I recently attended the International Association of Fire Fighters Human Relations Conference in Orlando, Fla., along with several representatives from my department's labor groups. As usual, it was a great educational program and a very positive learning experience for all involved. On the agenda was a presentation about generational differences and the organizational impact of a multi-generational work force — something I've come to expect over the past few years.

As someone who always has been considered young for our service, especially as a chief officer, I wanted to hear what the presenter had to say about my generation. Interestingly, and for the first time I can remember, the majority of the firefighters in the room — myself included — were part of Generation X, born between 1961 and 1981. According to the “experts” we're self-centered, obsessed with “what's in it for me,” pessimistic, cynical and only here for the paycheck. It's not all bad, however; apparently we also are flexible, adaptable and open to new things. (I guess the Traditionalists, Boomers and Millennials took most of the really good traits.)

Listening to the presentation made me wonder why some people think it's OK to generalize about age. How is ageism any different from the other “isms” that we all know are wrong (despite their unfortunate persistence in our stations)? It seems to me that age, and thus generational perspective, is but one facet of our broader selves. Aren't there many other factors, besides age, that influence our world view and approach to work and life?

I've been hearing about the negative traits of my generation for almost 20 years, at least since a 1994 article in a fire-service trade magazine about the myriad concerns our predecessors had about recruiting, hiring and training us. (By the way, many of us are now becoming labor leaders, company officers and even fire chiefs.) Funny thing, though; now some of us are saying the same negative things about Generation Z, which will graduate high school over the next five to seven years, that were said about us. That's just as wrong as it was two decades ago.

Recently I had the opportunity to do final interviews with a relatively large pool of firefighter-rescuer candidates for a planned recruit academy later this year. Though I didn't ask, the group seemed to span at least two generations and reflected a diversity of age, race, gender, ethnicity, culture, religion, educational background and work experiences. The common threads, however, were very clear; without exception, these candidates were positive, intelligent, physically fit and highly motivated. If I had to guess, when I interview a similarly sized group of candidates in five or so years, I will find the same shared characteristics across the pool, and regardless of age.

I also remember when I became a young lieutenant and was transferred to supervise my first company. The outgoing company officer told me, “Good luck, those guys are retired in-place.” Sure enough, when I arrived at my new company I found that every one of the members was senior to me; in fact, my driver started on the job the year I was born.

Now I was faced with my first choice as someone charged with exercising leadership. I could buy into the generalizations about my senior firefighters, or I could engage them in the same way I would anyone else. I chose the latter path and quickly established an aggressive schedule for physical fitness, house duties, company training, area familiarization and — of course — a morning visit to the local coffee shop.

To my pleasant surprise, I never heard a single complaint and realized how fortunate I was to benefit from my crew's varied experiences, perspectives and talents. Far from being the dinosaurs I was led to anticipate, they were self-motivated and rapidly rose to meet my expectations. I will be forever grateful for their support, mentoring and wise counsel.

I've always wondered if there is some kind of “sweet spot” in our business where you're considered neither too young nor too old? I'm approaching 20 years as a firefighter-EMT, I am past the mid-point of my 30-something years, I'm starting to get gray hair and it takes me at least one full day to recover from my long runs. Yet, I still get the question: “Aren't you too young to be a fire chief?” Maybe so, but before too long I'll probably be replaced by one of those darn Millennials.

Adam K. Thiel is fire chief for the city of Alexandria, Va. He is a former executive director of the Virginia Department of Fire Programs, deputy fire chief of the Goodyear (Ariz.) Fire Department and career lieutenant with the Fairfax County (Va.) Fire and Rescue Department.

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