I just want to say how fantastic the entire August 2009 issue of Fire Engineering is! It has been a long time since I have read a magazine of this caliber. I would read one relevant article (good content and well written) and turn the page to find another, then another, then another, and so on. Thanks to the staff for providing us with a professional journal that addresses current issues. Readers can sure tell that a veteran firefighter is leading this magazine!
Larry H. Williams, Jr.
Chief
Dothan (AL) Fire Department
Leadership/management vs. strategy/tactics
I enjoy reading the Roundtable articles each month, as they have started many useful conversations at my firehouse. The question “If you had to choose one, should your department’s officer development center on leadership/management or strategy/tactics?” in the July issue did just that.
As a firefighter, I aspire to be a company officer; as such, I like to look at the positive aspects of good leaders and try to recognize what works for them as well as the methods of poor leaders and the reasons I think those methods don’t work. When I read the answers on the topic in Roundtable, I was kind of surprised that more of the responses didn’t say that having learned tactics as you work as a firefighter helps make you an effective leader. By the time you would be in a position to become a company officer, your knowledge of tactics, as well as building construction and potential fire spread, should be well established. Personally, I think “book smarts” as far as leadership goes is a double-edged sword. The information, in theory, is good. But if you can’t implement the concepts, the information is useless. This goes for both “strategy/tactics” training as well as “leadership/management” training.
I also believe that “leadership/management” in a fire department is different from that in any other business. In the corporate world, you are dealing with people within an eight- to 12-hour day (in most cases), and the environment is one of “work,” whatever that may be. In a fire department, you’re dealing on all levels—with “home life” (eating, sleeping, hygiene issues) mixed in with “work” (What are we here to accomplish, and how do we collectively accomplish that?). In dealing with the combination of the two aspects, a company officer is not only an officer but in many aspects a parent as well.
I think the combination of street smarts/book tactics/ability to adapt/people skills/compassion/willingness to learn/ability to pass on knowledge all combine in various quantities to make a good officer. Therefore, officer development training should focus on all of those, not just tactics/strategy or leadership/management.
Karen Ziemian
Firefighter
Lanoka Harbor Fire Department
Lacey Township, New Jersey
Editor’s note: If you would like to share your comments on anything you have read in Fire Engineering or its supplements, in our e-mailed editorial supplements, or on our Web site, please send an e-mail to Editor in Chief Bobby Halton at roberth@pennwell.com. Your comments may appear in a future issue of Fire Engineering.
