To gain respect & credibility, company officers must face problems head on

Being a company officer is a great experience, except when you must act like one. A good friend of mine, Ryan McCormick, used to make fun of me when I was faced with one of those less-than-fun responsibilities as a captain. I remember one time during an Engineer Mentor program when things began to go badly for me, McCormick said.

"Well, you wanted to be a captain real bad. Now you are a captain — real bad." He giggled like a schoolgirl while he said this, and then walked away shaking his head. I sat there speechless, wishing I were smart enough to be an engineer like him.

I refer to those not-so-fun responsibilities as a means of earning your paycheck the hard way, which simply means taking responsibility as an officer. When you take on any kind of leadership role, whether you're a company officer or a coach, you become ultimately responsible for anything that happens to those you lead. When things go wrong, a failure occurs, someone gets hurt or someone embarrasses the company, it's your fault. And when your boss comes to you for an explanation, you don't get to fake a seizure or blame it on someone else; you alone take the heat. The second you sidestep responsibility, you lose a tremendous amount of credibility with your boss and, more importantly, your crew.

EAT THE BROWNIE!
Have you ever been at the firehouse and looked longingly at that last brownie in the pan? You know, the one no one else will eat because if they do, they'll have to clean the pan? Two days ago, that brownie was a proud treat; now it's a small crusty shell of its former self, clinging to the corner of the pan, waiting to be put out of its misery. Decision time — do you walk away from this little morsel or do you take care of the problem and eat it?

Look at the brownie like it's a little chocolate problem. Sure, cleaning the week-old brownie pan sucks, but it's your duty and responsibility to eat that last brownie. And taking responsibility doesn't mean you must be a martyr. Chiefs don't need martyrs; they need leaders, which means you must step up and fix the problem — that's what captains get paid to do.

The easiest way to take care of a problem: prevent it from happening. Some people call this strategy "problem avoidance." Now, you can interpret problem avoidance in a couple of different ways: You can deny the existence of the problem, which means "I know there is a problem here, but if I don't look at it, maybe it will go away." Or you can interpret it to mean "I see the potential for a problem to arise, so I must take steps now to prevent it from becoming a real issue." The first interpretation wishes the problem would just fly away to Fairytale Land, while the second deals with the problem head on and as early as possible. From my experience as a supervisor, my observations of many other supervisors and my research on this topic, I've come to the conclusion that the "look the other way" approach doesn't work. When a person in a leadership role looks the other way, the problem either festers and grows or it gets passed on to someone else down the line.

I've seen both interpretations implemented by captains and chief officers alike. I've known captains who almost prided themselves on turning a blind eye to problems. (It's like an abstract art form or something.) But when a supervisor does this, it's an understatement to say they are doing a disservice to themselves and the organization. People want and need to see their leader lead, not put their head in the sand.

A laissez-faire attitude toward problem solving is rarely, if ever, effective and most often affects the unity of a crew or causes more problems. This happens because your willingness to just accept the problem and its baggage becomes the standard. Your crew assumes the problem is acceptable because you did nothing to fix it. It's like watching your child run across the street without looking and then neglecting to scold them about it afterward. The child thinks the behavior must be OK because dad or mom saw it and didn't say anything. So when someone on your crew gets run over because you didn't say anything the first time you caught them not paying attention, you didn't do your job.

WELCOME TO REALITYVILLE
Let's pretend we're not in Fairytale Land for a moment; instead, let's take a trip to Realityville, a place where we must take care of problems like grown-up company officers. Here in Realityville, I divide problems into two basic groups — the expected and the unexpected. The expected problems include those we can see coming based on history, common sense and reasoning. The unexpected include those that slap you in the face and say, "How the hell are ya? Bet you didn't think you'd see me today."

Within these groups, the one area that seems to be most challenging for officers involves personnel issues. Unfortunately for most of us, we aren't prepared to deal with the endless variety of personnel issues that may arise. You have the serious personnel problems, which include drugs, alcohol, insubordination and the like, and you have the not-so-serious personnel issues, such as the snivelers, the lazy asses and other people who can be difficult to get along with.

Serious problems are no fun to deal with because they can end badly and, in some cases, cost someone their career. Because of their complexity and magnitude, some serious problems like drug and alcohol abuse aren't normally handled at the company officer level. For the most part, company officers are placed in a support role when dealing with these problems; they serve as information gatherers and documentation specialists. These problems don't arise every day, but when they do, the company officer is usually the first person to realize them, so they must take action at the first sign of trouble, according to department policy, and offer assistance to the employee. It's difficult to watch someone go down a troubled road, but it's even harder to watch a captain do nothing about it because they lack the intestinal fortitude.

