This month marks the 239th anniversary of the authorization of the recruitment of troops by the Continental Congress. I thank Bill Murphy Jr. for that reminder. The title of an article he had published at www.businessinsider.com caught my attention: “13 Habits from the Army That Will Make You a Great Leader.” Sharing with the fire service that burning desire to keep our leaders effective so that our “troops” can always be at the top of their game, I naturally was drawn to check those “habits” he was discussing to see how they compare with lists of traits/characteristics compiled by the shakers and movers of our profession.
I took a quick look at fireengineering.com, searching for “leadership” and similar words that would give me access to some of these lists. Time did not permit me to do a comprehensive search, but I came across enough articles to verify the idea that attracted me to Murphy’s article in the first place: that the things that make great leaders in the military (the U.S. Army in this case) are the same things that make effective leaders in the fire service. I have provided below the links to two of the Fire Engineering Web site articles that discuss leadership “habits,” characteristics, traits, or whatever you may call them, in the fire service. You will find many, many more articles if you decide to conduct your own search.
What are some of the items listed by Murphy that jumped out at me? The first five, for example, are, respectively, identify objectives, gather intelligence, plan a course of action, scrounge for resources, and step to the front. Sound familiar? They should. The names may not be exactly the same, but the definitions and actions are. How about preplanning, size-up, order additional resources early, logistics, mutual aid, initiative, setting the example, walking the talk? You, no doubt, can add to this list.
As I continued through the list, there was even more confirmation of the “relationship” between leader traits of the fire service and the Army. I read about encouraging team members, holding team members accountable, correcting members’ mistakes when necessary, building “esprit de corps,” mentoring, exercising the body and the mind. “Communicate effectively” especially caught my attention. I recalled the many times fire service authors report that ineffective communication is listed in the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health fatality reports as a contributing factor in line-of-duty deaths.
Murphy, who was a member of the U.S. Army and served as a reporter in Iraq, also offered advice that stressed the need for effective leaders to set the example; to evaluate conditions and progress and to make adjustments as needed; and pay attention to all details, including the “small things.”
Check out Murphy’s full article at http://read.bi/1lMZAso and also “Foundation Stones of Fireground Knowledge for Company Officers,” Joseph Nedder at http://bit.ly/1yGr74q and “The American Fire Service Leadership Pandemic,” Anthony Kastros at http://bit.ly/1lM6Kyq.
