To command respect, our leaders must pitch in & help out

"Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing."
—  Albert Schweitzer

"The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers."
—  Ralph Nader

One of the oldest and best-known leadership theories is to lead by example. Stated another way: Don't expect your people to do what you aren't willing to do. In my experience, a captain's example to their crew is similar to that of parents to children. Just like kids, crewmembers  always watch you, and if you mess up, they will not hesitate to use it against you, or worse, follow your lead.

But this relationship can also inspire devotion and respect. I remember watching some of my captains and thinking, I would follow these people anywhere, because I knew they were not only willing to do what they expected of us, they also did those things. I didn't learn from them by listening to their stories around the coffee table. I watched them perform on the fireground. They taught by doing, not talking.

LEADING BY BAD EXAMPLE
I also learned a great deal from those captains who I thought of as lazy piles of cow poop. One incident stands out: Several years ago our captain informed us that we had to load all of the old 4" hose into the utility van and take it to another station. The firefighters formed an assembly line from the hose rack to the van and began loading the hose like little army ants. In these situations, as you know, if the captain has zero intention of helping, they will politely excuse themselves for some important job, like completing the log or playing a game of solitaire. But in this instance, our captain proceeded to stand there and watch us load hose the entire time. Well, let me correct myself; he did have his hands full with a big cup of hot coffee. He stood like the Supreme Allied Commander over his troops, watching us sweat our keisters off. Halfway through, his Excellency ran out of coffee, but even then he continued to watch, holding an empty coffee cup.

I was absolutely floored that someone would actually stand there watching a group of firefighters work and never even attempt to help. They must have removed his arms, common sense and social graces in captain school. I didn't understand how that captain expected his crew to respect him as a leader. Guess what? They didn't. 

Company officers' duties frequently prevent them from assisting the crew. But when your duties are complete, standing around watching your crew work probably isn't the best use of your time. Generally speaking, it goes over like a fart in church. 

LEADING BY GOOD EXAMPLE
My partner in crime, Art Andres, the engine captain on our crew, is a perfect example of someone who isn't afraid to get their hands dirty. Andres is pound for pound one of the busiest people I know. His schedule, contributions and dedication to the Ontario (Calif.) Fire Department are almost unmatched. Sometimes I feel a little guilty when he's busting his ass. But I usually get over it quickly, when I force myself to eat a bowl of ice cream and take a power nap. (Hey, I work on a truck; I don't make the rules, I just follow them.) 

More often than not, when his crew is out completing its station or equipment maintenance, you won't find Andres sitting in his office reading a magazine. He's usually working and participating side by side with his crew. He makes an effort to help the members of his crew with their work, even if he has a ton of his own duties to complete. He works with his crewmembers, they don't work for him.

I consider Andres' participation an investment of time, which is a finite commodity. There's only so much time to go around. Andres invests time in his crew, which, for him, translates into several late nights per cycle trying to catch up with his own responsibilities. So what's in it for him? What kind of a return does he get from his investment? Well, he gets one of the hardest working crews in our department. (We affectionately call his crew "The Tweakers.") I have witnessed high-energy, disciplined crews fall apart and go sideways based on their captain's, "do as I say, not as I do" attitude. Andres, like all supervisors, is responsible for setting the right example. If he doesn't, he risks losing their dedication and desire to do a good job.  

GET TO KNOW YOUR CREW
As a company officer, it is crucial to know your people. You must know how they think, what their values are, how they make decisions and how they interact as a crew. The knowledge you have of your crew will help you make decisions on critical incidents. You can predict how they will react in certain situations and you can decide what task best fits each crewmember.

It is very difficult to get to know your crew by running to your air-conditioned office every time manual labor is required. As a captain, one of the most valuable times of my day is when I join my crew to help them with their duties. Like most fire stations, this is when we engage in some banter, aka "busting each others' chops." Come to think of it, I'm usually on the wrong side of the chop bustin', but then again, I'm a pretty easy target, and I like the abuse. 

Beyond busting chops, this type of interaction can give a company officer a huge amount of information. If your crew has a problem, it will often surface during this time. It gives you a chance to talk to your crew in a less formal atmosphere, where they tend to be more relaxed and honest. 

Think about your day as a company officer for a minute. It probably includes training, fire inspections, building pre-plans, school tours, phone calls, log books, reports, honey-dos for the chief, and — oh yeah — emergency calls. Of all these things, which one allows you to really get to know your crew? None of them. The only part of the day that encourages open discussion is the time spent doing station and equipment maintenance.
 
Actually, there is one other time, but it's rapidly becoming a thing of the past: the sit-down dinner. On my shift, we are extremely fortunate to have a crew that enjoys a sit-down meal. But when I work overtime at other stations, the dinner table is empty and everyone stuffs their faces in front of the idiot box. This is unfortunate; some of my most memorable moments in the firehouse involve cooking a meal with my crew and sitting around the dinner table flapping our jaws. As a captain, I hope to continue this tradition and influence the younger members to continue it as well.

IT'S DIFFERENT TODAY
Speaking of the younger members, if you haven't noticed, we are dealing with a different group of personnel in the fire service today. A number of my company and chief officers were military veterans. They passed on great traits from their armed services training, including discipline, a strong work ethic and a sense of pride. But their styles wouldn't be as effective today. Today's firefighters weren't brought up the same way, so it's impossible to expect them to relate to the same things we did.

Today, if you're not downloading to your iPod, slinging your laptop over your shoulder and calling for a double shot of espresso in your venti caramel macchiato, you can't possibly know what you're talking about. You must create some alliances with these keyboard-pushing freaks, because you're going to need them to help you do your job someday.

Example: I grew up in a house without a computer. In fact, my dad used me as the TV remote until I was a teenager. So I never really grasped the whole computer thing. When I promoted to captain I had no idea how to e-mail; to be honest, I thought I might be able to tiptoe around the whole thing. After running up and down the stairs and making phone calls all day, I realized that my lack of knowledge was a problem in my newfound position. I don't think MIT will be asking me to be a professor any time soon, but I have improved my computer skills drastically over the last few years. In fact, I am typing with both fists now. And I didn't learn these skills from some old, crusty captain; I learned them from the younger firefighters on my crew. 
 
YOU'RE PART OF THE TEAM
Being a firefighter is still a blue-collar, get-your-hands-dirty type of job. Just because you promote to captain doesn't mean you should stand there like a traffic cop and direct people around an emergency scene. A good captain uses discretion and common sense in deciding when to pick up a tool and help and when to remain in a strictly supervisory position. On an emergency scene you may not have the luxury of calling someone else over to help your firefighters pull a hose around a corner. That's when you pick up the hose and make the corner. And that attitude should extend beyond the fireground. If it is OK for a captain to maneuver a hose or sound a roof on a call, why isn't OK to help with chores around the station?

When a company officer is competent, aggressive and works as a team with their crew, the firefighters follow that lead. Think about the captains in your fire department. Do the competent, aggressive, hard-working company officers generally have a crew of slouches? Or do the crews follow their captain's lead? I haven't seen too many exceptions to this rule. Most firefighters don't like to be shown up or outworked by the red helmet.  
 
I remember watching lazy, uninvolved captains go through their day avoiding interaction with their crews. And I remember the comments made behind their backs, the shaking of heads and the hesitation to follow them. What did I learn from them? I learned I never wanted to be one of those captains.

Ray Gayk is a company officer with the Ontario (Calif.) Fire Department (OFD). Gayk is a 16-year veteran of the fire service who has been actively involved with the OFD's development of engineer and captain mentor programs. Gayk has also been a training officer and currently works on Truck 131 in downtown Ontario.