Remember: It is the company officer's responsibility to handle these problems immediately. If you know one of your employees has a serious problem, you have a duty to act. You don't help the individual by looking the other way, and you don't help yourself by failing to document the problem. These aren't the unexpected, sneak-up-on-you, slap-you-in-the-face type of problems. There are early warning signs that, if ignored, can lead to a very unhappy ending.

ATTITUDE PROBLEMS = BAD BREATH
In my opinion, the most difficult employee problems are those you can't really define. Some of these problems fester for years and, unfortunately, become acceptable behavior. One difficult area to define: attitude. Most SOPs, general rules or employee handbooks don't elaborate on the subject of attitude. We tend to just accept people's attitudes for what they are, good or bad. It's kind of like bad breath; you would rather avoid it than tell someone they have it.

Supervisors don't like addressing these sorts of problems because doing so can create a cornucopia of uncomfortable moments and employees can get very defensive. I've watched many supervisors (myself included) struggle with telling people they must change their bad behavior. But one supervisor in particular, Kevin Wolf, a captain on ME 136 at the Ontario (Calif.) Fire Department, can be totally honest with someone without being mean or degrading. He does this by keeping his emotions in check, not making things personal and actively listening to people.

I have had conversations with Capt. Wolf in which he happily let me know I was being a booger-eating moron. After the friendly chitchat, I always shook his hand, thanked him for the criticism and left with a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. After that warm fuzzy feeling wore off, I would realize he didn't agree with my actions.

THE SIT-DOWN
Not everyone has the ability to be honest with people when dealing with problems, especially personnel problems. Learning to be honest with people is challenging because it is uncomfortable at times. But as a supervisor, it is imperative to be honest with your employees at all times because the moment someone thinks you're not, you lose credibility. One trick to being honest with someone, if you think it may be painful for them or difficult for you, is to do it in private. Speaking honestly with someone in public might make them very defensive and embarrassed. 

From my own experience, I've found that the most difficult thing about handling an employee problem is initiating the conversation. The severity of the problem often dictates your approach. If the problem is minor, a joke or a lighter conversation can be successful. But as a supervisor, you should have enough people skills to differentiate a problem from an annoying personality trait. Once you determine you are dealing with an actual problem, then deal with it, and don't turn minor personnel problems into major ones.

When dealing with a major personnel problem, don't try to handle it with a joke in front of a group; this is not good — trust me. By approaching the issue in a formal atmosphere, rather than giving someone the business at the coffee table, you convey a level of concern that the employee should take seriously. I know when my chief asks me to come into his office and close the door, we aren't going to talk about the weather. I refer to these types of visits as "sit-downs," and I have a few rules I try to follow so that I don't make a fool of myself.

• As a company officer, don't go into a sit-down unprepared. Firefighters are experts at making their captains look less than intelligent. (I'm pretty sure they dream about those moments and gleefully pursue them when given the opportunity.) Get your facts verified from all parties involved. Don't take what someone says as the gospel truth without listening to everything first. Simply gather all the facts.
• Find the root of the problem. Look at the entire issue and its history. If you don't look at the history of a problem, you may never find its solution.
• Seek counsel from your battalion chief. He or she may be able to fill in some of the informational gaps and provide some support and/or guidance for your solution.
• Develop your action plan to change the employee's behavior. Do not wing it when coming up with an action plan. Form an idea of what you want to do and, unless new information is realized during your sit-down, follow through with the plan.
• Most importantly, be honest. Firefighters don't like to be fed a bunch of nonsense, and they can smell it a mile away.  

During the sit-down, I'm not usually subtle; that's not one of my strengths. I get right to the problem at hand. But that doesn't mean you must be harsh; voice your concerns, leave the small talk for later and let the employee know the behavior is the problem, not them. Try not to let it get personal. If the meeting turns into kung-fu theatre, you must gain control quickly and address the problem. The easiest way to do this is to stay focused on the issue at hand.
 
CONCLUSION
Remember when I said being a captain is a great experience? Well it is, and it's an even better experience when you take a common-sense and honest approach to dealing with problems. To do this, I try to learn from my mistakes and from others around me in order to improve my skills as an officer. One of the most important things I've learned so far from dealing with people and problems is that it is an art form, and it takes a lifetime to master.
 
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.