Traveling left of center.

I believe that everyone has a moment or two where they have swung wide and are a bit off balance from where they might want to be. In our world of chaos and confusion it's easy to lose focus or drop the ball. Most everyone is guilty and if they say they aren't they just haven't realized it yet. 

This isnt always anything that is intended. It usually occurs in the times of growth or change  The times when we have to make adjustments. 

It stands to reason that as you are adding things into the "loop" of your world that some things are going to be thrown off balance. I am habitually guilty of over tasking myself. 

Eventually it becomes evident that you have a problem.

Sometimes its all career oriented stress. Sometimes it's personal related stress. Sometimes it's a combination. 

Sometimes you've pushed the self destruct button. 

It's easy to lose yourself and others in the day to day grind. You forget what your initial drive was and why you started it all to begin with. Something changed the intended outcome or the goal set was adjusted. 

Not everything in life has a reset option. The journey from struggle and challenge is not a one way trip. You have to be willing to make the trip seveal times. 

Surrounding yourself with a support network will help you prevail. Consider your board of directors of carefully. Not everyone cheering is on your team. 

Be authentic. Be honest. Admit failures. Network everything. It's about education and growth. It's not about you.

We are changing directions.......are you?

Its hard.

Its going to get harder. 

Nobody is going to be there to make it easier for you. 

Your going to have to do this yourself. 

These are the things that are not discussed. These are the things that no one has covered in a text book. This is the time that was never covered on the drill yard. Its going to take hard work, dedication and grit. Lots and lots of grit. If your going to move forward in an instant information saturated world your going to have to be quicker and smarter than the other guy. He's already proven he's really smart. He uses big words. He has pretty certificates and such on the wall. He's already ahead of you and you haven't even begun to fill out the paperwork for the promotional process yet. You've already told yourself its not worth the effort anyway. 

All those things are right. 

Its like the old phrase goes.

Whether you think you can, or you think you cant, you're right. - Henry Ford. 

So how do you proceed? 

You can let the chance pass by. Its easy enough to do. There are easily a million reasons to not commit to the situation, at least, that is what you've told yourself. 

Take a knee. Its not going to kill you. Let the words come from your mouth and leave you. If for anything other than to put an actual breath to your dream. Say it out loud. 

Build yourself a network and a support system. 

This is where the challenge is. Being certain whom is on your team is going to be crucial. Not everyone on the ship is paddling in the same direction and some may not be paddling at all. Find yourself a core group that will support you in your mission and that are going to hold you accountable for the things that you said you were going to do. They are going to have very frank things to say to you. 

Nothing ever worthwhile is easy. 

Your not going to achieve your goals overnight. 

If you do, it was a task not a goal. 

Finishing a class is a task. Completing the required concepts of study for your master's level program is still a task. Goals are measurable. Goals require constant evaluation and dedication. 

Goals require grit. 

grit

ɡrit/

noun

1. 1.

   small, loose particles of stone or sand.

   "she had a bit of grit in her eye"

   synonyms:

   sand, dust, dirt;
2. 2.

   Courage and resolve; strength of character.

   "he displayed the true grit of the navy pilot"

   synonyms:

   courage, bravery, pluck, mettle, backbone, spirit, strength of character, strength of will, moral fiber, steel, nerve, fortitude, toughness, hardiness, resolve, resolution, determination, tenacity, perseverance,endurance

The world is changing around us. We have to be ready. 

We have to change with it. 

Look for those that keep you on the level. When the world falls apart reach UP and then reach out. 

We are here if you need it. 

Get out and do the things that someone told you that you couldn't do. 

1. • 
     

   

Changing the culture should start with the setting the climate.

I hope by now that you have taken  some time to read the 16 Life Safety Initiatives that has been created through the work of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.  If that doesn't suit your fancy, maybe you have taken the time to read the National Safety Culture Change Initiative FA-342/April 2015 produced through FEMA.

If you have NOT already read either of these items you need to.

Right away.

We, as in all your brothers and sisters. We'll wait. Go ahead. Copy and paste into your browser.

Now, hopefully you have taken the time to become familiar with them. It leads into our next series of thoughts.

The 16 Life Safety Initiatives were developed in 2004 in Tampa FL at the Firefighter Safety Summit. They are a series of well thought out and well researched items.

They have been around since 2004. Did I mention they were written in 2004?

Its 2015. Maybe we didn't get them all right the first time. It was Florida. It was sunny. I hear they have beaches and such. Maybe the guys just didn't get them all on paper the way they intended. I doubt it. The list of folks involved seems pretty legit. They all play hard ball for the most part.

Okay, lets fast forward to April 2015. A group of like minded folks got together and had some ideas that they got down on paper. They gave a respectful nod to the folks that created the life safety initiative info. Then, they outlined one very special, one very crucial component.

Climate.

If you want to change the culture you first have to start with changing the climate. This likely is going to start small. It may even mean that you are going to have to make some internal changes in the organization, or maybe....eeek.....within yourself.

