will not let you leave a positive mark on the fire service. We see each year over 100 line of duty deaths. We are presented the causes through FirefighterCloseCalls.com, the Near Miss Reporting System and NIOSH reports. My question is why do we keep doing the same things over and over expecting to get different results? My answer is that firefighters and fire officers don’t have the passion to make change. Let’s face it; they obviously don’t love the fire service. I was sitting in a restaurant having lunch on day when an elderly couple comes in. It is obvious that the gentleman was in much better physical condition and health than his wife. But she was meticulously dressed and made up. As she shuffled along slowly the gentleman stood by her side and helped her. They finally made it to the counter, ordered their meal and he proceeded to help her to the table to sit down. All along she shuffled along slowly. This fine gentleman never got hurried or frustrated with her. As she sat down in a booth he had to gently push her over as she was not able to scoot herself. He went back to the counter got the food and brought it to the table. He sat down fixed her food for her, took her hands and prayed. After finishing the prayer the gentleman began to feed her. In seeing this was passion for his wife and true demonstration of love that he had for her. Ok my fellow officers just how many of you have that passionate level of love for the fire service. I would guess not many as I hear frequently what can the department do for me not what I can do for the department.

It is obvious that Ken Farmer in one of his recent Barnyard Management article series hit it on the head…we have got a lot of Kudzu. “For those of you not in the south Kudzu is a climbing, woody vine that is capable of reaching up to 100 feet in trees but scrambles over almost any lower vegetation. It has large green leaves. The scientists say it will grow up to 60 feet in a season and as much as 30 stems from a single root. It was originally brought from Japan to the US in 1876 to the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition as a forage and ornamental plant. Somehow it escaped from a secure greenhouse in Philly and was spread throughout the south by several northern terrorists while on vacation in the south. (Well, if you believe that story…..)

It was actually promoted by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service 1935 to the 1950’s to reduce soil erosion in the South. It worked to hold the soil in gullies and in areas where land was clear cut. Farmers were even paid $8.00 an acre to grow it and more than 1.2 million acres were planted with funds from the government.

After it became difficult to clear and stop, the U.S. Department of Agriculture declared it a weed in early 1953. To even further soil (or sully) its reputation, in 1998 it was declared by Congress as a Federal Noxious Weed. The good news is that no one in the South heard about that law being passed!

So, with such a rich history and so much a part of southern tradition and lore, why do we still make fun of kudzu? Well, that is very easy to answer. Kudzu is a sneaky pest that will cover everything before you can turn around and stop it! On a farm its one of those things that happens before your eyes and you just don’t see it coming. It is almost impossible to kill. Scientists say it takes 20 years to kill it off! We would try almost anything from pesticides to trying to make the cows eat it (the cows graciously refused!) to burning it off. Of course, none of this was successful. So you always kept a sharp eye on it all the time and tried to cut it back every chance you got.

So do you have any kudzu vines in your department or business? You know the type I am speaking about! They sit over there in their office or maybe they work at another station or work site. You never think about them until you realize they have snuck over and covered everyone else with their negative thoughts and leaves. Then you have to get in there and hack away at the plant to try to stop its spread. The first thing you must do it get to the root, just like with kudzu. If you don’t take out the root, the pain (and the weed) will just start growing back the very next day.” Bottom line is we cannot let the poison in. It will spread like Kudzu.

Because we live in a “Me” first world – “I want it and I want it now” We as officers must make some BIG cultural changes. We must be patient and loving like the gentleman was to his wife. Showing passion about the people and the communities we serve. We have to make that dash between the two numbers truly mean something and leave a positive thumb print on the fire service. Officers should perform each day passionately in an effort to change the fire service for the better. Working tirelessly to make the fire service safer, firefighters better educated and our service delivery the best it can be since we have a monopoly on the business in our communities. Bottom line officers need to be just that officers, not coat tail riders.

I want to leave you with a few final thoughts…Who or what are you working for?
1. Other people’s approval?
2. For more toys?
3. For someone else?

Or are you working for the right reasons. Hey folks as firefighters and especially fire officers you have only one option if you are going to do it with passion…LEAD BODLY FROM THE FRONT. Because, you have two dates and a dash in the middle what are you going to do with the dash? What will folks say your dash means when you are gone?

