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Thoughts on Leadership
Satisfied and Motivated - March/April 2010
Posted on May 3, 2010
American workers have reached a 20 year low when it comes to their contentment at work. According to the Conference Board, we cannot blame the recession for this level of dissatisfaction; this year’s results continue a decline in worker satisfaction that they have tracked since 1987, when they first began the survey. Considering the demographic make-up of most wildland fire agencies these days, the declining job satisfaction of young people represents a trend to which leaders and would-be leaders must pay careful attention. Effective leaders will pay serious attention to people’s satisfaction, particularly if they want to attract a new generation of young workers to their organizations, keep them around, and prepare them to lead the organization. People need challenge and fulfillment from their work. Put All the Tools in Your Toolbox - January/February 2010
Posted on May 3, 2010
I know everyone means well, but people get so passionate about their favorite solution that they sometimes promote that solution to the detriment of other useful tools, even when that doesn't make sense. We're all on the same team. We all want the same result, and people with ideas different than ours are not the enemy. Let's put all the tools in our toolbox. High Performance Requires a Diverse Team - November/December 2009
Posted on May 2, 2010
Plenty of evidence exists to suggest that high performing teams actually require a diverse mix of perspectives, skills and experience. Unfortunately, too many would-be leaders seeking flexible, adaptive and resilient teams actually produce ordinary performance by diligently hiring employees who too closely resemble themselves and the others on their team. Really good leaders, those who build teams that perform reliably, overcome adversity, anticipate and contain unexpected events, and minimize human error, know they need people with attributes and experience different from their own. Authentic leaders seek to fill gaps in their own skills, experience and interests. Diverse groups actually make decisions, avoid “group think” and solve problems better. More Reasons to Hang Up and Lead - September/October 2009
Posted on May 2, 2010
An organization’s leadership can benefit from our communications technology. After all, e-mail; voice mail; cell phones; tweets and posts at social networking sites can help busy people stay in-touch. However, as I contended in my previous column, on balance, they look more and more like obstacles in the path to good leadership. Leadership is personal. It is about character and credibility; interpersonal trust and active dialogue. It’s pretty clear that relationship building occurs best in a face-to-face context and that frequent and meaningful interaction allows a deeper kind of relationship to develop than text messages or phone calls possibly could. People would rather talk to you face-to-face than get your text message. More reasons to hang up and lead! Will This Work Here? - July/August 2009
Posted on May 2, 2010
To understand the leadership process, one must first understand that the situation and the context really matter. For example, in our rapidly diversifying and globalizing work world, one must consider national and cultural differences when weighing the applicability of leadership approaches in a cross-cultural context. So, we must always ask whether we may fairly generalize a given leadership approach cross-culturally. Whenever, importing or exporting a leadership approach cross-culturally one should ask “Will this work here?” We should not assume that American and European leadership approaches do not apply to other cultures and societies, but we should not assume that they do either. Hang up and lead! - May/June 2009
Posted on May 2, 2010
People have become slaves to their technology. We’re breeding dependence. How will we develop the next generation of leaders when no one has to, or gets to, resolve a problem, face a challenge, or make a decision without the boss virtually holding their hand?It seems the convenience and capability of our personal communication technology can work against our situational awareness. It seems the convenience and capability of our personal communication technology can work against our situational awareness. Our communication habits have enormous implications for the effectiveness of our leadership, and I think we really need to think about how our personal communication technology can serve us without burying ourselves under it when we really should be interacting with people on a more personal level. Leading in a Time of Crisis - March/April 2009
Posted on April 13, 2010
A tragedy of the scale of the Victorian bushfires (Australia, February 2009) can transform a fire organization either in ways that strengthen it or destroy it. Often, it is the quality of an organization’s leadership that separates the resilient organization from those who cannot contain tragic events and recover from them. The Australian tragedy offers the opportunity to explore some lessons learned about leading in times of crisis. I contend that these tips apply equally to both one’s leadership inside the organization and outside the organization, or with the citizens and in the communities that we serve. See the New View - October/November 2008
Posted on April 13, 2010
Over time, we’ve sliced and diced leadership in many ways, and we’ve been guilty of trying to keep a complex subject simple. Bottom line, there’s lots of leadership snake oil getting sold. I’m seeing growing agreement that a new leadership mindset is emerging, one that is shifting the field from a traditional model of leadership to a new view that makes better sense for modern organizations. Leadership needs to be relational, based on shared power, and more of a joint or collaborative process. Adopt the view that a leader is a person engaged in the process of leadership. Time to Get Serious About HRO? - July/August 2008
Posted on April 13, 2010
Fire management personnel often confront unexpected events and conditions that can easily escalate beyond their control. However, certain organizations can operate in similar high-risk environments, with similar operating tempos, and still achieve their operational objectives while keeping human error and accidents to acceptable levels. Experts have called these “high reliability organizations” (HRO). These are organizations that manage their activities according to five organizing principles. The five principles, when taken together, produce a more alert, aware, and responsive organization. Hand in Glove - March/April 2008
