By Mark Goldfeder
There is no shortage of history and tradition in the fire service. It defines who we are, and is why we have (or should have) so much pride in having the privilege of being called a firefighter. It also contributes a lot to why and how we do things today.
Yet not every tradition in the fire service is glorious and proud. Have you ever heard the phrase, “200 years of tradition unimpeded by progress?” Or “we do it this way because that’s the way we’ve always done it here.” What about the living example of officers and administrators who speak of how bad things were when they were on the line, but who still do exactly what they were complaining about on a daily basis? These are just a few of the mistakes of our past, and tomorrow’s leaders need to learn from them before they fall victim to the not-so-glorious side of fire service history and traditions.
There is a story about a mother in the 1940s teaching her young daughter about how to cook and work in the kitchen. Her attentive daughter watched very closely, absorbing every aspect of her mother’s actions and behaviors in the kitchen so she would one day be able to run her kitchen the same way. One day, the mother was preparing a ham for dinner, and the daughter noticed she cut a chunk of the ham off and threw it away. The girl didn’t know why her mother did this, but she knew she best not question her methods, so she learned it and continued preparing ham that way.
Twenty five years later, the daughter was preparing a ham for her family dinner, and was being very attentive to the teachings bestowed upon her by her mother. This night, however, her mother was in the kitchen observing as well. While watching the daughter prep the ham for the oven, she noticed her daughter cut a chunk off the ham and threw it away. Puzzled, the mother asked, “Why did you do that?” The daughter’s reply was quite simple and straightforward. “Because that’s what you taught me to do when I was growing up.” The mother then exclaimed, “I only did that because the pan wasn’t big enough!”
LEADING CHANGE
First, the fire service has evolved and will continue to do so. What worked for us 30 years ago may not apply today, and what we are doing today will be very different 30 years from now. Many of our traditions are not only valid, but justified in defining who we are and honoring those who came before us. Second, change is something we need to embrace, not fear, as our world continues to evolve. Change has never been easy, resistance to change is not a modern phenomenon, and humans are biologically wired to resist change (Black & Gregersen, 2008). Third, you don’t have to be the chief or company officer to lead positive change in your department. Rank designation does not make you an effective leader–your actions, the way you represent yourself, your department, and the fire service as a whole will.
To avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, we must learn from them. Start by being a student of your craft and spend time learning about the great history and traditions of the fire service. There is plenty of great information available (fire department Web sites, National Fire Academy, and Chief Rick Lasky’s Pride and Ownership are a great start). We have to know where we come from to understand where we are going. John Kotter (1996) illustrates leadership as a set of processes that adapts organizations to significantly changing processes; it defines what the future should look like, aligns people with that vision, and inspires them to make it happen despite the obstacles. Learning from and avoiding the repetition of past mistakes requires a few key concepts that can get your foot in the door as a future leader:
- Rarely, if ever, are changes required of an organization that requires no change from the one leading the organization. The approach of “do as I say, not as I do” does not work for anyone — neither as parents nor as leaders (formal or informal). The most successful leaders of change recognize organizational change requires changing individuals and first requires leading by example and changing oneself (Black & Gregersen, 2008).
- Learning from our past mistakes and not repeating them requires us to break old habits, beliefs, and tendencies. We have to redraw the mental map that has defined us for so long. Clearly, change has always been and remains difficult. Unless we can dig beneath the surface and get to the fundamentals of why this is so, we have no hope of meeting the ever-escalating demands for leading change (Black & Gregersen, 2008).
- Establish a sense of urgency in learning from the past. Find mentors in the firehouse and become the sponge that soaks up the knowledge and experience they have to offer. One day they will no longer be there to offer you their knowledge. Think about what the total loss is when they walk out of the firehouse for the last time. Additionally, establishing that sense of urgency is crucial to gaining needed cooperation (Kotter, 1996). A lack of urgency breeds complacency, and complacency kills firefighters. (If nothing else, we owe that much to our brothers and sisters before us).
- Put together your “change coalition” team. This team will have the right combination of position power (an officer with a progressive mentality is great here), expertise (someone who knows about the department, the fire service, and has been around awhile), credibility (someone who is trusted by others on the department — perhaps that senior crew member that people listen to), and leadership (the people who have the gusto to actually drive the change).
- Finally, it’s all right to make mistakes of your own! Making and owning up to your mistakes not only shows that you are human, but it builds credibility and trust with your peers. Without trust, your journey to create change is dead in the water. (For the record, I have made my fair share of mistakes in my career. I am thankful for every one of them as they taught me valuable lessons about myself, my peers, and the fire service as a whole.)
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” — Vince Lombardi
In our earlier example, we saw how the little girl learned from her mother how to run a kitchen and cook a meal. What she didn’t do is ask why her mother cut off the chunk of ham each time. Over the years, imagine the cost of that mistake for not asking why she did what she did. The same applies to the fire service. We have a proud tradition and rich history to be learned from, but if we don’t ask why things are done a certain way we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. Changes can be made, but you have to start with yourself. Make a commitment to yourself and your craft to be the best you can be, honor those who came before you, and leave the legacy of change for those who will follow you. It will take time and you will make your mistakes. However, in turn you will have the power to effect positive change as one of tomorrow’s leaders, and the fire service will always need great leaders.
REFERENCES
Black, J. S., & Gregersen, H. B. (2008). It Starts With One: Changing Individuals Changes Organizations. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading Change. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.
Lasky, R. (2006). Pride & Ownership. Tulsa: Penn Well Corporation.
Mark Goldfeder is the president of Five Bugles Institute and a lieutenant with Tarpon Springs (FL) Fire Rescue. He has over 20 years of combined career and volunteer fire and EMS experience and has been an instructor for more than 15 years. He holds a degree in business administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and is pursuing his master’s degree in organizational leadership from Norwich University. He has taught at Fire Rescue East in Daytona Beach and is the creator of the “Honor the Fallen” charity fundraiser, an annual training event dedicated to raising funds for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and the Florida Fallen Firefighter Memorial in Ocala. Mark can be reached at mark@fivebuglesinstitute.com.
