By Tim Pillsworth
I was once told, “If you don’t have a plan, how do you know where you are going and how are you going to get there? Hope is not a plan.” Being an officer in a volunteer fire department is like taking a very long road trip. There two very different types of road trips. One is the college road trip where you don’t know or care how you get to the end, and the journey is the adventure. The other is a long trip for work or a family vacation. You know where you have to go, the time you need to be there, and you want to complete it with the least amount of stress.
A fire officer needs to take the well-planned journey, not the mindless road trip, to the end. The “let’s see how we get there” trip will create stress, additional work, and undue road blocks that can make your journey as an officer less enjoyable, feel more like a task, and possibly keep you from accomplishing your goals and moving yourself and your department ahead. You need to make a map for your trip, not just mindlessly follow directions given to you by a “global positioning system.”
There are many classes on tactics, operations, technical aspects, safety, and other topics taught in the volunteer fire service, but there is a limited number on leadership. Yet, leadership, or often the lack of it, in the volunteer fire service is a topic that gets much discussion and generally ends with the question, “How do we fix it?” Granted, there is some information about types of leaders and how leaders become leaders (born, transformed, or thrust into leadership by a major event). There are the National Fire Protection Association Fire Officer series and many great short articles and books on leadership with all the questions and statements about the different types of leaders–Great Man Theory (born leaders); Great Event Theory (Mayor Giuliani after September 11, 2001, or President F. D. Roosevelt); or, where most leaders fall, the Transformational Theory (leaders are made; you have choices of how and what you do). The vast majority of us, however, become leaders as a result of what we learned from our past and current leaders; what we learned about leadership from classes, parents, teachers, and coaches; and, a source that is often forgotten, our life experiences.
Before You Make Your Map
You will need to absorb and process many ideas and much information before you put pen to paper (yes, pen and paper) and develop your road map. The most obvious difference between volunteer and paid departments or leaders in other industries is that we do not hold a paycheck, an evaluation, or many other “work” items over the heads of the people we lead. Volunteer officers cannot force members to do things. They have to persuade them to do what we want and need them to accomplish. Volunteer officers and members are there to serve our communities, keep our neighbors safe, and ensure that those who respond to the alarm return safely–all without a paycheck. Volunteer leaders who remember this will be a step ahead of many.
One of the largest changes and challenges within the volunteer fire department’s demographics is that our leaders have become much younger and, consequently, have fewer life experiences. For many, this is their first or second job after high school or college. Some may have been in the military or volunteered as leaders in the Scouts or other organizations. Many of the demographic changes can be attributed to the social and economic changes within society. In most families today, both parents have full-time jobs, work longer hours, with have longer commutes to their jobs. Other community organizations are also in need of good volunteers and quality volunteer leaders. Many volunteer firefighters are involved in your local youth sport clubs and school organizations. That means fewer people will be available to train, check equipment and alarms, and offer additional services to your community.
Leadership styles have also changed from the past. Many old-timers talk about the drill sergeant approach to leadership, commonly known as authoritarian (I tell you what to do, and that is it). This method may be necessary at times, but it will not work in all situations. Who enjoys being berated or yelled at all the time? Not many. Participative leadership works better in today’s departments. With this method, the leader establishes a committee that has a vote on any actions taken; this is also known as leadership by committee. In the delegative style of leadership, the leader gives a subordinate the power to handle a matter. Generally, a leader employs more than one type of leadership; there are times and places for each. A leader might use the authoritarian approach when there is an imminent danger to the crew: “Clear the roof now!” When contemplating a large purchase, the leader might use the participative style to obtain members’ input and ideas, such as form a truck committee. The leader might also delegate a member to plan and implement a drill.
A number of Web sites offer questionnaires that can help you determine “who” you are. Or, you can ask someone, a current or a past boss or a leader of the program for which you volunteered, to evaluate your leadership skills. You can obtain insights into your leadership ability from courses and seminars as well.
