Leadership

[backdraft663]

LEADERSHIP

What is it? We all live by it in the Fire Service, so what does it mean to you?

[Dalmatian90]

Leadership is about changing a situation.
Management is about organizing a situation.

You need both, and probably no one excels at both. Legendary generals usually excelled in one and were very good in the other.

You can follow all the written policies to a T, hand out all the pretty colored vests you want, and have everyone organized on four different response, staging, operations, and command frequencies, and all you're assured of is the fire will eventually burn itself out and you'll look cool, calm, collected, organized, and professional while it does so.

You can have seize the bull by the horns, recognize the primary hazard, and go charging full speed ahead to put the damn thing out. And when suddenly the line goes limp, you come out, discover the scene is a chinese fire drill and water supply hasn't even been established yet and your booster is empty, well, you made the right decisions on what would change the outcome of the fire...but now you're stuck watching the fire burn itself out, again.

There's a reasonable compromise out there between leadership & management; you need both and without the other neither is very effective in the long term.

We can "manage" the management side easier -- we have SOPs and General Orders. We have training of what roles we expect firefighters to do and what to do in those roles. We can have run cards so responses don't have to be thought about in individual station terms. We have Incident Management Systems, although those can be abused as a crutch sometimes by officers who don't have good leadership skills (that look good while burning down the house thing). Leadership is a bit tougher to teach, not everyone has it naturally, and unfortunately not everyone who does have it naturally has that management tact and they're almost more dangerous. It's a bit more uncomfortable, and it takes more practice for the non-natural leader to get comfortable with that role. Management only requires you consult a pre-determined plan; Leadership means you not only recognize unique situations and develop a plan on the fly but that you also effectively communicate it, and do so in a way others trust & respect your orders.

[Weruj1]

I think that is as Dal stated a combination of things .......for me it is
The ability to think on the fly
Being respectful the everyone
Doling out fair and just discpline
Never afraid to think up/try different ideas
Have a vision of where you want a scene or in my case the department to go and the plan to make it happen
I havent been to some major training recentl;y but I read everything I get my hands on and FH.com itself is a great place to do almost ALL these things as well.......and I feel these things help make good leaders
Good post Dal !

[hfd66truck]

Being a Military buff(Dal, nice touch with the Generals ;) ), many of my ideas about leadership have been formed by reading about some of the great warriors. Of course reading about some of the great fire service "warriors" has also helped.

One thing that has always stuck with me is that as you go through your career, you try and remember the things that the people you respect do as leaders...so when you become one you end up being a collection of the good things you have run across in your career. That being said, I recognize the human element here and realize that you will end up being a lot of what mom and dad made way back when.

One thing...Leadership = decisiveness. Make a freakin decision, even if it is wrong. (hopefully you won't be wrong often). So many times I have seen the leadership by committee approach. It doesn't work, at least not for every decision.

Fairness...in every aspect. For detail assignements to discipline.

Keep current....as a Fire Service leader, you are responsible for your people. Train them, train yourself. Keep on top of the changes, be the best at your game.

Support your people....When they do good, tell em. Its important that they know the good stuff too. Don't allow the higher ups to "poop" on your people.

Tell your people what you expect...I can guarantee most of your people are not mind readers. Let 'em known what you want and expect. Leave the guess work to the daily Lottery.

Trust your people...trust them to do what you want, when you want it. Leave the "double checking" to their wives, and allow them to make their mistakes.

I hope that when the opportunity comes for me, I can find this post and read these words.

[Weruj1]

more gems from Dave ........CR should also have some good words as well .........210 care to post ?

[E229Lt]

The Line officers make things happen.

The Chiefs watch things happen.

The probies wonder what happened.

Find the leader.

[hfd66truck]

Hey LT, where do the Senior guys fit in? ;)

[Dalmatian90]

Hey LT, where do the Senior guys fit in?

There the ones that intercept

Make a freakin decision, even if it is wrong. (hopefully you won't be wrong often)

those so the company officer keeps looking good.

[ChiefReason]

A leader is someone who can get people to do what he/she wants them to do, because they want to do it.
I can't remember who said it, but I believe it is true for the most part.
People will do things for a BOSS because they fear that they will lose their job.
People will do things for a LEADER because they fear that they will lose their respect.
I'll take a leader over a boss anyday!
CR

[ciffret]

CR I like what you said and I agree. Bosses and leaders are rarely the same person. In the workplace, corporations make the boss and the leader the same and the end result is often disasterous. I like the phrase "Since you have been elected doesn't mean you qualify."

IACOJ(ret)