Firefighter New Boss Part 1

In the next couple of months I would like to share with you my thoughts and personal experience about becoming the new boss. I believe I’m really qualified to share this information with you because as I review my leadership career, I realized I had a lot to learn about effective leadership.

Hopefully. You will learn from my mistakes and errors in judgment. OK, here we go.

You are the new boss. Congrats, however it can be very difficult being a boss who is not respected, and ineffective in dealing with your team, or even actively disliked. How to get your team to be the best thing that ever happened to you? The answer is intuitive: by being the best boss that ever happened to them.

First, let’s discuss the fire service dirty little secret. Leadership positions come with surprising little guidance. Whether you are promoted from the inside or brought in from the outside, you probably want to hit the road running; however, due to vaguest of goals; you are not sure what direction to run.

It is easy to see why potentially capable, well-meaning supervisors resort to micromanagement, detachment, grandstanding, or sheer block-headedness in an effort to find some stability for themselves and their team members.

I recall when I was promoted to Captain. I considered it was a time to celebrate and it was a time of excitement and possibility. I was also a little nervous about the possibility not being an effective leader or falling into the new boss traps. However, with my personality and youth (six years on the job) I did fall into many supervisory pits.

First of all, on my first day I fully expected my Battalion Chief to have a discussion with me regarding his expectations, my expectations and his personal do’s and don’ts.  He was in the same station so I waited and waited. Finally, I decided to talk to him. When I asked him about his expectations and some direction his reply was “just do your job, and keep me out of trouble.”

With this advice I thought about doing my job and keeping the boss out of trouble. So, I reviewed department policy and procedures (which were out of date) considered my professional behavior, (young, immature, aggressive, testosterone heavy) oh my, and performance, past and future.

One of the things I tried to do is not be a gossip spreader. Easier said than done. I’m sure you have heard of the fire department philosophy “if you haven’t heard a rumor in 24 hours, start one.”  Not to mention the old firefighter saying for gossip spreading “telegraph-telephone-tell a firefighter.” I realized that gossip does nothing but negatively affect the workplace. My goal was to keep away from talk that bashes someone else. If I found myself in a situation where someone was spreading malicious gossip about another firefighter, I would either ask if they really had the actual facts or just walk away.

Back to the present to make a point about rumor. I recently conducted an organizational climate survey for a department. While I was interviewing department members I heard many uncomplimentary comments about the behavior of the department leadership. Most of the comments were just not true, embellished, or just lacked the facts.

Rumor can be debilitating for any organization. It creates a kind of parallel universe that siphons vital energy from important work. Rumors cause a need for leaders to do damage control they would do if the rumors were actually true. Reason; That people believe is reality to them.

I shared with the department members that the antidote to rumor is trust. Trust and rumors are mostly incompatible. If there is low trust, it is easy for someone to project something negative about someone or for the future. Where trust is low, it creates a roaring wildfire where wind, fuel and terrain make for a perfect fire storm.

If trust is high, the spark might still be there, but it will have trouble catching on and growing. This is because people will just check with the boss about the validity of the rumor.

Next month I will continue this topic with a discussion on awareness of policy and procedures, professional behavior and performance, past and future. I will also identify the steps to become the well-liked and respected boss.

Stay Safe

VIVI BENE–LIVE WELL
RIDI SPESSO–LAUGH OFTEN
E AMA MOLTO–LOVE MUCH