Visualize the perfect fire chief. Inspiring, dedicated, technically competent, politically astute, entrepreneurial, dynamic, a change agent, credible, a visionary, loyal and several other well-worn characteristics we can conjure up. Do you know any fire chief that can measure up to these outstanding characteristics? I don't, and you probably don't either.
These characteristics describe the perfect fire chief. There probably is no such thing. Nevertheless, I bet most of us expect our fire chiefs to have in their arsenal of leadership abilities all of these traits. And when they don't live up to these high expectations, we feel cheated and disappointed.
As I travel around the country conducting leadership workshops for fire department officers, I perceive a real flavor for the organizational culture and the leadership qualities of the fire chief. I find organizational cultures can be proactive, reactive and in some cases a few are in a coma. Most of the fire chiefs I have met are sincere individuals who want the best for the organization, the people in it and, most importantly, the customer. They start off their chief career with high hopes, optimism and the desire to make productive organizational change. Unfortunately, many don't succeed and they fail to accomplish their goals, expectations and dreams. The question that must be asked is, "Why?" Perhaps we should look in the mirror and determine if we see the reflection as part of the problem.
I often hear comments like, "Why can't the fire chiefs be more like Lee Iacocca?" Iacocca's success and managerial ability are easily assessed by his company's profit margin. The fire chief has no product or profit margin; he or she has only us. Additionally, when Iacocca took over at Chrysler Corp., he fired 33 of his 35 vice presidents. Luckily for many of us, our fire chiefs don't have that option.
We expect the fire chief to positively influence or impact the lives of the people they have contact with. This is important because at a personal level most of us as leaders would like to feel that we have the ability to positively control or at least positively influence our environment. Look at the supervisors in your organization, especially the company officers. Are they a positive influence on the people in their environment?
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest most positive influence, how do you rate your officers? Are all the officers in your organization aligned with and sharing the same sense of purpose, values and commitment as the fire chief? If not, they should be. Any progressive fire chief realizes he or she is only as good as the resources he or she has to work with. The fire chief needs us to have the same organizational commitment level as he or she does. We can expect our team members to perform only as well as the example we set.
We expect the fire chief to have a conceptual skill to see the organization as a whole. We expect our fire chiefs to have the ability to learn from the past, focus on the present and prepare for the future. How about the conceptual skills of the officers in your organization? Do they indicate that they visualize the organization as a whole? Do they know and live up to the roles and responsibilities of their organizational job description, or do they function in a crisis-management or a tunnel-vision mode?
Are the officers in your organization change agents or change obstacles? I have visited many organizations where problems arise when the chief tries to change outdated policies and procedures. The officers don't buy in and the proposed change is not successful. They don't buy in because they will not give change a chance. Today, in our world of high-velocity change, the organization needs all the officers' help in order to break the bad cultural habits. The fire chiefs need officers to be proactive to change. They rely on their officers to address change with a new set of responses that hold more promise for the future.
I have several friends who are fire chiefs. They assumed the position because they had a great desire to make their departments better and provide efficient customer service. After several years as chief, many of them wonder why they took the position. They continually do battle with city hall, they get beat up by the political power in the community and beat up by the labor group. We are quick to criticize decisions but slow to compliment and recognize positive results.
I have seen time and time again how a fire chief is brutalized by the people in the organization because of attempts to make progressive change. The chief is brutalized to the point where it becomes necessary for him or her to leave the organization. After the chief is gone and the people reflect upon the changes that were made, they realize that they were necessary and positive yet the fire chief became the fatality.
I have often been asked why I don't want to become a fire chief. My reply is, "I used to have a great burning desire to become a fire chief and lead an organization toward progressive change and provide excellent customer service. I think that would be a superb ending of my fire service career. Now because of what I have seen happen to many fire chiefs, that burning desire has dulled to a small spark. What is important to me now is to leave the fire service at the end of my career happy with wonderful thoughts of the department and the people in it. I wonder if I were a fire chief whether I could do that."
Paul H. Stein is division chief in charge of training with the Santa Monica, CA, Fire Department. In his 26 years of service, he has served as fire marshal and battalion chief in suppression and rescue. He holds an associate's degree in fire technology and a bachelor's degree in management. Stein is a master instructor for the California Department Of Education. One of the highlights of his career was to be named California Fire Instructor of the Year.
