Two-Pen Perspectives | Art by Paul Combs, Narrative by Brian Brush, Training Chief, Midwest City (OK) Fire Department
The later we are in our career, the more ownership we have in our profession’s past. At the exact same time, we find ourselves at a point where we also have the greatest responsibility to our profession’s future.
I have always found it important to point out that the root word of succession is “success.” It is easy for an individual to find success while they are present, issuing orders, accomplishing tasks, building a resume, or filling a trophy case. By definition, succession requires us to be gone. Our people are monitored without the provision of our direct guidance with the metric of how much of your example or influence is carried on by others in your absence. In my mind, this is the truest measure of success.
If you are someone who is starting to prepare to walk out the door, the most important people to you now are not those you hired with, they are the ones with the longest still to go: the probationary firefighter, new captain, or recently reassigned battalion chief. These are the penny stocks you should be pouring your wealth of 20 + years into because they will have the greatest payoff in the long term.
Of course, it fills YOU with nostalgia to look back on what YOU did and the way YOU came to be, but your departments and divisions, your companies and crews, will continue on.
No matter what we have accomplished in our profession up to this point, if we don’t transfer our experience, institutional knowledge, and history to the next generation in an understandable context that they can apply and find value, it is lost and we are just old guys with war stories.
Since this collaboration blesses me with the talents of Paul Combs, together we can apply direction for succession to the analogy of a rowboat and a canoe.
The leader in the rowboat is in complete and total control of the pace and direction. He is moving forward by pushing back, his eyes primarily fixed on what he has done and where he has been. Only occasionally does he turn around to get his bearings. Meanwhile, his passengers are looking at their horizon that is far ahead with a completely different vision. Given the position of their leader and perspective, they are feeling like they have little say in and no way to contribute to the ride they are on.
The passengers in the canoe are in front of the leader, everyone with a forward perspective. They have the clearest vision of what is ahead and a very real feeling that they are in the lead. They are empowered to call out obstacles as they spot them, but overall, the leader remains in control and has a pretty good idea of what to expect. He speaks to his people in a supportive voice as if he were a coach: “See that, we are coming up to…I want you to start paddling on the right…Good, you did good there, remember how we handled that because there will be more.” The leader in the canoe uses less energy; he accepts the power, flow, and direction of the current and uses it to his advantage as he reads it. He only engages when his experience tells him he needs to pick it up, slow it down, or avoid a hazard. The goal of the chief in the canoe is for everyone else in It with him to feel that they were a big part of going in the right direction. He guides them without anyone ever looking back and seeing it.
It is not enough to just leave a place better than you find it. A lot of places get better by accident or evolution. If you truly care about the profession and institution that you dedicated your life’s work to, you should take an active role in LEADING it better than you found it. There may be no better time to get involved than the time when you have the most to offer.