Posted by on January 12, 2011 • Filed under: administration-leadership, Attitude, BECOME SAFE, christopher naum, command-leadership, company officer, Culture, Doug Cline, Education, Fitness, Health and Safety, KSA, Leaderhip, line-of-duty, LODD, Officer, training

To Lead Tomorrow, Learn Today

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Becoming a leader is like making a sound investment. What actions you take today will impact the results tomorrow. Leadership by definition is the position or function of a leader. What matters the most in the development of a leader is what occurs day by day over a long period of time. Leadership develops daily, not in a day.
Leaders are not just born. It is true that some individuals are born with greater natural talents than others. However, the ability to lead is a development and collection of skills. Most every one of these skills can be learned, sharpened and honed. Leadership is complicated. The important thing to remember is that it requires due diligence daily and it will not occur overnight. There are many aspects to leadership; people skills, emotional composure and strength, discipline, vision, dedication, momentum, timing, respect and the list goes on. With so many of these aspects to develop that is why it takes development and a long period of time to become seasoned as some would say. There is no magical age when you will begin to understand the many aspects of leadership, but one thing will be certain is when clarity of these aspects begins to occur you will know it. Your focus, demeanor and actions will clearly be different than previous.
According to John Maxwell there are four phases of leadership growth.
Phase 1: I Don’t Know What I Don’t Know
Most people never recognized the true value of leadership. The concept that leadership is for a select few is common, usually reserved for those of “Chief Officer” rank. Unfortunately most people never recognize the opportunities that they are passing up, especially when individuals don’t learn to lead. Leadership can occur in so many fashions and at every level. The opportunity to lead someone or a group exists everyday in some way, shape or fashion. If we learn that leadership is influence and that in the course of each day most individuals usually try to influence at least 4 other people, their desire to may be sparked to learn more about this subject. It is unfortunate that as long as an individual doesn’t know what they don’t know, there is failure to grow.
Phase 2: I know What I Don’t Know
Usually this phase occurs when you suddenly find yourself in a leadership position only to come to the realization that no one is following. This is usually when individuals realize they need to learn how to lead. This is when it is possible to learn how to lead. To be conscious that you are ignorant of the facts is a great step to becoming knowledgeable. Successful leaders are life learners, a result of self-discipline and perseverance.

Phase 3: I Know I am Growing because it is Showing
When you recognize your lack of skill and begin the daily discipline of personal growth in leadership, exciting things start to occur. During this phase you begin coming into your own as a leader. This phase is more of the true student phase. You are actively learning, experimenting and growing in both knowledge and wisdom.

Phase 4: I simply Go because of What I know
When you are in phase 3 you will be effective as a leader, but you have to think about your every move. During phase 4, your talents and abilities to lead become almost automated. During this phase is when you receive your reward for all of the discipline, dedication, determination and hard work. For many they never reach this phase as they never recognized the process and pay the price. During this phase it also opens the door for mentoring. You have the opportunity to pay it forward as you “lead” other through this rigorous process.

Leadership is something that is not developed over night or in one day; it is developed daily and is an ongoing process – that is reality. The important thing to recognize is that your leadership ability is not static. Because no matter where you are or starting from you always have the opportunity and ability to get better no matter who you are – world famous to the person next door.

Posted by on January 10, 2011 • Filed under: Attitude, Chief Fire Officer, christopher naum, command-leadership, company officer, Culture, Doug Cline, Education, Leaderhip, Officer, skills, Succession Planning, training-development, Uncategorized

Remember to Keep it Fresh

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Is your relationship with the fire service at best “Status Quo”?

Just like any relationship it has to be worked at. Often when we analyze where we are in a relationship we find you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; regroup and start doing the works you did at first. Another words, refuel the passion for the job! To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are, to stop developing, progressing or advancing; become sluggish or dull; become stale, foul or dead. So what causes firefighters to go into Status Quo?

