In his new book, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication, John Maxwell says in his introduction: “Everyone has a message. It may be a message for the moment or the message of a lifetime.” Similarly, we all have a voice in the fire service, regardless of rank, title, time on the job, fire department configuration, or any other relevant descriptor.
When you think about this idea, this has always been the case. Since the dawn of the fire service, our members have been bringing their subject matter expertise to the job. How many times have you experienced an incident where the outside knowledge of one of your crew members aided in meeting the needs of the caller? Did your firefighter, who works part time as a plumber, help fix a water leak at a residence before it became an emergency? Was one of your crew members, who is a contractor on his days off, able to identify a hazard based on outside experience that possibly kept your crew out of harm’s way?
Subject Matter and Your Voice
Your subject matter expertise is a crucial element of your voice, and sometimes you will be called on to use it. For example, on my first day on shift as a firefighter at Fort Lauderdale (FL) Fire Rescue, my first lieutenant, Rich Pearl, sat down with me to get to know who I was. He asked, “What else do you do?” I was initially perplexed by this question. “I’m a firefighter and a paramedic,” I responded. He looked at me with the slightest hint of a smile and said, “I know, but what else do you do?”
This may have seemed like a simple question, but it was much deeper. He wanted to know what else I brought to the table. He wanted to know what trade, what expertise, what skills I had that, if needed, could be useful on scene. This was transformational for me—a senior officer asking a boot firefighter what he could add to the skill sets of the crew? Mind blowing!
Dialogue, Listening, and Teamwork
My first year on the hazmat team was equally impactful. On every hazmat call we responded to, I watched as my hazmat instructor and mentor, Lieutenant Doug LeValley, consulted with his crew, a veteran group of senior hazmat technicians. He facilitated dialogue around their thoughts on mitigating the situation. In the end, it was always his decision on how to proceed, but he allowed the voices of each of his team members to be heard to add to the overall strategy, and ultimate success, of the call. What a phenomenal example of teamwork! I found myself doing the same with my crews later when I became an officer, seeking the wisdom of my team yet being responsible for the final decision. I listened to each member’s voice. I am fortunate to have had these behaviors modeled for me so early in my career.
We are all taught to listen twice as much as we speak—two ears and one mouth, as the saying goes. That’s pure gold, and I subscribe to this tenet. That said, we all bring something to the table, and we must know when to use our voices. This may be as simple as a Gen Z-er who offers his expertise on how to set up a TikTok account for the new public information officer (PIO). Or, it could be the Gen X firefighter/contractor mentioned above, who identifies and alerts his crew of a possible collapse hazard prior to making entry into a structure fire so all are aware of the danger. Both firefighters have a voice. And more so, these firefighters should be encouraged and allowed to express their voices!
Rank, Position, and Disseminating Knowledge
Often, rank and position provide us with structured platforms to use our voices. The battalion chief of emergency medical services (EMS) may also be the dedicated infectious control officer and, by title, must speak on behalf of the agency about exposure protocols and proper PPE for communicable diseases. But does he truly know everything?
Concurrently, you may have members of your agency who moonlight as registered nurses, physicians’ assistants, or nurse practitioners who work in this space daily. Are you using your resources? Are you using the talents of your agency? Are you allowing your people to have a voice that allows for synergy and growth potential of your more valuable assets? Do they know they have a voice and should be using it?
Our new generations of firefighters want to be involved. They are socially aware and community-oriented and want to contribute to the overall good that the organization provides. Similarly, our veterans and senior members have vast amounts of institutional knowledge. Allowing these members to use their voices provides an example of trust and empowerment and sets the stage for passing down knowledge from generation to generation.
Understand that you have a voice. It is essential in the fire service today that everyone understands that. Now, how do we best use it?
The Vehicle for Your Voice
To be clear, when I say vehicle, I mean the method, channel, or medium in which the message is relayed. In the classic communication model, there is a sender, a message, a receiver, and the feedback loop. The message is encoded in a certain medium to be transferred from sender to receiver. These different mediums include face-to-face communication, phone calls, email, texting, and various social media channels. Additionally, I also include the teams, groups, and committees to which we may already belong that often provide a platform for your voice.
Social Media
Social media has become an accepted medium to properly package a message. I recently had a conversation with a PIO from a neighboring fire department who stated, “I have to start a TikTok account. I don’t want to start one; I need to start one.” Why? Because he knew that to reach a certan audience of a certain age group, this provided the largest bandwidth.
Perhaps you’re an emergency manager and you need your voice to reach people across multiple platforms within multiple departments. How do you maximize the “one voice/one message” concept?
During our unexpected flash flood event in April 2023, our brilliant and well-connected emergency management division used numerous methods to communicate, including apps like Nextdoor and Everbridge. Know your policies and protocols on social media and know how to deploy these valuable assets. When used in a professional manner, these social media platforms represent a phenomenal way to communicate across the entire agency.
Generational Differences
Generational differences may also impact the way you choose to communicate. Baby Boomers prefer face-to-face conversation. Millennials and Gen X-ers prefer a phone call, text, or email. The new employees in the workplace, Gen Z, are considered “digital natives,” having grown up with technology at their fingertips. Gen Z employees are also used to instant access to information and have increasingly shorter attention spans. If you’re not communicating with them using a big visual and getting it across quickly, you’ll lose their interest!
If you haven’t yet explored generational differences, please take the time to research. It is essential that you understand how each of us communicates and through which method we all learn the best.
