When I think of leaders who have excelled in tough times I often think of military officers. The tremendous challenges and responsibilities that they have had before them offer great models for the similar challenges we face in the fire service. The ability of a leader to not only get others to perform functions that they want accomplished, but to put their lives on the line to do them, is a great testimony of the synergy between leader and follower. The anguish that leaders experience when putting their folks into harm’s way reflects the care that they have for their people and the importance of carefully considering all of the options before they make difficult choices.

Our leadership challenges in the fire service are very similar. We have extended times of training and preparation, followed by down time, followed by moments of extreme stress and danger. The willingness of our crews to follow us through all of these times depends on the relationships we’ve built with each other.

When I talk about leadership around the country I don’t have to look very far to find a bad example — all I have to do is share some of my own experiences as a young officer. When I first became a company officer I identified some things that I wanted to do to improve our department. I felt we were lax in training, making sure our equipment was ready for response, and in general discipline. All good goals, right? Maybe, but, as I tried to influence our organization to improve I didn’t look for ways to get buy in; I was more interested in compliance.

The more I followed that path, the more I looked like a hammer and every problem looked like a nail. I got compliance but at the cost of building a team that was supportive of each other. I now believe that in order for leaders to get the most from their people, they need to demonstrate a genuine desire for the well-being of their folks. Your team needs to know that you care about them and that you’re helping them find ways to achieve what’s important to the group.

Many chiefs have found that if the team wants him to fail, the easiest thing for the team to do is comply with the leader’s orders — no more, no less. “Yes sir, whatever you say,” can be the worst response you hear as a leader. This may signify compliance, but it also may mean, “You’re on your own.”

Worse, it may mean that they won’t go the extra mile for you, or use their talents to help you or keep you from making a mistake, even if they see it about to happen.

On the other hand, if you have built a relationship that reflects your concern for them and establishes a partnership with them, together you are stronger. You can weather the difficult challenges that you face as a team in providing emergency response to your community. In addition, you will establish a culture of leadership and teamwork by creating a role model for those that will step into your shoes when they start down their own leadership paths.

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