  • Unmet Needs- Often times the nurturing of our organization does not occur. We have individuals or groups who are often neglected or are never addressed due to the system trying to help others who are not at the same level.
  • Unfulfilled Expectations- Many times we find individuals in the fire service who have expectations. Often these expectations are never meet for whatever reason. One of the most common causes is that the expectations are not realistic ones or ones that the organization cannot support for any member.
  • Under Developed Self Esteem- In most cases self esteem is not a major issue; however with some individuals the environments they are placed in are negative, hostile and/or demeaning. When this occurs it is not hard for them to have a low self esteem. We often see this with many of the harassment cases.
  • Unresolved Conflicts- many times individuals will have unresolved issue. Why is this? Well most times they never have the fortitude to address them professionally. They get mad or sulk when they don’t get exactly what they want. There is no conflict resolution or closure in an issue. Other times they never choose to address the problem at all.
  • Uncontrolled Thoughts- We recognize that many individuals will have these thoughts that are not controlled. That is they don’t have a full knowledge of all information and they are thinking one dimensional.
  • Unprotected Lifestyles- Who is influencing you and your thoughts? Who are your so called friends and colleagues? What are they feeding you? Often times we find that individuals find themselves in a status quo mode due to being frustrated. The first area you should look at is who you are hanging with. In most cases it has been shown that who you are hanging with influences you tremendously whether it is positive or negatively. In short what junk are they feeding you?
  • Unreliable Commitment- Commitment takes work and if in the relationship one side is not committed then it becomes unreliable. Often times the organization is not the problem but officers who don’t do their jobs. This influences the entire organization.

Keep It “FRESH”?
We have to invite today’s fire service in. We cannot be living in the past or on fantasies. Today’s fire service is a lot different than when I started back in 1980. The key is adapting and embracing changes. We the Fire Service have a burden of responsibility…a responsibility to leave the service better than we inherited it. This means we have to learn from our own and other’s mistakes. We must set a course of direction that has safety as the focus. This will mean that many cultures, values, opinions and beliefs will have to be changed or better yet educated. Leaders must be diligent in their efforts working tirelessly to accomplish the vision exhausting all means for a successful journey. Never lose faith or lower the vision. Falling short of the vision is better than setting one low and making it. If leaders will follow the vision with heart-felt desire you will win! To sum it all up you must keep the vision and keep from getting distracted.

Remember to make it your priority. To keep the vision you must understand that it will require personal sacrifices and risks to be taken. In making sacrifices and taking risks we often feel like we are out on a limb. Well guess what, you are! But if we don’t take chances you most likely will not keep focused on what is important, the vision you have set as a leader. These distractions that come up often pull even the best leaders off of the vision. When we keep our vision, we often receive harsh criticism. But remember, DO NOT compromise for what seems easier nor be discouraged by the criticism.

We have to be focused on nurturing our relationship with the fire service. With that said we need to have true diverse communications that are open and engage active listening. When I focus on active listening, I challenge you to hear what has happened in other organizations and responses. Embrace vicarious learning as we cannot create training for every scenario possible. There just isn’t enough time. But we can learn about situations, conditions, events and types of responses from others who have experienced them, plus benefit from their lessons learned. By doing this we spend the required time live and learn. With all of this being said there has to be a degree of pleasure that comes with anything. Remember that we need to keep it fun. However, fun is dictated by attitudes. So before you tell me that all the fun is gone check your attitude and the people that are influencing you. Maybe the reason it isn’t fun is who you are surrounded by which most often is a choice. I challenge you to look at the big picture.

For officers you have to keep the romance and passion for the fire service going for your crews. Don’t fall victim yourself. Here are a few tips on how to keep the fire service passion going:

  • Pay Attention- It is important to be following closely what your personnel are doing. You should spend quality time engaged with these individuals to truly understand them as individuals. You should focus on their needs more than your own.
  • Give Affirmation- To the fire service and the people who affect and work with you. Positive affirmations and positive thinking techniques can help develop a powerful and positive attitude to life; which is an essential element in life success and good health. With this power you can turn failure around into success and take success and drive it to a whole new level. Your positive attitude is the fuel for your success.
  • Show Affection- Speak well of the organization and the people in it. Negative comments drag everyone down. The negativity you show in these conversations depicts your level of thinking.
  • Create Adventure- We need to create in our realms an exciting or very unusual experience and the ability to participate in exciting undertakings. This needs to be on going and challenging.

As you strive to keep it fresh remember …you are a part of this great profession we call the fire service. What are you going to do to make a difference?

