I’ve been a full-time firefighter for 15 years, but I also have served as a pastor for more than 20 years. One of my pastor friends once told me that “you can’t lead a congregation that you don’t know.” His words ring just as true for me as a station officer as they do for my ministry.

It’s impossible to effectively lead people when you don’t invest time and resources in those relationships. Sometimes, getting to know our people helps us to see how blessed we are to have them on our side. At other times, getting to know them forces us to see how much work that we have to do. Either way, building relationships is the only way to really evaluate where our people are, their strengths and weaknesses, and how to communicate with and lead them in the most productive way. Undoubtedly, this process begins with identifying the people in our organization, so we can better determine how to lead them.

Four types of fire service people

As I look at the people with whom I’ve served in churches and fire departments over the years, four distinct types of people become evident. I believe that we can link people in our organizations to each one of these categories and that understanding into which category they fall can help us to lead them to bigger and better things. The four types are:

• Type 1: Committed and Competent.
• Type 2: Committed and Incompetent.
• Type 3: Uncommitted and Competent.
• Type 4: Uncommitted and Incompetent.

Type 1 people are committed to the profession and the organization. They’re self-motivated and trustworthy. They’re effective in performing tasks that are given to them. We want all of our people to be in this group. I believe that everyone can get to this point, but we know that not all of our people fit into this category.

Type 2 people are committed to the career and the organization, but they aren’t trained properly to do the job to the standards of the organization. When I think of Type 2 people, I think of rookies. They’re committed to getting better but need training. With a little time and effort, these people can gain competency and move to Type 1.

Type 3 people can do the job effectively, but they often have a negative attitude that can bring down the morale of the entire crew/organization. No leader wants to deal with negativity, but the real danger with these people is that, because they lack the commitment to the profession and the organization, they easily can slip into the fourth group.

Many, if not most of us, have Type 4 people in our organization. They can’t do the job effectively, but more importantly, they don’t care. These people are retired-in-place, which can happen just as easily after three years of service as it can after three decades. Somewhere along the way, these people forgot the mission.

Take a minute and think about people who are in your crew or organization. Where do they fit? The goal is upward movement to Type 1. Here are a few tips to help your people to get there.

Type 1

Type 1 individuals need encouragement and opportunity. If you want to have a great organization, commitment and competence must be the minimum standard, or the baseline. When everyone who you hire knows that this is the expectation, you can change the culture over time.

Give your Type 1 people responsibility and learn to trust them. As they start to take more ownership, they will begin to lift up those who are around them.

I have a firefighter on my crew who loves training. He’s interested in attending several specialized training courses. Our department tries to accommodate these types of trainings, but staffing and budget resources don’t make this possible always. This easily can frustrate eager firefighters. As a station officer, though, I can help to fill that gap. We can learn skills on our own and train on them together at the station. I might even task the firefighter with researching ways to accomplish this training. We can develop an entry-level class for others who are in our department. There are many ways to provide encouragement and opportunity.

Type 2

Type 2 individuals need training and reinforcement. They are passionate but need direction. Make sure that, as their leader, you set the standard that you want them to live up to. As they grow in competence, give them positive feedback and encourage them to continue moving forward. Pair them with others who meet the standard to let them see how it’s done.

If at all possible, don’t put your Type 2 people in a position in which they’re mentored by someone who doesn’t meet the standard. This breeds more firefighters who don’t meet the standards.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we hired several rookies. Their academy was completed entirely online. Because of distance-learning accommodations during that time, many didn’t have any in-person skills training. Although some saw this as a problem, our crew used it as an opportunity. We got to work with a clean slate. These firefighters had no bad habits, and with patience and training, many became valuable parts of the team. Several of them now serve as field training officers. They were passionate, and we provided direction.

Type 3

Type 3 people often are more difficult to deal with than the other types. It’s difficult to correct them, because they’re proficient in the skills that they need to perform the job, but their attitude often is like a poison: The more that it spreads, the more others become disillusioned with the organization or even with the job itself.

These people must be challenged. As leaders, we should be willing to come alongside and encourage them.

We must know our people. Often, the things that create bitterness in their life have nothing to do with the fire service. We bring our marriage problems, family stresses and trauma with us to the firehouse. When we don’t have an outlet, these things can spew out almost uncontrollably.

Find out why these people no longer are committed to the job that they once loved. The reasons might surprise you. Give them a voice and let them be heard. Often, that’s the first step to winning them back.

One of my friends is an officer at a neighboring department. He had a firefighter who was a very knowledgeable firefighter/paramedic but was disillusioned with the department and administration. My friend pulled him aside. He started with crediting the firefighter/paramedic’s knowledge and service thus far but then told him that he developed a reputation as a disgruntled employee who no one really wanted to work with.

This is key: Every employee brings something good to the table. You must give a positive attribute for every negative one that you bring up.

The firefighter/paramedic acknowledged that he had a poor attitude. Later, he thanked his officer for being open and honest with him, even crediting this one conversation as the primary reason that he remained in the fire service.

Type 4

Type 4 people are the worst of the worst. They can’t do the job, and they don’t care. In the fire service, these people are a danger to themselves, to the rest of the crew and to the citizens who they swore to protect.

Unfortunately, difficult conversations are the first step in attempting to revitalize these people. Most of us don’t like to have these talks, but they are a vital part of leadership. Maybe these people need a wake-up call. Maybe they need to retire. Whatever the case might be, they can’t stay as they are.

When I first promoted to station officer, I had a crew member who didn’t want to make calls, work out or do many of the other requirements of the job. In his mind, those things were for the younger members. I sat down with him and explained my expectations. I expected our crew to be the one that the command staff always could count on to get the job done. I told him that he had the experience and knowledge to help us become that crew, but I needed his help in setting an example for those younger members. I explained that I can’t hold them accountable to a standard that he and I don’t meet.

Over the next few months, he changed. Others in the department took note. He started to live up to the standard that I set. It was a difficult conversation but one of the most worthwhile ones of my career.

Know your people

As a leader, knowing how to effectively lead and motivate our people starts with knowing them. Identifying where they are helps us to determine where they need to go. Building relationships isn’t always easy, but it is always the right way.

Identify where your people are, let them know when they don’t meet the standard, and then serve them by helping them to exceed it. This is one of the most fundamental jobs of an officer.