Most fire departments have sophisticated promotional systems to fill higher-level positions. Firefighters compete for a limited number of officer positions and, if successful, are promoted and assigned to companies. Trumpets are pinned on during ceremonies, pictures are taken, and the proud new lieutenants and captains are sent out to manage the department's first-response units.

Each new officer is invested with the faith and trust of the fire chief, who decided which candidates to promote. Unfortunately, the chief may at some point question an officer's ability because of poor or mediocre performance. How many times has a colleague said, "That person did really well on the assessment center. I thought he would be a top-notch company officer"? As some say, it's promotional remorse.

These situations happen because chiefs fail to take the next step in the promotional process: mandating training for newly promoted company officers. In fact, training often isn't required of any officers charged with managing any part of the organization. There seems to be a belief that if you earned the gold, you'll be a successful manager of people and resources.

The good news is that most departments have many good fire officers who are students of the profession and perform at a very high level. But that doesn't negate the responsibility to provide training for the organization's leaders. To have a highly successful fire department, all officers and managers must be good at their jobs.

Guiding principles To help solve our officer training issue, the Alexandria (Va.) Fire Department created the Leadership, Education and Development Institute. The major goal of the lead Institute is to provide a comprehensive leadership and training program for all department managers.

As chief, I appointed a group of employees in various stages of their careers and from all parts of the organization to design, implement and manage the lead Institute. Their first step was to decide on a set of principles that would guide the program's development. They arrived at three conclusions:

1) The curriculum couldn't be abstract; it needed to be real. Each subject module had to provide real information that the students could use. Too often, management training programs in the business world don't explain how to use the information.

2) All curriculum components must have end objectives that are specific and measurable. For 18 months, the team worked on the curriculum and its objectives so that desired outcomes would be established before instructors were selected.

3) Instructors must use innovative instructional techniques, such as case studies, role-playing, group interaction and, of course, class participation. Boring lectures and insulting teaching techniques, such as reading aloud from a textbook, wouldn't be tolerated. In fact, some instructors have not been asked to return because their methods failed to meet this goal.

Once the guiding principles were in place, we needed to set up a delivery system. Each September, 25% of the department's management team, which consists of 75 fire officers and civilian managers, is assigned to the program. We phased in our existing personnel by asking them which year they wanted to attend, in order of preference. This year will see our last group of pre-lead officers complete the program.

All newly promoted or appointed officers and managers are required to start the program at the beginning of the next session. Participants include all fire suppression officers, ems supervisors, and managers from the code enforcement division, the maintenance shop, fire communications and administration.

Curriculum concerns Based on the objectives developed, the lead team assembled a four-phase curriculum, with 4- and 8-hour modules in each. Phase One focuses on individual development and thoughts. The team believed that successful managers need to know who they are, their strengths and weaknesses, and how to improve both.

* Mission and Values of the Fire Department is taught to institutionalize these principles.

* The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, taught by a certified mbti instructor from the fire service, allows students to learn how their personality types affect others. At the end of the session, students begin to see themselves and those they work with as people with different strengths and abilities.

* Self-Directed Professional Growth and Development is focused on helping students design professional growth programs to maximize their strengths and improve their weaknesses.

Phase Two is directed at the management skills required to manage today's diverse work force. These skills aren't unique to a fire organization but are needed by all successful managers.

* Communication skills, both written and oral, are taught by specialists in each area. Most chiefs would agree that the written skills of fire department managers need to be developed. Oral communication includes listening skills, which everyone needs to enhance.

* Time management and its importance to good leaders form the basis for another session. The use of time and its relationship to other resources is emphasized to allow managers to accomplish the organization's mission. This session is co-taught by the chief and a younger member of the organization.

* Team-building skills need to be taught if your department is going to give proper emphasis to teamwork. This year, a series of outdoor exercises will be used to enhance the managers' ability to build teams and accomplish specific goals.

* Leadership styles and process are critical elements of the program, and participants need to understand that there's a difference between being a leader and being a manager. Our officers are expected to be leaders, not just managers with resources. This session is taught by a doctor in public administration.

* Time is also spent reviewing training techniques and responsibilities. Too many managers fail to recognize that developing others is one of their critical responsibilities. The department's division chief teaches this course.

* Conflict management and resolution is an issue all managers face. As someone once said, it takes only two people in a room to create conflict. In the workplace, there are always at least two people with different points of view. Two fire professionals were brought in for this course.

Phase Three of the program deals with two specific issues.

1) The legal aspects of being a manager includes discussions of workers' compensation, liability concerns, negligence and other legal concepts that are misconstrued by "firehouse lawyers." A lawyer for the city attorney's office and the risk manager teach this session.

2) Employee evaluations and the discipline process are taught by a captain and lieutenant, who emphasize evaluating the individual's strengths and weaknesses and improving on both. If an employee has to be disciplined, it's the manager's responsibility to follow specific guidelines to ensure that the employee's rights aren't violated and that the discipline can be sustained through a grievance process.

The Fourth Phase focuses on specific internal programs.

* Management of emergency situations, specifically a review of tactics and strategy, is taught by a department battalion chief. The civilian participants enjoy this session because they learn about incident command and other operational systems.

* The concepts and implementation of the customer service program are taught by a deputy chief and a lieutenant. We're serious about providing good customer service, and the instructional team makes the program real, not conceptual.

* The fire department as a part of local government shows how we fit into the community with a review of the local and state laws that establish the government, as well as a look at the implications for the department. Most people in the class have never read the city charter or even know it exists.

* A section on financial management includes the budget process and purchasing regulations. This course is necessary to decentralize both functions from the chief's office.

* At the final session, the city manager discusses citywide expectations. At a graduation ceremony, successful participants receive a diploma and pin indicating completion of the lead Institute.

Components of success The instructors selected for the lead Institute are critical to its success. The planning team wanted a blend of instructors from within and outside the organization, and that objective has been met. After each class, the lead Institute program manager reviews the participants' evaluations and shares them with the instructors.

The instructors aren't the only ones evaluated by the students. At the midpoint and end of the program, class members review what they've learned in previous sessions. The objective of this self-assessment is for students to realize that they've acquired new skills. They're challenged to identify what's been learned and to discuss ways to use that information in everyday situations.

As with any new program, some participants didn't want to attend the lead Institute. Every effort was made to make the program valuable and interesting. At the end of the program, most participants have said attending the lead Institute was time well spent.

Now that the program's been under way, you might wonder if there have been any discernible changes in the way our officers and managers operate on a daily basis. The lead Institute team and I believe that participants are better prepared to handle many different situations. The overall knowledge of attendees has improved, which seems to have minimized problems in running the department.

Of course, the time and money invested in the lead Institute are substantial, but the costs are worth the results. Our program cost about $5,000 in overtime to design, and our annual costs run about $24,000 in instructors' salaries and overtime pay to the off-duty personnel who are required to attend.

If any department wants to embark on a lead Institute, they'll need to invest the dollars. The lead Institute is a quality program for the Alexandria Fire Department. If you want quality, commit the financial resources to make it happen.