Posted by on December 6, 2010 • Filed under: Attitude, company officer, Doug Cline, Leaderhip, thecompanyofficer.com, training • Tagged: , , , ,

Looking Under the Hood of Your Organization

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Excellent driving skills are not the only factors that could prevent a driver from encountering a possibly fatal accident. Your vehicle must always be in tiptop condition for you to prevent any traffic or driving mishaps. Consider this: an ill-maintained vehicle is an accident waiting to happen. Keep yourself and your passengers safe by making sure your vehicle is in excellent condition.
That being said, let’s discuss how your organization is much like an automobile. Keep in mind that any time you are looking under your vehicle’s hood is always the perfect time to examine the different connections, hoses and belts i.e. personnel, policies, equipment, operating guidelines, etc. to make sure that they are damage, wear and leak-free.
If it’s your first time to check under your organization’s hood, then you’ll probably be unfamiliar with all the numerous parts in and around the organization. However, if you make it a frequent practice to check your organization and make sure that everything works, you’ll be able to identify all the different issues and problems in a jiffy. I suggest you procure a model and use it to evaluate any loose connections or changes that might have occurred in your organization.
One common model that is recognized Fire Service wide is the Center for Public Safety Excellence’s Commission on Fire Accreditation International model. Even if you are not looking to become an accredited organization, the self assessment approach has proven to be a sound performance criteria model industry wide.
There are a number of benefits in conducting a self assessment program for your agency. These benefits provide for practical, day-to-day organizational improvements. The hardest component is to be honest in your assessment. If conducted correctly the self-conducted performance evaluation will result in increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of your organization provided that the findings are applied to the planning and implementation activities.
Below are some benefits to conducting the self assessment:
• Quality improvement through a continuous self assessment process.
• Providing a detailed evaluation of the services it provides to the community.
• Identifying strengths, weaknesses and opportunities in the organization.
• A methodology for building on strong points and addressing deficiencies.
• Providing for department growth for programs, services and member capabilities.
• Fostering pride in an organization, from department members, community leaders and citizens.
Through self assessment, a systematic evaluation can be accomplished to determine what is currently going on in the organization, focusing on whether or not the organization is meeting the goals commensurate with its responsibilities. The assessment process is astounding in the clarity it brings an organization’s leaders and members, not only regarding how the organization currently works but how the various parts are interrelated, its overall state of health and, most importantly, what needs to be done to make improvements. You will target and prioritize top opportunities for change and develop detailed improvement plans.

Posted by on November 17, 2010 • Filed under: administration-leadership, Attitude, Chief Fire Officer, command-leadership, company officer, Culture, Doug Cline, Education, Fire Fighter Safety, Leaderhip, Officer, thecompanyofficer.com, training, Uncategorized • Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Talent is not Enough

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From playing many years of sports on both winning and loosing teams I have learned talent is not enough to bring about success to the team. I played on teams that had plenty of talent. We didn’t win a lot though. That used to always bother me and I would say we have all the talent in the world why aren’t we winning. It was not until my senior year when I realized that talent was not enough. There was another component that had to be added in. That component was ATTITUDE. It wasn’t the other teams didn’t have attitude. We had plenty of it…but it was the bad kind. It wasn’t until the positive attitude mixed with talent that we started winning.

Over the years the fire service organizations that I have had the opportunity to be involved with showed me that this concept applied to any organization or team. Various attitudes have the potential to impact a team made up of talented members.
Abilities + Attitudes = Results
Good Talent + Rotten Attitudes = Really Bad Team
Good talent + Bad Attitudes = Bad Team
Good Talent + Average Attitude = Average Team
Good talent + Good Attitude = Good team
Great talent + Great Attitude = Great team
If you are looking for a winning team that performs at an outstanding level you need minimally good talent with good attitudes, preferably great attitudes and great talent!

Most people possess good talent it is usually the attitude that either draws them do to the next level with great/positive attitudes or their demise with a rotten attitude. So knowing this, it is important to choose the right attitude.

Posted by on September 10, 2010 • Filed under: Attitude, Uncategorized • Tagged: , , , , ,

Endeavor to Persevere

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What Ever You Do In Life Will Be Relatively Insignificant to the Rest of the World,

But it is Most Important You Do It Anyways….

 

Live as if You Were Going to Die Tomorrow….

Learn as if You Were to Live Forever…

Posted by on September 5, 2010 • Filed under: Attitude, christopher naum, command-leadership, company officer, Leaderhip, Professional Development, Uncategorized • Tagged: , , , , , ,

What a Difference… A Minute Can Make

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Have you ever recognized what a difference a single minute in your life can make? Most of us only count down the minutes at the end of the day near quitting time, or when we are waiting for a big event. We never really recognize just how important every minute is because every minute makes a real difference. It is important to remember that for everything there is a season, a time for every activity.

