Operationally Effective Leadership

Despite the beliefs of some within our ranks, the fire service remains a risky business that sometimes places us in harm’s way.  To remain effective, the fire service will always have risks associated with our operations.  Before we go any further, I want to reaffirm I am an advocate of aggressive operations, not reckless operations.  With that said, the fire service is dependant upon fire officers who are effective at leading in extreme, risky, and life threatening situations.  Simply being organized or an administratively strong leader will only take you so far in this job, as will simply being operationally strong.  However, the focus of this post is to assist in achieving operationally effective leadership within the fire service.

Earning the respect and trust of the troops is essential to operationally effective leadership.  A title is just that, a title.  You can take the biggest goofball in the firehouse and put a rank on their collar and helmet shield, does that simple act make them any more of a leader than they were the day before? No.  Do you think the troops will truly trust or respect this person anymore than they did the day before? Probably not.  Respect and trust are earned through actions, not through words. 

It begins in the firehouse.  Showing your firefighters that you will not ask them to do things you aren’t willing to do yourself will go a long way.  Not only does it show the troops you are a team player, it shows them that you haven’t forgot what it’s like to walk in their shoes.  If you aren’t engaged in an absolutely necessary task, pick up a brush to help wash the rig or pick up a broom to help sweep the floor.  The first few times, the troops will probably tell you to put it down and they’ll take care of it.  Don’t!  Actually doing the tasks a few times reaffirms that you aren’t just putting on a front and that you’re truly committed to helping them.  After a few times of doing the tasks, it’s okay to walk away when they tell you to.  After all, since you are a 21^st century fire officer, you probably have a lot of other “less fun” items that need your attention.  However, periodic participation in these tasks with your firefighters will strengthen your team and reaffirms your commitment to them.  The benefits of this will likely carry over to your company’s operational performance.

Operationally effective fire officers strive to continuously better themselves and their firefighters.  Consistent training is essential for preparing your firefighters and yourself to perform efficiently and effectively in extreme, risky, and life threatening situations.  Too often I see fire officers put together company drills but do not participate in the drill themselves.  The positive of this situation is they are initiating training, however they are doing a disservice to themselves and their company by not participating.  Drills are a great opportunity for everyone to learn and are an excellent opportunity for leaders to display their competency and reassure the troops that they’re not “all talk”.  Conducting drills regularly will also allow a leader to communicate the operational expectations they have of their firefighters.  Additionally, drills provide leaders with opportunities to come out of their comfort zone and will provide the troops with initial exposure to a fire officer’s operational leadership capabilities.  While one’s actions on the fireground will ultimately prove to be the true gauge of their operational leadership capabilities, the training environment allows for a positive initial impression to be made.

The items discussed above pertain to pre-incident actions that a fire officer can take to maximize their ability to be an operationally effective leader.  These are great opportunities to lay ground work for fireground performance, however, at the end of the day it’s just ground work.  Fireground performance is the true defining factor of an operationally effective leader.  It’s where the extremes, risks, and life threatening situations all come together and it’s where the troops may need your effectiveness as a leader the most.  Everything you’ve done beforehand may help you or, if you fail to lead effectively, it all may go out the window.  On the fireground there’s no place for folks “talking the talk”.  If you don’t “walk the walk”, chances are you’re going to be operationally inefficient and ineffective.  The troops will see this and it won’t matter how good you’ve made yourself sound in the Engine bay or at the firehouse kitchen table.  Consistent and proven fireground performance are indicative of operationally effective leadership.

If you’ve been in the fire service for a little while, it’s likely that you’ve encountered fire officers who talk a good game in the firehouse but lose their mind the second the bells ring.  Again, the troops see this stuff and take note of it.  This type of behavior helps define the (in)effectiveness of one’s operational leadership.  If the troops see their “leader” panicked or unsure of themselves, chances are they will mimic the same behavior or dismiss the “leader’s” abilities.  Instead the operationally effective leader is able to keep the troops motivated, focused, and performing.  We all know that sometimes things don’t go right or in our favor on the fireground.  These are the times that operationally effective leaders shine.  Instead of panicking or locking up, operationally effective leaders are able to persevere through these conditions and make things happen.  The operationally effective leader takes their firefighters to the fireground prepared for whatever they may face and leads from the front.  They share risk with their firefighters and never place their own safety or wellbeing ahead of that of their firefighters.  When you become a fire officer, you assume responsibility of your firefighters and it’s not just at your convenience or in comfortable situations.  When it’s dark and hot, you better be making the push with them or ahead of them.  The operationally effective leader embraces this responsibility and takes pride in leading their firefighters to the places that most folks don’t want to go.   I’m going to share an experience of operating on a fireground with a fire officer who did not display operationally effective leadership.  Fortunately, there were no negative consequences but, as you read, I think you will figure out pretty quickly we may have just been lucky.

