Many times, people ask me whether the terms "leader" and "manager" are interchangeable. Let me begin answering by sharing a story from a dear friend and fellow musician from Missouri, Chief Bill Markgraf:
A man in a hot-air balloon realized that he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."
The woman replied, "You're in a hot-air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You're between 50 and 51 degrees north latitude and between 114 and 115 degrees west longitude."
"You must be an engineer," said the balloonist.
"I am," replied the woman. "How did you know?"
"Because," said the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I've no idea what to make of your information. The fact is I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help at all. If anything, you've delayed my trip!"
The woman responded, "You must be in management, sir."
"I am," said the balloonist, "but how did you know?"
"Because," said the woman, "you don't know where you are or where you're going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise, which you've no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, you've managed to make it my fault. You must be a manager."
Does this sound familiar? If the e-mails I receive are any indicator as to what is wrong with the fire service, this manager-versus-leader business is getting out of control. People in positions of leadership are continuing to treat people like pieces in an organizational jigsaw puzzle.
The critical concept of the firefighting crew as a team is being trampled into the dirt in far too many places. In one place the fire department is playing musical chairs with its officers, shuffling them around in a vengeful way to play them back for their past sins. In another fire department, people are being shuffled through the rescue squad companies to familiarize them with the duties of the squad.
In the first case the transfers are probably a matter of retribution. No thinking leader would do something like that to destroy their team integrity. On the other hand, I will give the managers in the second instance the benefit of the doubt as to their choice of methodology. But there has to be a better way to get the job of training and familiarization done.
Didn't anyone in that department ever pause to ponder the possibility that maybe it would be best to have the rescue squad people conduct in-service training classes for the department? That would allow for the indoctrination of the department without destabilizing the well-trained teams that serve as the basis for all great rescue squad units. You would get the best of both worlds. Just a thought my friends, subject to the addition of your thoughts.
Let me ask you a simple question. Is a manager the same as a leader? Let me now ask you a couple of simple follow-up questions. Can a leader be a manager? Can a manager be a leader? That should give you something to think about. The answers to these questions are critical for your future in the fire service, for it is my opinion that far too many managers are attempting to operate under the guise of leaders. I will try to make the differences between the concepts of leaders and managers clear to you.
Let me share some words of advice from J.P. Kotter's book What Leaders Really Do (Harvard Business Review Books, 1999) on this topic: "Leadership is different from management...Leadership isn't mystical and mysterious...It is not the province of a chosen few...Rather, leadership and management are two distinctive and complimentary systems of action." So the answer to the questions above is quite simple. Leaders are different from managers, and vice versa.
However, the key to the future of the fire service lies in the statement that these should be complementary functions. You can manage dollars and tools, but you really cannot manage people in quite the same way. Far too many fire departments seem to treat their people like they would treat an engine, a truck, a tire or a gallon of gasoline. These management fanatics think that people can be shuffled around in an almost whimsical manner.
Kotter goes on to make a critical statement on this issue when states that, "Most U.S. corporations today are over-managed and under-led." You and I have read a great deal today about how organizations are suffering because of too great an emphasis on the short-term bottom-line numbers that are cranked out by bean counters in both the public and private sectors. It is my opinion that this short-term, dollar-oriented thinking has bled over into our fire service. Many of our worst programs, like the nonsensical attempted combination of police and fire departments, come from the world of private industry.
It is important to note, however, that there is a place for management in your fire department. Large and complex organizations can only be managed if there is a mechanism in place for coping with complexity. Kotter speaks to this when he states that, "Good management brings a degree of order and consistency."
In their book Organizations: Behavior, Structure, Processes (Irwin McGraw Hill, 2000), J.L. Gibson, J.M. Ivancevich and J.H. Donnelly stress the importance of structure, process and behavior in the creation of an effective and orderly organizational entity. If management is all about creating consistency and order, what then is the purpose effective leadership? Leadership empowers the members of an organization to be active participants in the affairs of the set operational establishment. Much has been written about the differences between fire department members who have been cultivate and motivated and those who have been treated like cow dung.
It has been my contention for many years that there is a great overlap between the leadership needed in a fire department and the leadership used in a military organization. Kotter affirms the rightness of my argument when he suggests that we consider the difference between an army at war and an army which is operating during a time of peace: "A peacetime army can usually survive with good administration and management. A wartime army, however, needs competent leadership at all levels. No one yet has figured out how to manage people effectively into battle; they must be led." These comments provide the basis for my argument about leadership and management in the fire service.
If you think about it, our fire service is an ongoing combination of both peace and war. The trouble with the fire service is that you never really know when we are going to cross the line from peace to war. The fire company pager on my belt has gone off twice during the time that I have been working on this column. One moment I was reading, analyzing and crafting these words. In just a few short moments, I found myself chauffeuring a pumper to an emergency incident. That is just how it is. In a world created solely by managers, it is almost like the emergency responses are an unwanted interruption of their neatly planned days. The key seems to involve striking some form of balance between leading people and managing things.
Let me offer a couple of observations. You need to pick the right person for the job in question. There are people who love interacting with other people. Then again there are people who work best with things and do not do well with people. If I had my druthers, I would push for the people-person to lead people and the non-people person to manage things. That is how it would be in a perfect world. As you and I know, ours is a highly imperfect world. There are a number of things that get in the way of achieving perfect results:
- Civil service examinations and job titles
- Elections in volunteer fire departments
- Union contracts
- Stone Age, brain-dead politicians who live to exercise power
At the end of this long discussion on the difference between leaders and followers we toss a giant bucket of cold water on your hopes for change. Some of you will see neither good management nor good leadership during your careers. What then am I suggesting that you do? Study hard and work to emulate those people in your world who display the qualities needed by good leaders. However, I am also suggesting that you need to read as much as you can about managing resources. Management involves a number of skills:
- Planning
- Organizing
- Staffing
- Directing
- Coordinating
- Controlling
It would be my hope that you would become a good leader who is able to display a talent for each of these management tasks. However, if you are uncomfortable around people, maybe you can find happiness and joy in the midst of things. Here is simple advice for you to consider: Should you find yourself as the head of your fire department and admit that you do not like people, quickly find an assistant chief who loves people and let them carry the people ball for you. That will free you up to wheel and deal with the politicians. There is no shame in admitting you do not get on well with people. The shame comes from masquerading as a leader when in reality you are a manager.
It is my fervent desire that this column will allow you to find out just who and what you are. Are you a manager or a leader? Once you have that question answered, you can then begin to devote yourself to doing the best possible job for your department.
DR. HARRY R. CARTER, Ph.D., CFO, MIFireE, is a Firehouse contributing editor. A municipal fire protection consultant based in Adelphia, NJ, he is the former president of the International Society of Fire Service Instructors. Dr. Carter is a past chief and active life member of the Adelphia Fire Company. Currently chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners for Howell Township District 2, he retired from the Newark, NJ, Fire Department in 1999 as a battalion commander. He also served as chief of training and commander of the Hazardous Materials Response Team. Dr. Carter is vice president of the American Branch of the Institution of Fire Engineers (MIFireE). He recently published Living My Dream: Dr. Harry Carter's 2006 FIRE Act Road Trip, which was also the subject of a Firehouse.com blog. He may be contacted at [email protected].