Committees and Working Groups
The various committees and working groups that are commonplace within the fire service give members exposure to numerous opportunities to observe how others communicate their message while also providing an experience for firefighters to use their own voice. Firefighters can be part of research and development committees or can attend health and safety committee meetings. They can become members of working groups that test new equipment and PPE. They can work with the EMS Bureau and assist in the development of protocols and procedures. You can become an active member of your union and work toward improving the working conditions, pay and benefits, and safety within your organization. Your organization may have a Fire Benevolent Association that supports training and camaraderie. Each is a phenomenal way to use your voice!
Training
Training also allows our members to use their voices. They can assist in developing and delivering training content for their entire agency on subjects that they are well-versed in. My previous agency routinely transferred our own internal instructors, many of whom teach at the national level, to temporary stents on a 40-hour workweek to assist with new firefighter academies, officer development programs, and special operations courses. This not only allows them the vehicle in which to practice their skill but highlights the immense talent within our agency.
Using Voice on a Personal Note: Training Videos
Because I am a hazmat geek, I put together a video for training on Cyanokits® when our agency first received them. It was a passion project, and I wasn’t seeking applause or gratitude—I just wanted people to know how to use them if we needed them. The resulting video was very well-received and was sent departmentwide for training. This became the beginning of several video-based training modules used internally and externally.
Similarly, several years ago, I extended the same offer to one of our members who had a highly viewed YouTube® channel. I asked if he would assist in creating a safety video on patient lifting to use as part of our yearly compliance training. It was well-received by the crews in the field and provided much-needed comic relief! You all have these members. If you find the right balance in using your people to do what they do best, the results are exponential.
So, you know you have a voice and you’ve positioned yourself to use it through the right vehicle. How do you know your voice has been heard?
What Is the Proper Volume for Your Voice?
Was the volume you used to express your voice high enough? How do you know? What was the feedback? What was the response? There is a balance when considering the number of decibels you need to communicate.
Too Low?
Too low, and your voice is not heard. On the one hand, you may have wasted your time and energy preparing a message if it didn’t reach the ears of the intended recipient. On a grander scale, you may lose trust with your team or firehouse crew if you don’t effectively transmit their concerns to those above so they can understand what the issues are. The “superpower” of mid-level managers (company officers and battalion chiefs) is their ability to translate messages between the administration and the boots on the street. But if your voice isn’t heard, you may do more damage than good.
Too Loud?
Too loud, and you may sound like a bible-thumping preacher standing on a soapbox on the street corner who means well but who ends up driving listeners away. We love passion. Passion is what drives many of us in this field. But too much passion displayed in the wrong way at the wrong time with the volume set too loud could be offensive to the receiver or damaging to your message. You may unintentionally (or intentionally) turn up the volume to win the battle but, in the end, by fracturing relationships, embarrassing others, or appearing like a bully, you may lose the overall war.
Personally, I know that I have used the proper volume when I can walk away from a conversation satisfied that I got my message across. On a deeper note, I also seek validation. Validation is not the same as agreement or approval of an idea. It is when the receiver essentially “hears” me. It’s the emotional side of the coin. I don’t even need the receiver to agree and approve of what I’m trying to get across. We can even have a healthy debate or agree to disagree. But what I do need is to know the receiver truly heard me, validated my emotions if it is appropriate, and understood why I am trying to use my voice. And I, in turn, should make sure I do the same for those who are trying to communicate with me or through me.
Reflecting on Communication and Response
How many times have you sent a text or email or left a phone message and received no response? How does that make you feel? Now, I’m not saying that every message requires a response. Of course, some people “fish” for responses, looking for a reaction by sending little quips that seemingly demand a response. That said, if handled the right way, these moments can be reimagined as opportunities.
We want to communicate effectively, which means considering how we respond to one another. Sometimes, text can be misconstrued, and face-to-face or a phone call is much more clarifying and meaningful.
I recently received a very lengthy, emotional text from a coworker who was considering a massive transition in his position and job function. Though a text response could have worked, I instead texted very briefly that I heard him but that I would rather discuss this with him in person considering the nature of the content. When we finally sat down to speak on the matter in person, the resulting dialogue was much more powerful and meaningful than any simple text could convey.
The Weight of Our Words
Our words do, indeed, have weight. Our words are impactful and influential, on and off the job. As we continue to develop our leadership and leaders, communicate to the organization, and enhance infrastructure across the fire service, allow your voice to be heard and empower others to use their voices.
REFERENCES
Hughes, Joanna. “Communicating with Generation Z: Everything You Need to Know.” Keystone Education Group, 24 Aug. 2022. bit.ly/4c97V7f.
Maxwell, John C. The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication: Apply Them and Make the Most of Your Message. Maxwell Leadership, 2023. bit.ly/4aUXvqb.
Sorensen, Michael S. I Hear You: The Surprisingly Simple Skill Behind Extraordinary Relationships. Autumn Creek, 2017. bit.ly/3RkjWhw.
STEPHEN SHAW is a 29-year veteran of the fire rescue service. He is the deputy chief for the Jupiter (FL) Fire Rescue Department. He is an accredited chief fire officer. He is an IAFC Hazmat Committee member and a hazmat specialist for FEMA USAR Task Force 2. He received a B.A. in chemistry and an M.A. in business administration from Florida Atlantic University. He is a Fire Engineering contributor through numerous articles and is the host of the “Perspectives on Leadership” podcast.