Get Out the Pen and Paper
Get out a pen and paper. This approach is preferred to the computer for a number of reasons. First, it takes more effort to write your ideas down than it does to type on a computer or smart phone. This gives you more time to think about your trip; the final destination; and, more importantly, how to get there. But writing it out by hand, your thoughts will most likely be shorter (short sentence or phases), single in nature (turn right on to Route 94), and have more meaning.
Read, reread, and fully understand your job description for your rank and become acquainted with the description for the next rank up. This will help you set your short- and long-term goals, which must be in line with your rank, responsibilities, level of authority, and the department’s overall vision and mission. If they fall outside of one or more of these areas, the chance of completing the goal (a stop along your trip) will be limited. If you don’t offer or have a need for a technical rescue or dive team, why spend time on making them part of your journey, which will pull you away from your final destination (being a successful leader). Most of us remember our parents telling us or our telling our children that they cannot do everything because there is not enough time and, in some cases, money do to everything. Being a leader is like being a parent: You have to look at the big picture and sometimes say no–not only to the firefighters you lead but also to yourself, which sometimes is much more difficult to do.
You need to know what your duties, tasks, responsibilities, and schedules are. If you have to complete equipment checks once a week, teach one drill a month, and create your equipment replacement list for the apparatus you are assigned, for example, that is easy to map.
Weekly Equipment Check
Use the same day and time each week as much as possible. Why? If others know you are there on Wednesday nights at 7, they can show up and help. You have now gained some much needed assistance. There will be times when you will not be able to make that day/time; when this is the case, let the regulars know. That shows respect to your assistants. They might even complete the truck check for you that night. But don’t make it a regular occurrence; it is still your job.
Monthly Drill
Plan it, including goals, audience, equipment needed, and timing.
• Goals. Create a short list of the take-aways for attendees (learn and refresh emergency self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) procedures, for example).
• Equipment: 15 SCBAs with spare bottles, a filling station, and full personal protective equipment).
• Timing: 15 minutes, introduction and demonstration; 15 minutes, hands-on (five minutes per procedure); 30 minutes, MASK course within the truck room; 20 minutes, cleanup (fill bottle and SCBA check); 15 minutes, close-out and announcements. You just planned a simple nightly drill. For larger drills, add the steps.
Yearly Equipment Replacement
Determine which equipment has reached its life span (15 years for an SCBA bottle), is worn out (the medical bag has some holes or a broken zipper), which hose is still serviceable and could be used as a spare. To make these tasks easier in the future, file your lists. Noting that the hose was getting towards the end of its usable life but was not replaced the prior year, will tell you where to start in the new year. You can also revise and adjust drills used in previous years.
After you have moved up in rank, pass your lists on to your successor. Why have that aspiring leader recreate the wheel? No that you have moved up, part of your job is to assist and fill in for your boss when necessary.
Your Map
You will need to adjust the map you create for each new position to reflect different responsibilities, your growth, and how the new position affects the goals and mission of your station and department. Never stop being a student of the fire service. It is ever-changing, and new ideas, tools, and tactics are being created and improved on every day.
Being a leader in a volunteer fire department is difficult, challenging, rewarding, heart breaking, and exciting. It is the third most difficult job behind being a parent and the president. But, if you remember to make a map (personal directions) with goals (stops along the way), you will reach your destination (complete the job safely), and be happy and proud of your accomplishments. Your ultimate job, however, is to keep your members safe and bring them home to their families from every alarm.
BIO
Tim Pillsworth began his career in the fire service as a volunteer in 1986 in Castleton, New York. He is an active member of the Washingtonville (NY) Fire Department. He is a past chief of the Winona Lake Engine Company, Orange Lake Fire District, Newburgh, New York. He has authored and co-authored many articles on engine company operations, target flows and nozzle operations, personal protective equipment, and volunteerism for Fire Engineering magazine. He was the author of Chapter 9 on Personal Protective Equipment for Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II and has presented at industry shows. He is a project engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York; he manages large complex construction projects.
