Looking back at the article “Six-Sided Leadership for Company Officers,” it is apparent that serving to your left and right is extremely important. Look around you—these are your peers in firefighting, who you have an opportunity to lead. Serving as a leader and influencer to your peers is a powerful way to help strengthen your department and crew, in the present moment and in the future.
One thing that is unique about peer leadership is that you have no positional authority over the people you are influencing or directing. They are not required by chain of command or policy to act on or react to your direction. So, what leverage can “flat” leadership use to inspire their peers to follow their lead?
Peer Leadership
The most important aspect of effective peer leadership is that the leaders must have and maintain the moral authority to direct those they wish to influence. What is moral authority? In short, it’s always “doing the right thing,” but the “right” thing might not always be apparent, might not be the same for everyone, or might not even be similar to a previous situation. The correct course of action should not only be to pass a litmus test right away, but ideally, to have a moral longevity that will stand the test of time and organizational change. We need a landmark, something like a beacon that shines in the darkness of uncertainty—a guiding light that helps us navigate and keeps us going in the right direction no matter the external influences we may be trying to interpret. We need a strong moral imperative. To set one, we need to establish the values and goals we wish to accomplish by following it.
The first step in forming a strong moral imperative is putting the needs of the organization and crew first. Benjamin Franklin was known for asking himself in the morning, “What good shall I do today?” In the evening, he would ask, “What good have I done today?” To answer the latter, you should probably have a good idea of what is needed of your position and what role you serve in the organization and for those around you.
Encouraging Job Development
As a company officer, a huge part of your job is development. If you see a need for subordinate development, then spend extra time with your crew giving them the time and training you never received. Is there a service gap in your station or department that you have identified? Then start writing an outline, gathering input, and getting people talking about it. Different periods in organizational development require various types of leadership roles, sometimes focusing on innovation and growth and other times focusing on solidifying practices and roles that will aid the organization to maintain its identity through periods of change and uncertainty. Understanding or forecasting the positional needs of your organization and what your role is, or can be, will aid your efforts to meet and exceed the requirements to be an exceptional peer leader.
A primary role one can always serve at any time of organizational need is to maintain or, more importantly, raise the standards for your position within your department. What are you doing to raise the standards? Your actions or inactions are some of the most important indicators and influences you will have on your ability to be a peer leader. How do you come in at shift change? How does the next platoon come in and find you, your station, and your crew the next day? Do you come to work like Mr. Rogers or like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? If you come in as the latter, how can you expect to build trust, teach, and learn if your crew can’t decide who they’re getting for the tour? This is something that cannot be faked, and consistency counts! If you are around for any length of time, the crews are more than happy to talk about it at the kitchen table. These are not the kind of stories you want told if you’re looking to maintain moral authority with your peers.
Being a Moral Leader
Do you shy away from difficult assignments? Being a moral leader can be easy when there is no adversity. Moral courage and character have been described as perishable skills. If you are not exercising them and working to build them every chance you can, then they will weaken, and you will be morally challenged most when your character is least prepared. The action of “going to the sound of the guns” in and of itself is admirable and will build great credibility among your peers. However, you must maintain high standards, execute challenging assignments, and meet adversity with skillful handling to positively influence those around you. This is especially important in times of failure or defeat. How you handle these “opportunities” can galvanize your reputation for being an outstanding leader despite the outcomes and circumstances. You can go the other way too—make excuses and feel sorry for yourself. Either way, you are showing your peers how you handle difficult situations.
Sun Tsu hypothesizes that knowing yourself is half the battle when going to war, and “If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”1 Knowing who you are and how you will handle difficulty is an important character trait that can help you avoid trouble in times of uncertainty. However, a more important question to ask is, “Does how you see yourself truly align with how people would describe you?” It can be difficult to get outside of your own skin and see your world through the eyes and experiences of another person. This type of empathy can be useful as long as you let it be an occasional guide and not a leash. When put in positions of influence and opportunity, you cannot always make everyone happy. When called on to make difficult decisions, you may have to make unpopular choices along the way. This is where it is important to have internalized proper values and correctly set your moral compass every day. Though you may be jeered for making a moral decision, you will be far more respected in the long run for always doing the right thing.
The Importance of Teams
Another important aspect of peer leadership is the team mindset and humility of one’s place in the organization. No one person can be bigger than the department. There can be no one person whose skill or knowledge is so special that the agency would cease to function without them. President Eisenhower was said to keep an anonymous quote in his belongings that said, “Place your fist in a bucket of water and pull it out; the space that remains will be how much you are missed when you are gone.” This is a powerful reminder that time moves on, and you are not special. Despite what you may think of your status in a position or assignment, one day you will not be there anymore, and the department will still operate, run calls, and move forward as it must. Use this understanding to motivate your actions and intentions, empower those around you, and share your knowledge and experiences. Someone can, and will, take your place eventually. The more generous you are at helping your peers, the stronger the team and organization will be.
One final trait of outstanding peer leadership is effort. How you do one thing is how you do everything. A great example of this is the movie character Forrest Gump. Forrest never set out to accomplish anything great. He merely showed up every day, gave his absolute best, and in every endeavor he found himself standing on top of the world: All-American football player, Medal of Honor recipient, table tennis champion, and shrimp boat captain. Always keep your eye on the ball, never give up, always give your very best, and great things are bound to happen.
Endnote
- Tzu, Sun. The Art of War. Trans. Thomas Cleary. Boston: Shambala, 2005.
Credit: Pic-1 by Dave Jackson actionimages10@gmail.com.
Bio:
Timothy Young began his fire service career in 2002 and is a captain with St. Johns County (FL) Fire Rescue. He has an associate of arts degree, is a Florida state fire instructor, and teaches throughout the state delivering hands-on and classroom training for emergency response and leadership.