Be Aware of Critical Moments
A critical moment is when you make a decision that has a critical impact on your life. These can include fire ground decisions, career decisions, attitude decisions or decisions on choice of words. These may last only a few minutes, hours or days. Sometimes these decisions may have impacts that last a life time. Most of our decisions are made in a rapid fire mode and are impacted by attitude. It is important to remember that attitudes are choices or decisions we make.

Some Individuals would look at a pile of rubble and say “what a mess” while others will look at the same pile and say “what an opportunity”. At this moment there is a critical decision going on. Which one of these individuals would you want leading the fire department in your community? Most would say the one who has a vision of what that “mess” could be. I recently had the opportunity to spend some time in the great State of Vermont training with a group of outstanding emergency services professionals in Addison County. What a breath of fresh air. The amount of energy that was delivered to my starving body was incredible from spending just 48 hours with such great fire service leaders. I was able to reflect upon 50+ years of leadership legacy that was still going strong. That’s right; the fire chief of Vergennes Fire Department the late Ralph Jackman had been the Chief for 50+ years. The best part was he looked at everything in a progressive, proactive philosophy of saying “look at that opportunity”. He understood that every minute made a difference and he understood these critical moments and the importance of a positive attitude even when the chips were down and things were not going as he may have hoped or wanted.

As individuals and leaders of the fire service we must look at opportunities with vision. We must be able to decode the “mess” into “opportunity”. It is paramount that we focus on the concepts that it shouldn’t be this way, but we can make it something else. These are truly hectic times we live in, times that can challenge even strongest of seasoned leaders or firefighters.

Regularly ask yourself three (3) questions…

1. Who and what is influencing me?
There are many individuals and things that can influence you. Subsequently you must ask yourself if these influences are positive or negative. Many times your influences can be strong positive ones while other times they can be the negative ones that you fall victim too. It is important to have strong positive influences in our lives. Remember ever time you choose to follow an influence it is a critical decision and becomes a critical moment in your live. “
“Choose wisely Grasshopper”

2. Where does my mind naturally go?
What are you thinking about when you have free time or where does your mind drift off too frequently. Where your mind goes will have a big influence on critical moments in your life. Make sure that the place your mind is visiting is worth being there!

3. What am I passionate about?
What do I really like in life is another way to say this. Well often times when we get to this level of soul searching we can see that we have things a lot better than others. Often times it is a big reality check that we realize we are not following or doing our passions. It is important to make sure that your passion is not a negatively impacting one as well. Remember everything is influenced by our attitudes; you should always be reminding yourself that your attitude is like a disease and is yours truly worth catching.

Don’t Miss Opportune Moments
We should all be reminded just how brief our time being alive really is. None of us will live forever. We are merely moving shadows and all our busy rushing ends in often times nothing. Opportune moments don’t have to be big successes, but can be as simple as learning how to do something new. We are all busy and miss the opportunity to celebrate great moments. So with all this rushing around and what we are missing let’s look at what happens when you get in a real hurry or act in haste…
• You feel stressed.
• You lose your joy…simplified your laughter, special times and moments of impact.
• You are less productive.
• You can’t hear or see anyone.

So if you don’t want to miss opportune moments or act in haste you need to slow done. You may ask, “how do I slow down”? Remember it is important that you work hard but take time to rest as well. I recently was out to eat lunch. A group of pastors were at this restaurant as well. I heard one of the pastors state I always remind my congregation that the Devil never rests, another pastor asked since when did we start following his lead. Silence fell on that group for a moment and the first pastor replies wow I never looked at it like that! So what are some helpful hints to get you to slow down?
• Participate – Go and do more with family friends, colleagues.
• Delegate – Don’t put that big Superman “S” symbol on your chest. It usually doesn’t signify you are “Superman” but more like “Stupid man”
• Procrastinate – Stop and think before you act or speak, often times take more than just a second in this case. I see great leaders take days, weeks and months to act on items to keep from making poor decisions.
• Eliminate – Eliminate all the bad influences, attitudes and passions

Please don’t waste your minutes…they may be running low and you don’t even know it!

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Posted by on September 2, 2010 • Filed under: administration-leadership, Attitude, Chief Fire Officer, command-leadership, company officer, Culture, Doug Cline, Leaderhip, Mentor, Officer, Professional Development, Situational Awareness • Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,