Its ok to change. Are you the same you as 15 years ago?

The career world is a much different place then when some of us began here. Its different for a multitude of reasons. Some good and some bad. Regardless it has changed and its time that we keep up with it. Are you being or doing?

I realize that we have taken kind of a long road to get to this. We have to start to evaluate on small scale approaches. A majority of the Unites States is served by smaller scale departments. Its time that we begin to evaluate and develop a course of action for these agencies. It can not always be a top down or training by radio transmission approach.

If we take a deeper look at climate change in an organization I think that we need to look at organization and sense community as it relates.

Four Factors that Contribute to a Sense of Community.

1) Membership
2) Influence
3) Integration and Fulfillment
4) Shared Connection

Membership is a starting point for so many lessons in organizational development. You have to have the commitment of the membership to move in any direction. Some will catapult ideas into the future and others will keep things on a low simmer and let something spoil. The bottom line with this is that you have to maintain momentum and you have to allow the members to move the project along. Provide parameters and allow for movement to occur. Failures will happen and people will leave the momentum at times but you must be able to keep progressing in a forward direction. Engage the people that are motivating factors within the group. Remember, motivation can be positive and negative.

Influence is something that can be a little more difficult to manage. Some people have lots of influence and its all in the wrong direction or with the wrong motivating factors. When you are in a position of influence you do not necessarily have to be in a position of leadership or authority. Identify your sources of influence and bring them into the project.

Integration and fulfillment applies directly to whatever your project may be. If you are working on increasing participation in a volunteer or combination department you are aware of the daily struggle to maintain  participation levels. Its a ripple effect problem. Some departments in the nation are having great success with integrating per-diem or paid staffing times. This does come with a new host of combined problems but with the right levels of direction and organizational guidance they are great solutions.

Develop shared connections within your cadre. Its highly likely that you have folks that have unexplored connections within their lives. Some of them may be able to work collaboratively to put solutions on the table.

Develop a mindset that you are going to approach problems in a team like atmosphere. The team may consist of different shifts or crews or it may be from a management or officer team.

Engage your folks in an internal mentoring program. Develop connections within the department that will help to promote through the ranks but will also help to develop follow through as transitions in and out of roles occurs.

In closing its not easy to commit to an organization that does not share a common thread. Making the people and the mission of the organization the common thread is bound to improve the outcome.

Look our and network with other agencies. In this day and age their is no acceptable answer to not be able to connect with someone. If you need a resource or need some guidance let us know and we will be happy to help connect you with someone!

Best wishes for you and your organization in 2016!

Expectations are up to you.

 This is an issue that plagues every station. It has infected every agency at any given time.

It doesn’t always appear in a time that you would expect. I always thought that it would arrive around low morale or periods of intense conflict.

It seems to be part of the cultural divide. It appears that holding people accountable has somewhere along the way gotten mixed up with lack of oversight and a myriad of other things. It looks to me like there are lots of people that know how lots of people should be doing there job but go on not being able to skillfully execute theirs. This is, at times, comingled with the lack of integrity. Sounds like a recipe for disaster. 

Its is important for you to remember something, its up to you to “Do your job”, Captain Mark VonAppen has put this to the boards time and time again. 

DO YOUR JOB! 

Not what you think the Chiefs job is, not what you think the Captains job is, not another officer or firefighters job. Do what you are assigned. You must do YOUR job, you must do it proficiently and must do it without haste and to the best of your ability. If you do that every single time you are setting the expectation. Not just internally that you are going to give your best effort every time, but that you expect this from the others in your company.  This generates the expectation that you are no longer going to accept anything less than this level of accuracy.

If you want to set standards you are going to have to be willing to set the standards and maintain them as well. As a leader or a follower remain consistent. It is at the heart of the matter.

 

I challenge you to join the ranks of the people who live what they teach, who walk the talk. Be a human doing not a human being. 

Live what you read, promote directed and intelligent change, and be willing to move mountains if that’s what it is going to take to make things better. Not just for you. Do it for the others on the line, for the crews to come and for the communities that we serve. They are expecting it. Your peers are expecting it.

Be Ready. Be Willing. Be Present.

-NexGen

Sentenced to Death

In what is becoming an all to usual fashion again at the hands of the mighty dollar we see that training is being slashed once again.

The bean counters have spoken and they have decided that the cost of out of state or out of department training is too costly to have a benefit for the department.

The bean counters have decided. Does anyone see the flaw? I know very little about counting beans. I would never presume to tell the bean counters what they would need for continuing education or professional development. Is their a bean counting HOT program?

Training can and should happen everyday. Not every training is going to be grandiose. Encourage each member of your crews to develop a training series on something that they are passionate about. All of the major media players have downloadable drills on their websites. Use them. Its why they are there. If we do not train regularly we are sentencing each other to death. We cant afford to not train. No one knows it all. Despite what "that guy" thinks.

