By Billy Jack Wenzel and Charles Keeton
Anyone familiar with the basics of fire behavior and combustion should be familiar with the fire tetrahedron. For decades, the fire triangle – comprising heat, fuel, and oxygen -was used to describe the chemical structure of fire. Then a fourth component, chemical chain reaction, was added, and the fire tetrahedron was created.
The same type of scenario has played out in the promotional processes utilized within the fire service. For many years, we have operated under the assumption that seniority, a written test, and assessment exercises identified and measured the key components required to be a fire officer. However, just like the fire triangle, we are not identifying all the components necessary to identify the best person to promote. The fire service typically has one of the most stringent testing systems of any profession, evaluating candidates by seniority, written tests, and a battery of assessment exercises. As a direct result, the fire service struggles with identifying and promoting the right people. The problem is we are not evaluating all the attributes required to be a good officer. To that end, the “Leadership Tetrahedron” has developed and added another facet that we should incorporate into our promotional processes.
The Leadership Tetrahedron
The leadership tetrahedron places basic traits required to be a good fire officer: desire, ability, courage, and human relations/interpersonal skills.
Good officers will always have the desire to aspire as well as inspire. They have the desire to serve others, the desire to succeed, as well as the desire to excel at everything they do. They continually seek ways to improve themselves and others. They attend training sessions, seek feedback from their subordinates and their superiors on how they are doing, while at the same time strive to pass on what they know and have learned to others. Training is a top priority for these individuals, because they do not operate under the assumption they know it all, or have nothing left to learn. Persons who have lost the desire typically accept status quo and merely perform duties expected of them, without striving to excel. Those who have desire normally possess a positive attitude toward their job and the department.
The second component is ability. No matter how much desire one possesses to become an officer, he/she may lack the required abilities or skills to do the job. To be an effective officer one needs to learn, practice, and be effective in certain skills. Ability can be broken down into a series of different skill sets, including but not limited to knowledge of SOGs, ICS, code enforcement, building construction, basic skills, firefighting tactics, leadership, and so on. As a rule, these are areas we test in, evaluating how well a candidate knows operational guidelines and other basic fire related information. If an assessment process is used, then there will be an attempt to place a value on a candidate’s ability to put this information to use. Depending on the process, this may be a small portion of the total score, or it may be the only score used in evaluating a candidate. The point is it only tests the knowledge the candidate possess at that time in a “play” situation, and does not test all four components of the leadership tetrahedron.
The third component of the leadership tetrahedron is courage. Here, courage is the ability of an officer to stand on his/her own two feet, and assume responsibility for his/her actions; make decisions based on his/her own judgment; and step outside the box and take risks. Officers are needed that use discretion and common sense and who are not afraid to make decisions even if they do not follow policy. Furthermore, good officers possess the courage to assume their duties and not dodge those responsibilities just so they can remain “one of the troops”. Officers should also possess the courage to discipline when required. Additionally, a good officers should also have the courage to stand up for the “troops” when a new policy is unjust or unfair, or a new procedure is unsafe, and not roll over or look the other way because it may be good for his/her career.
The final component encompasses interpersonal skills or human relations. No matter how much desire potential officers have to inspire their subordinates to do better, if they cannot relate to their subordinates or if they do so in a manner that generates resentment then they will not be effective. No matter how many classes prospective officers have attended, or skills sets they have perfected, or abilities they have attained, they will be ineffective if they cannot relate to their subordinates on how to get the job done. And no matter how much courage individuals possess, if they continually bully their subordinates to get their way, then they will be ineffective.
Good officers must be able to communicate and relate with others. If an officer is cold and removed, always by the book, and does not communicate with his or subordinates, it is unlikely that he/she will ever bond with them. The atmosphere will become and likely remain an “us vs. them” atmosphere. These are not the types of officers who the troops will follow. Good officers, while remaining the authoritive figures of the group, bond with the group and come to know who makes up the group, what motivates group members, and what their interests are. He/she also learns what their strengths and weaknesses are, and uses their knowledge and skills, capitalizing on the strengths of each individual while diminishing their weaknesses.
If officers do not possess all the components of the leadership tetrahedron, they will not be effective. Develop a process that evaluates all four components of the leadership tetrahedron. Officer candidates need to be evaluated based on all of these factors in real-world situations throughout their careers, not just within the last few months or 15 minutes of an assessment exercise.
Development Process Based On The Leadership Tetrahedron
Develop a promotional process that uses a written test, assessment exercises, and a peer evaluation to measure all of the tetrahedron components. A written test will evaluate a candidate’s basic knowledge as well as reduce the number of candidates to a manageable size for the other processes. A written test will also, to a limited degree, measure a candidate’s desire, assuming the amount of time one puts into preparing for a test determines how well he/she will perform. An assessment exercise can evaluate a candidate’s desire and ability and, if properly designed, can also determine a candidate’s human relations skills. However, one must realize it will typically be limited, as most candidates are placed in the role of dealing with a member of the public or with a personnel matter, one on one. The leaderless group assessment exercise can evaluate a person’s ability to work within a group setting, but it too is limited due to the short time a candidate is evaluated and the dynamics of a small group. Realize that despite these limitations an assessment exercise is a valuable testing tool, and should be utilized.
A peer evaluation can measure the components of the tetrahedron that are missed in the written and assessment exercises. If their peers evaluate candidates, with whom they work with on a regular basis and who have nothing to gain (or lose) in the process, then they will truly and accurately be evaluated. A peer evaluation could rate characteristics such as: responsibility, job performance, communication skills, leadership abilities, attitude/demeanor, judgment, ability to be a team player, integrity, human relations skills, problem analysis, handling of stress/problems/adaptability, and initiative/motivation. Scores and weights could then be applied to these ratings and combined with the written and assessment scores to develop a composite score for ranking candidates.
Seniority does not fit anywhere within the leadership tetrahedron. Seniority, while easy to calculate, only tells us how long a person has been on the job, not how good of a job that person has been doing during that time. It is a very poor indicator of who is the best candidate for promotion and should not be used in the promotional process. However, seniority should play a role as a prerequisite to participating in the promotional process.
Billy Jack Wenzel is a 25-year veteran of the Wichita Fire Department. He is a past member of the department’s hazardous-materials team and has a hazardous materials technician level certification. He has been a member of the departments technical rescue team for 15 years and is certified in many areas including: high angle, trench, SCUBA, and confined space. Wenzel is an NFA adjunct instructor, an EMI adjunct instructor, a past instructor at FDIC, and an instructor for KUFRTI. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. He is also a published author of several fire-related articles including, “Kansas Grain Dust Explosion” in Fire Engineering.
