Recently, Firehouse Magazine published the results of its “Women Officers in the Fire Service Survey.” The results provide insight into the opinions and experiences of select women within the fire service. In the survey’s results, I saw that 53.2 percent of women respondents indicated that they believe that they need more mentoring from female leadership in the fire service to help them to move up the ranks. Sadly, this statistic doesn’t surprise me. I shared a similar sentiment during my journey to fire chief, and as a result, I committed to mentoring the next generation of women leaders: Having a mentor who one can relate to is important, and it’s critical that high-ranking women in the fire service “reach back.”
It also is important to recognize the roles and responsibilities of a successful mentee.
As leaders and colleagues, we must provide opportunities for mentorship, inspiration and empowerment, particularly as women. We must continue to lead by example and to challenge the perception of what a firefighter, company officer, chief officer or fire chief can look like. In receiving adequate mentorship, we must return the favor and ensure that we aren’t the last women who have these opportunities in the fire service.
Being a committed mentee allows you to understand what it means to be a good mentor in the future and to nurture the seed that’s planted in others.
Throughout the news in recent years, we have seen many “firsts” from different ethnicities, cultures, genders and other identities of individuals who were appointed to high-profile positions. We heard “trailblazer,” "breaking barriers” and “shattering glass ceilings.” The significant influence that this has on people who never would have thought that someone who looks like them or shares the same culture or identity ever would be appointed to such a position provides a sense of hope and motivation. It allows people to see opportunities that they never believed to exist.
Mentorship & diversity
Mentorship enhances success, provides an opportunity to discover new things and helps to guide a person on a path to maximize potential.
Mentorship also plays a critical role in diversifying the fire service, so we must ensure that our mentorship programs also are diverse. People tend to share more and learn more when they establish a relationship with someone who they can identify with or share common ideals with.
Growing up, I was raised to value a life of public service. Even though I knew that I wanted to serve my community, I never thought that I would have a career in the fire service. I am an African American woman, and 26 years ago, the fire service didn’t include many of us. If it wasn’t for my mentors, I wouldn’t have seen the fire service as an opportunity for me nor would I have been motivated to be in the leadership position that I am in today. Mentorship allowed me to realize my path and see my future.
Mentorship doesn’t always have to be something “formal.” Throughout the fire service, there are many informal mentorships that occur. In fact, what I had was an informal mentorship, but the experience was so tremendously significant to my success that it made me realize the importance of mentorship in the fire service.
Mentor/mentee relationship
With or without a formal label, a mentor teaches and guides others while encouraging them to become the best version of themselves. Ideally, a mentor understands the demands of the job and can offer nonbiased and critical feedback without an explicit benefit personally. The success of the person who is mentored doesn’t depend only on the effectiveness of the mentor; it also depends on how much that individual is willing to contribute to personal growth and accomplishments. In other words, mentorship should serve to highlight gaps in development and performance, and successful mentees must be serious about their own professional or personal development.
A mentor can give advice or encourage a mentee to take advantage of new learning opportunities, obtain additional certificates and/or degrees, take a promotional test, or take on a new assignment or position that would expand the mentee’s knowledge and experience. However, a mentee is responsible for going above and beyond, by raising the bar rather than just checking a box.
A mentee should be willing to listen to the mentor and have the grace to be pointed in the right direction when needed. For this feedback to be impactful, mentees should acknowledge their own room for growth and self-expansion and be able to learn from the feedback that they receive. Learning from a mentor might range from a “gentle push” forward to being “voluntold,” as we say in the fire service, depending on the mentor and the situation.
One of my mentors encouraged me to take the lieutenant promotional test when I wasn’t sure that I was ready for the next step.
Mentees should know that they are encouraged to promote and advance, but they should be prepared to put in the work to earn their promotion.
A successful mentorship is a two-way street. Both the mentor and the mentee have a responsibility to invest time, energy and effort for the mentee to succeed. All mentees should be encouraged to work hard and break barriers.
In addition to knowing when to accept feedback or putting in the work to promote, good mentees also must know when it’s their time to be a mentor to someone else. Some of the mentors who I had in the beginning now are at my same rank or are my subordinates. However, because the professional boundaries and expectations of the experience were set in the beginning, those relationships have been able to continue in a different role.
A continued practice
As someone who seeks mentorship, don’t be afraid to reach out and ask questions. If you have someone who you consider to be a mentor, ask for that person’s feedback and demonstrate that you are willing to learn from that individual. If you don’t have a mentor yet, identify some role models who you might be able to reach out to for assistance. In your interactions with these leaders/role models, consider the characteristics and traits that you like in a leader and how you might begin to implement those traits in your daily life.
Many people don’t acknowledge that mentorship is something that should continue throughout their professional career. However, I believe that it’s important for high-ranking individuals to continue to seek different perspectives on their decision-making and leadership skills. I personally have found it to be helpful to seek mentors or role models in every phase of my career. Even now as a fire chief, I still seek opportunities to receive mentoring on the executive level. Not every mentor must be someone who is in the fire service. In fact, it can be beneficial to gain perspective from leaders who are in other fields. I am looking for an executive coach who has a broader connection with government operations and management.
Having mentors along the way contributed greatly to my success, and now as a fire chief, it’s important to me that I ensure that this opportunity is provided to others. One of my goals is to develop a formal mentorship program within our department that will allow members to have the powerful mentorship experiences such as I had. This formal mentorship program will have key components to measure and track the effect of mentorship throughout the department.
The mission to serve
We all entered the fire service because of a desire to help others and to serve our community. In Prince George’s County, our motto is “One County, One Department, One Mission … Our Mission Is to Serve.”
We serve our community best by learning and by developing our best selves and fulfilling the responsibility to teach and encourage the generation of leaders that follows us. As someone who was—and still is—mentored by many and who has mentored many, I encourage all of you who don’t have a mentor to begin to reach out to leaders and to ask questions. Learn about their experiences. Ask for feedback.
I also encourage those who have benefitted from a mentor to reach back and to mentor someone. The willingness to teach and learn from others truly is an act of service that will affect the communities that we all serve.
