Yin and yang. Good and evil. Allies and enemies. These pairs represent something worthwhile and its opposing force. Did you know that your training program has a few opposing forces also? These negative characteristics can be found in an organization's culture and within individuals. They may be participants or the providers and managers of the training itself. Like so many of the threats, recognition and awareness are the first steps in developing strategies to win the war.

Overconfidence

With all the changing threats that firefighters face, this is hard to believe. But I'm sure you have met training officers or chiefs who know everything and does everything perfectly. To hear them talk, fire goes out when they arrive on the same block. Are you one of them? When was the last time you did an assessment of target hazards and threats in your response district? If that is not humbling all by itself, you may be suffering from a severe case of overconfidence.

Get a reality check! Refreshing and perfecting the basics should account for 70% of training. There is some skills degradation that occurs from lack of practice. We all need to dust the cobwebs off the evolutions and activities we don't perform very often. For those assigned to engine companies, the ladder work gets stale pretty quickly, doesn't it? So do the ventilation skills. This lack of skills retention happens to all of us, regardless of how busy your department is. There is simply too much to stay current on.

The other thing that even the overconfident members should be training on is what to do when things go bad. Between 20-25% of your training time should be targeted toward these procedures. Until a mayday is called on the fireground, we all think our company has its act together. But how good are our operations? They will never be performed in a stress-free environment, will they?

I have flown between 25,000 and 50,000 miles a year for the past seven years. I still pull out the safety briefing card and check behind me for the location of all my exits. I also pull my seatbelt just a little tighter and note whether the seatbelt buckle opens with a left or right pull. It will not be a very calm environment if I need to abandon my seat and find the closest way out of a damaged aircraft. The same is true for getting out of a damage structure or confined space in the course of our duties. No one can ever practice emergency procedures enough.

For the defiantly overconfident, 5-10% of training should be toward advancing in some skill level, some promotional goal or some activity that will apply toward the next position in the organization.

Laziness/disorganization

The enemy may be the television or the members detailing their own cars, talking on the phone or just plain napping. These guys need to get up and get moving. As a motivated member or supervisor, list three improvement actions for yourself, your company or your division. Make a list of all the steps that need to be completed to get to that goal, then list one training exercise every tour or each month and break the goals into measurable objectives.

For example, to get the entire team competent on a new set of procedures, first list the tools involved. Schedule a familiarization on the tools. Next break down the tools into easier and more difficult conditions of use. Maybe the first session involve setup and shutdown and basic checks. The second session might allow the student to cut some materials that are laid out in the shop. The student might wear appropriate eye- and faceshields and gloves, but not full gear. The final session would be training “in context” — don full PPE, respond to the scene, set up the tool, assess the safety environment, operate the tool on a training prop and shut down the tool after completion. The following month may introduce backup or troubleshooting procedures or an alternative tool to use for plan B.

The key here is to take the time to get organized. Assess the skill level you are shooting for. Make a list of materials needed, mentally collecting the right location, equipment, personnel and timing. Write out your goals, create measurable steps along the way and get them scheduled on the company calendar in ink.

Underconfidence

Welcome to the club! Thanks for being honest! The scope and realm of threats waiting for every firefighting unit is flat-out scary. Improving confidence in yourself as a leader and in your team starts with creating some situations where you can be successful and building on each one.

First, look at the resources on your team. Get one of your members to demonstrate a skill that he or she is good at and break it down into teachable portions. Next have all members perform the task slowly and by the numbers. Make it fun. Keep the first session short and start to develop a culture of training. Establish a routine. Make it an expectation that when others work on your team, they will spend part of the day on at least one training evolution or session. These sessions will reinforce the things you do know, and the confidence level of you and your team members can start to tackle other activities that are more difficult and even more challenging. As confidence increases, don't be afraid to import talent from another team and tackle the tougher stuff.

Peer pressure

We are so often our own worst enemies. There are some officers and battalion chiefs who will not initiate any training or improvement activities because their peers complain that it makes them look bad. Listen, if you increase your team's performance, others will be forced to follow. Leaders create momentum. The bottom line is that your peers don't have to depend on your team doing the right thing in the heat of battle. You do! Overcoming the inertia of negative criticism from the organization can be distilled into one simple step: Get started. My wife, Traci, has been teaching piano for the past 25 years and always tells her students that the toughest step in practicing is getting up and walking to the bench. The same is true with anything else that takes effort. Take the first step and the rest gets easier.

No extrinsic reward/benefit system

Doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do is a powerful motivator. Setting the tone and example for others to emulate is a still higher calling. If we want recognition or compensation for self-improvement, we can easily become part of the problem.

Developing an intrinsic reward system can be a much more powerful (and positive) force in your current assignment. I have witnessed fire officers within dysfunctional organizations doing great things with hardly a kind word from the formal leadership above, but peers, subordinates and cooperating agencies were both impressed and inspired. We all have a choice. We can come to the job excited, motivated and ready to have an effect, or we can drag ourselves in, complain about everyone who crosses our path and contribute to the negativity pervasive in too many fire agencies.

There is a motivational poster that says, “Your attitude determines your altitude.” All of these distractions and enemies of training can be dispelled with an attitude adjustment. In a profession in which we live and work so closely with one another, attitudes are contagious. Whatever attitude you bring to the job is the one that will be replicated by your peers, teammates and customers alike.

It has been said that training is nothing more than a tool to change behavior. Your attitude is the stone that will sharpen or destroy the training tool in your department. Which will it be?

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John Linstrom is a senior manager in the Homeland Security Services division of EG&G Technical Services, assigned to the Southern California office. He's an adjunct faculty member for Texas A&M University and the National Fire Academy. Linstrom currently serves as a battalion chief/paramedic in Apple Valley, Calif. He also serves as commander of the DHS/FEMA DMORT for Region IX and has been involved in the national US&R program since 1996.