One of the sure-fire ways to be an unsuccessful human being is to try to please all of the people, all of the time. This is especially true for leaders. Anybody who tries to please everybody runs the risk of the inconsistency and indecisiveness that often cause an organization to lose its bearings. However, it's also true that if nobody likes you, there's a good possibility nobody is following you. You have to please some people some of the time, or you won't have any friends or followers.

Fire Chief recently received an anonymous letter from a fire department member about a person's perception of this phenomenon. The letter was forwarded to me for my observations about what its contents could mean in terms of fire service leadership. Because I know neither who wrote this letter nor from where it came, I am using it only as an example of an internal issue that almost all leaders have to be concerned about: What is your impact on the people who work for you?

The letter reads:

“I am writing to you/your magazine because I know it gets out to a lot of chiefs and departments. I have a short story and but one simple question. The short story goes like this. A department in a small, politically corrupt town. Several volunteer companies, small number of union career personnel. A chief that became a ‘paid full-time chief.’ A town where the citizens are clueless of what goes on inside. I am a life member of one of the companies and over the past years I have been a member, recently a significant amount of good firefighters quit because of this person that has become an untouchable. What I mean by this is he changes rules and regulations and run procedures daily. He basically bullies around the volunteer members and just about everyone in the department, both career and volunteer, have had enough of this guy. The problem is, he is untouchable. Town council will not listen, public safety director will not listen and the town manager will not listen either. They think he is the best thing since sliced bread because he made all members become state-certified so he could get a variety of grants. This town is broke beyond explanation. One thing is for sure though, they could have hired two police officers and/or fixed a million potholes that cover most of the streets with the salary they are paying him. In addition to this, he has a town-owned vehicle that he uses for personal use, which is not allowed. The good-ol'-boys theory is in full effect in this town. Now how do you get rid of a guy like this? This guy is doing more harm than good and ruining a once-great department. His attitude is he don't have to explain anything to anyone. He is the chief. If anyone don't like it, then quit. What do your professionals think? I am asking in a confidential letter because we are about to attempt to bring this issue to council and I hope you may have some tips that could help us out.”

Is this person talking about you? Or does somebody in your fire department feel this way about you? I would almost bet that the vast majority of people reading this column are thinking “that can't be directed to me because I am a good leader — a good manager — a good person — a good whatever.”