“The Captain of the Duty Crew I was riding with on this particular evening about ten years ago was a really nice guy.  He had a very positive attitude and was easy to get along with.  Generally, his Duty Crew would check the rigs, eat dinner, and perform a drill.  Often he would be doing some sort of administrative tasks while the drill was taking place.  However, he was very much in support of the troops doing the drills.  Every time the Captain ran a somewhat serious call, he got through it with a mediocre performance.  Generally his crew would get him through it, but nonetheless, he got through it.   Anyways, everyone acknowledged his operational deficiencies but nobody wanted to bring them to his attention for fear of hurting his feelings.  With that said, he remained a company officer for a few years with little change in his performance or abilities.

This particular evening passed rather uneventfully until we were dispatched for the “Commercial Building Fire” at 2 AM.  We were going as the first due Engine and the fire was reported by local law enforcement officers who were investigating a burglar alarm at the location.  With this information, it was a pretty solid bet that we were going to work.  We arrived shortly thereafter with a one story, lightweight wood frame restaurant and smoke pushing from everywhere.  Myself and another firefighter stretched a line to the front door and donned our face pieces.  The officer joined us and we entered through the front door with zero visibility.  We sometimes ate breakfast at this restaurant, so I had a pretty good grasp of the building’s layout and we headed towards the direction of the kitchen periodically popping ceiling tiles.  As we progressed further into the restaurant, the officer wandered off away from the kitchen.  I’m not sure why nor did he say why.  Nonetheless, he wandered off and was later found in the bathrooms.  The other firefighter, who was brand new, soon wandered off in the opposite direction and ended up outside.  Anyways, I progressed further when I began to hear that beautiful sound of popping and crackling.  I rounded the corner and Bingo!  We found it.  Great! We got this thing, no problem.  So, I turn back to notify somebody that I’ve got this.  Except nobody is there!  Screw it, I don’t really care and I’m certainly not concerned that I’m barely 19 years old operating by myself without a portable radio in a restaurant fire, I’m just going to start knocking this thing out.  About 30 seconds later, somebody found me and joined me while I was hitting the main body of fire.  I quickly realized this was one of the senior guys from our firehouse who came in one of our support vehicles.  He asked me where everyone was and I told him I didn’t know and we proceeded to knock the main body of fire when the IC sounded the evacuation tones.  So we back out and I’m pissed because we’d just knocked out the main body of fire and a couple more minutes would have let us mop up the remaining pockets of fire.  Little did I know what things looked like from the outside prior to this(I later found out when I saw the video, it was pretty impressive) and because my officer wandered off and I didn’t have a portable radio, the IC had no idea we had a line on the fire.  Thankfully the IC did the right thing and pulled the plug to allow us to regroup and redeploy.  After the fire was completely extinguished, I found out the officer had been found wandering around the bathrooms.  Not once did the officer attempt to explain himself or apologize for his actions.  I’m not sure how he felt about himself afterwards but I can assure you I lost my faith in his abilities to perform under pressure or in dangerous situations.  The guy really is a nice guy with a good attitude and, while well intentioned, is far from being an operationally effective leader.”

As I stated above, I think you can probably figure out we got lucky as the above operation was a recipe for disaster and it all could have been prevented by operationally effective leadership.  The fire service conducts business in dangerous places and needs leaders that can effectively lead in these environments.  Leadership in these environments is paramount as a lack of effective leadership can have dire consequences.  It’s nice to run around with the white helmet or the brass on your collar, but are you prepared to take on the responsibility of leading people into risky, extreme, or life threatening situations?  Operationally effective leaders are and they will keep the fire service of the 21^st century operating in an efficient and effective manner.