Posted on April 13, 2010
Leadership and fire prevention are hand and glove. Why? Well, the answer to that question lies in my understanding of leadership. I define leadership, not as a person, position or responsibility, but as a process in which people influence one another to bring about changes in their mutual interest. I think of leadership as a constellation of interpersonal relationships in which influence is moving back-and-forth between people all the time. That means that fire prevention specialists across agencies must recognize where their interests intersect and step-up to work together, to influence one another, in ways that bring about changes reflecting their mutual interests. Are You a Servant Leader? - September/October 2007
Posted on March 19, 2010
Teams need to approach their work with a philosophy and attitude of service. This seems particularly true as wildland fire organizations emphasize a more flexible, adaptable, and nuanced approach to their work. Lots of things are changing in the fire world, and hosting agencies will undoubtedly ask incident management teams to do new things as well as old things in different ways. I have found a growing number of teams and team members keyed-in to their service orientation, playing down of ego, and concern for the interests of others as success factors. Where We Came From, Where We Are, Where We Are Going - July/August 2007
Posted on March 19, 2010
Leadership has undergone enormous transformation over time, and we’re still debating timeless issues and proposing approaches rooted in 5,000 year-old philosophies. I am very interested by the evolution of leadership thinking over time. For example, we know that leadership theories have evolved from ancient attitudes about what today we call leadership. One must understand ancient philosophies; those of Plato, Aristotle, Sun Tzu, Seneca, Lao Tzu, and others; especially those that have endured, or at least recycled, to understand where many of our leadership theories had their roots. Leading for High Reliability - May/June 2007
Posted on March 19, 2010
We use “HRO” in two ways, both to describe “high reliability organizations” and as shorthand for “high reliability organizing.” When used as a noun to describe high reliability organizations, or “HROs,” we describe a certain kind of organization. HROs represent a sub-set of organizations, and both research and experience show that these organizations prevent organizational errors from escalating into organizational failure. They do so by managing their activities according to five principles. Can a "Just Culture" Save Us? - March/April 2007
Posted on March 19, 2010
Lately, we’ve heard and seen a lot about “just culture” in the wildland fire community. Until recently, much of the debate and discussion has centered on the aftermath of investigations into the Cramer and Thirtymile fires, and the argument frequently went something like, “If we had a just culture, we wouldn’t be filing criminal charges against firefighters.” That line of reasoning caused me to question whether we firefighters understood just culture well enough, and made me wonder whether we might be stretching the concept beyond what the underlying theory supports. However, more recently, a conversation has begun that may both improve the fire community’s understanding of just culture and what a just culture might do to improve organizational learning in fire organizations and firefighter safety. Hey, This is Urgent - January/February 2007
Posted on March 19, 2010
Wildland fire control agencies face hurdles that will challenge their organizational effectiveness, including an increasingly volatile fire environment directly affected by climate change, as well as demands for smaller, yet more responsive government. These and other forces will relentlessly push fire organizations to change and adapt. Yet, evident as these changes are, many agencies remain content to keep doing what they’ve always done, telling themselves they are doing a good job and justifying their resistance to change. To Make a Difference: Sometimes You Must Take a Risk-January/February 2007
Posted on February 9, 2007
Recently, a U.S. Attorney filed criminal charges against Ellreese Daniels, who was serving as crew boss when his crew was overrun by the Thirtymile fire in 2001, killing four crewmembers. The situation calls to mind three things about leadership A Solemn Obligation-September/October 2006
Posted on February 8, 2007
I still get to fight fire every once in awhile. I recently took a couple of fire assignments, one as an Incident Commander Type 3, and one as an Operations Section Chief; and I found myself in the unique position of working for my former seasonal employees. We joked that I had come full circle, but maybe it was they who had cycled, like kids who end up taking care of their parents. I couldn’t avoid thinking about how far these guys had come, and how well they had done for themselves. That got me thinking about the responsibility a leader has to develop his or her people and the obligation the leader has to prepare the next generation of their organization’s leaders. Don’t get me wrong, I claim no responsibility for the success of these men; they’ve had no influence from me for nearly fifteen years. However, someone presented them with the opportunities they needed to develop their skills, take on responsibility, gain experience, get noticed, and move up. Given the demographics of many fire agencies, the duty to prepare your successors may represent one of the fire leader’s most important roles. What's Your Philosophy?-June/July 2006
Posted on February 8, 2007
In my last column, I wrote that leadership and management differ from one another substantially and that, while both leadership and management are essential to the function and effectiveness of organizations, they are not the same thing. I also wrote that fire agencies need both competent managers and effective leaders and that management and leadership represent different roles within an organization. However, I also wrote that managers and leaders are not different classes of people and that, in lucky organizations, the same person may be both an expert manager and a skillful leader. The Difference Between Leadership and Management-May/June 2006