This being said we have had some trade show incidents that don't necessarily help our plight. Some ethanol fueled shenanigans have placed some of our less scrupulous brother and sisters in some hot water. Don't hand out black eyes. These things impact more than you.

Soon many of you will be headed to the Inner Harbor where you will meet with many other brother and sisters whom are their to learn. Yes, I agree that the networking and fellowship is part of the training. You gain the ability to meet with others and see what they are doing in their agencies. Be level headed, Play nicely with others and don't do anything you wouldn't want to explain to the Padre.

Yes! It matters!

What you do matters. What you say matters. How you treat others matters.

What you drive does not matter. What you wear does not matter (except for PPE). The number within your bank account doesn’t matter.

What matters is your connection to others, the way that you treat them and the manner in which you conduct yourself. You are wearing and driving a billboard. That is what matters.

Somewhere along the line a lot of people lost site on what matters. I am guilty of it. We all struggle with many things that rob us of our focus. I am fortunate to have a group of people that do their best to keep me on task and directed. If you haven’t found your board of directors and what that is about then I suggest you start here. Captain Andrew Starnes does an amazing job of outlining what your Board of Directors should look like.

                    https://bringingbackbrotherhood.wordpress.com/2014/09/10/the-board-of-directors/

Where did the shift come from?

Did we focus too much on science and technology and changing bad or outdated techniques?

Is it a cultural divergent that has led us to this point?

Do we just not care?

Interpersonal skills are not covered in Fire I or II. It is only covered nominally in many of the leadership programs.

An entire market has been created by motivating individuals to grow and succeed. It is one of the reasons that NexGen is developing some of the programs that we are developing. The bottom line is this though. You still have to be able to effectively be a people person. You have to be able to speak with them on their bad days and their good days.

Its not just here in the fire service folks, its everywhere. Workforce dynamics are changing dramatically. Close nit people in close nit environments tend to develop a connection. I will agree that those of us blessed to be able to go out and battle ole man fire may have a different level of resolve to our friendships but the bottom line is that the “brotherhood” isn’t really dead. It is still there. It’s just a little more diverse now, it’s a little more “kinder & gentler” now.

Internal Affairs - Sometimes it time.

 There comes a time within every organization that some checks and balances need to be checked and balanced and the process of reviewing the overall operations has to happen.

This is about making strategic changes.

6 Integral Organizational Values:

1)      Integrity

2)      Value of Employees

3)      Quality Service

4)      Forward Thinking

5)      Open Administration

6)      Community Centered

In our class on organization modeling we discuss at length how each value applies to the individuals in the crew, the officers and the organization as a whole.

Briefly, it is about people. It is always about people.

The crews don’t get away with it that easy. We outline the important things that they have to bring to the table also.

8 Desired Crew Qualities:

1)      Integrity

2)      Teachability

3)      Growth

4)      Productivity

5)      Self-Motivated

6)      Honesty

7)      Transparency

8)      Authenticity

Sounds like the crews get more of the responsibility doesn’t it?

As you step back and begin to look into the organization you have to do it from a neutral

perspective. This can be difficult to do if you are involved within the organization. This is why we recommend finding an outside source to do this. It doesn’t have to be a highly polished consultant agency but a disinterested party will certainly level the playing field. I have tried to do it from within an organization and failed miserably. You may be able to reach out to your state fire service oversight board and see if they can look at things.

 

  

You have to first start this process with evaluating your mission statement.

If you are not articulating what your common goal is supposed to be you are setting everyone up for failure. The goal should be established by a core group of interested people.

Everyone! Your leaders, your followers, and everyone in between must buy in to this mission. It is the only way to make it explicitly clear that

you are all working in the same direction. Post it everywhere!

When you have new rookies make sure that they get a copy of it. I recommend on the first day that they report to actually give them a copy. Frame it. Make it clear that this is the expectation.

One of the most important things that we have learned from the people that we have worked with is that they want to know what is expected of them. This can be difficult in smaller organizations when people hold multiple roles within an organization but it still will need to be clearly defined what their purpose is.

Make sure that everyone is working on the same page. If someone needs to be temporarily reassigned make sure that they are aware of the mission for the assignment.

Finally, we wanted to point out some of the instant killers in organizations. These are the things that will send your people heading to the next job fair.

The following items are things that are lethal toxins. We believe that they lead to toxic environments and are things that need to be addressed quickly and efficiently.

1)      Poor leadership

2)      Under Appreciated Staff

3)      Requiring blind trust

4)      Gossip

5)      Negative Environment

6)      Failed Communication

This article is just scratching the surface of what to look into with organizational wellness. It is truly a difficult task to undertake and inevitably not everyone will be pleased with the outcome. We are a constantly changing community service field with more restrictions and requirement to participate with unrealistic expectations. No one ever joined the book club in town expecting that they were going to drag hose and climb ladders. We are a different breed and this is why we need to stay on top of issues as they arise.

If you want help evaluating your organization reach out to us and we will help.

Be Ready. Be Willing. Be Present.