Posted on February 8, 2007
I recently heard someone express the view that “Line Officers need to learn more about leadership, things like budgeting.” News flash, budgeting is not a function of leadership. Neither is planning, organizing, staffing, controlling, or problem solving. These are functions of management. One can certainly understand why we might confuse leadership and management, until the 1980s, even the experts largely regarded good management and leadership as the same thing, and some even regarded leadership as simply a sub-set of management. However, our understanding of both disciplines improved, and in the 1980s, these views began to change. Today, experts in both fields generally agree that leadership and management differ from one another substantially, and that they are most definitely, not the same thing. Book Review: Burning for Success
Posted on February 7, 2007
I recently had opportunity to read Burning for Success: How Volunteer Fire Departments Motivate Teams, Coach Leaders And Deliver Killer Customer Service Without Spending A Dime. Being both a fire and leadership junkie, I was excited to find a book that fed both habits. In Burning for Success, authors Scott Harkins and Dr. Frank McCluskey explore how volunteer fire departments create effective teams, leaders, and organizations from an unpaid workforce. The authors’ intent is to transfer lessons learned in the fire department environment to businesses and other organizations. Learning and the Leader-November/December, 2005
Posted on February 7, 2007
Those of you, who read this column frequently, know that I believe that leadership is far from an exact science, and that the edges of what we call leadership are not always clearly defined. However, I do know that the traits that have traditionally described “leadership” in the fire service; rugged individualism, unilateral decision-making, and directive supervision won’t cut it any longer. Of Trust, Teams and Teamwork-July/August 2005
Posted on February 7, 2007
Over the past 30 years, teams and teamwork have come to increasingly characterize the structure of organizations. In the past fifteen years, the use of team structure has exploded across the organizational world and teams have largely become the basic organizational unit. However, people use both “team” and “teamwork” loosely, and I’ve seen all nature of groups referred to as teams. So, for the purposes of this article, let us say that a team means a group of individuals, bound by mutual direction and common goals, who interact interdependently to accomplish work, action and results. Using that definition, we might argue that the fire world is one place where the word team has been used accurately. The Future of Leadership - May/June 2005
Posted on June 28, 2005
Leadership is a social process and, like any social process, to remain relevant, it must reflect the society in which it occurs. Leadership must keep up with the times, so to speak. Our society and its needs are changing, and consequently, so are the needs of our institutions and organizations. The inevitable shift in the nature of the workforce demands that leaders and the very concept of leadership adapt accordingly. Why Leadership is Like Fire - March/April 2005
Posted on June 28, 2005
A while back, my wife and I were driving along in the car, talking leadership. It was during this conversation, that I first thought that, "leadership is like fire." Read on to find out how I arrived at this analogy. Hot Topic: Accountability and Responsibility - January/February 2005
Posted on June 28, 2005
So what is accountability and what role does it play in the process we call leadership? It seems to me that accountability and responsibility represent important qualities for a credible leader to possess.It is credibility that matters and credibility that provides the foundation of personal leadership. That same credibility is essential to effective leadership at the organizational level as well. In this way, the concepts of credibility and accountability are tightly coupled for both individual leaders and organizations. Critical Leadership Skill: Multi-Frame Thinking - November, 2004
Posted on November 10, 2004
Despite our best intentions, we all screw one up now and again. So how does a person avoid the pit-falls that trapped these leaders and become the most effective leader possible? Find out in Multi-Frame Thinking. Leadership - September, 2004
Posted on November 10, 2004
The leadership media, both academic and popular, can be confusing and disappointing, and some very well liked authors in the popular leadership press are just getting it wrong. So just what is this thing called "leadership"? Learn the definition of leadership as well as the "Grand Theory" of leadership, the importance of vision, the role of power, and the distinction between leadership and management. Are You A Credible Leader? - August, 2004
Posted on November 10, 2004
When it comes to leadership, we can, and do, talk about all kinds of traits, characteristics and behaviors that people find desirable in their leaders. The effective practice of leadership involves a complex interplay of critically important elements. Learn more in Are You a Credible Leader? Leading With Openness and Transparency - April, 2003
Posted on November 10, 2004
In this column, I explore the themes of openness and transparency and their relationship to trust, a concept central to the leadership process. I believe that leaders succeed when they communicate with candor, let people see how they make their decisions, allow challenge, and account for weaknesses in their neutrality, objectivity or situation awareness. Nine Leadership Practices - September, 2002
Posted on November 10, 2004
Lately, I have been disturbed by two related trends within fire agencies. First, what seems a growing attitude of hopelessness and helplessness. Second, the use of the word "they." I come from the school of thought that says everybody has the capacity for leadership, and in this article, I identify the two challenges fire agencies must overcome if they are going to get the job done. I offer nine leadership practices.
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