By Robert Ulrich
As we sit back and look and discuss where the business was, is, and where we are going, a common theme of contention is the role and need for mentors and people willing to be mentored. I think we all agree that there is some contention of that customary role between the two. In addition, we can also agree these roles are vital to our existence and “pushing the line” forward.
We can all find statistical data to tell us that we are burning less, cars are safer, and the “war years” are over … but are they? Yes, by volume, we are burning less and cars are safer, but they are presenting more complex problems and other threats and responsibilities are evolving. The nature of what we do is evolving and our roles as emergency providers are too. We see our focus shifting more toward public service, technical applications, and serving as public safety professionals, which is a nice term for “jacks of all trades.”
So where does that leave the traditional role of “mentors and the mentored”? It makes it even more important than ever! Just because there are fewer fires and extrications, that doesn’t mean the hazards and complexity have gone down; if anything, they have heightened. Fewer incidents mean less on-the-job training, so it must be replaced with something else. There are several things that we are trying to fill that void with, like technology through improved equipment, training, and ancillaries. The bar for training standards is being pushed ever higher through certifications and degree requirements. Now ask yourself, “Is it producing a better product (responders)” and outcomes?” I would say yes but, like baking a cake and missing or misjudging an ingredient, it just doesn’t taste right!
What is the missing ingredient? The mentors and mentored! The traditional roles have shifted in every other aspect of our business; this must also. If we can pull it off, I am confident the future for our craft is brighter than ever.
The Traditional Roles
Many of us “old salts” think of the mentor/mentored roles as “Shut your mouth,” “Do your job,” “Don’t speak unless spoken to,” or “You will get mentored when you foul up and it won’t be pretty.” It was, in many cases, more patriarchal. The senior member will show you how it is done, set in stone as solidly as the 10 Commandments coming down from the mount. You, as the mentored, asked in-depth questions at your own risk at times, in fear of the tongue lashing you might get from the senior member. In today’s society, this is looked on as “toxic” and, to a degree, it was but, digging deeper, it wasn’t meant to be in many cases.
It was teaching us that there are standards, expectations, and a right and wrong way to do things. Be on point and get stuff done. We had the benefit of higher call volumes, which led to repetition, adaptation, practice, and evolvement in a real-world setting–the same as our mentors had. The other benefit was those senior members who were our mentors were watching us learn, adapt, and revise what they had given us and learning from it! Mentoring went both ways! As we earned the trust through performance, our thoughts, actions, and theories were accepted, but it took time based on experience.
The downfall of that system was also in the technology and communications. You might never leave your “area” beyond some regional training to ever get a different perspective; your world was a bubble that was only as big or little as you wanted it to be or had access to.
The Landscape Today
If we look around us and are involved enough, there is a literal plethora of information out there to be used and shared. I spoke of how the business has changed; we have also changed as humans. Today’s fire service is being staffed by people who have requisite formal training and knowledge higher than many of us who are to be serving as mentors had at their age. I was blown away when my kids were studying algebra in the third grade! I didn’t take my first algebra class until I was much older in high school. We generally didn’t have access to computers, unless it was a word processor; now kids in elementary school are carrying portable devices to use every day. On the flip side, many schools aren’t offering trade programs like shop classes anymore, but you can find a video to “do” anything on the Internet. That is giving us people, who for the most part are technically savvy, know-how to access knowledge.
We have raised the bar and value of education and certifications, which I think is absolutely on point. We are seeing personnel who have a file an inch thick of certifications and education, which is awesome. Society has placed a higher value on the formalized education to improve the end state. In my opinion, it has created people who are more inquisitive, are invested in learning, and have a desire to acquire knowledge through every avenue available.
Technology has improved to the point that my world is no longer a bubble constrained by geography. I now have the ability to access information, facts, classes, and data from around the world at my fingertips 24/7/365. Think of the example of hazmat, the volumes of technical books and literature that you had to carry on an apparatus for just product identification. I now have a minimum of four applications on my phone that I can look up everything in a matter of minutes, and it fits in my pocket. I can listen to a podcast, view a slide presentation, or watch a video from a speaker or a department a world away while I eat breakfast!
Where Is the Disconnect?
This is where the “old salts” will say, “These kids think they know everything,” and the newbies will say, “Those old folks don’t want to learn anything new.” I would say they are both right, in some cases.
As the old salts, don’t we have to admit we are a little intimidated by these kids who can run a smartphone, which has more computer processing capabilities than the space shuttle (which was the pinnacle of technology in our youth) like it is a toy? Aren’t we a little jealous the newbies can recite the force multiplication factors for the halligan bar, hydraulic data of nozzle flows, and load dynamics of rope from memory or access it in seconds? We took years to find the books and take the classes to etch out that information.
The next generation of responders is coming to us with a higher base level of information/education than ever before. They are bombarded by the social media influencers in our business with their messages and instantaneous information. They, for the most part, look to us for the “experience” because we have “been there and done that.” We can sit and talk about what we have seen done. We have experience in proving right and wrong the theoretical of many subjects. They want our knowledge, and if we don’t give it up, they will look for it elsewhere. In many cases when they ask questions, it isn’t because they want to challenge our knowledge or belittle us, it is because they are thirsting for more information in the form of our experience.
“Because I said so” may have worked for us because we had the luxury of going out and “field testing” and adapting. We can’t take the same approach of blurting out how it should be done and not taking the next step of practice, adaptation, and follow-through in training. This new generation wants to know both the how and the why; imagine how far we would have gone if we had done the same?
The mentor/mentored problem lies on both sides of the aisle, but so does the solution!
The Challenges for Both Roles
As mentors, we are going to have to adapt. Some of the questions the next generation throws at us exceed even our experience. It makes us step up our game, put our ego aside, and admit we need to keep learning and figure things out. What an awesome example for the next generation when they look at us and hopefully think, “That member has been doing this for 10, 20, or 30 years and still wants to learn more!”
We can’t be stingy with what we know. Many of us have spent our lifetime chasing and collecting information and experience. To keep all that collected knowledge to ourselves and take it to our end without passing it on is betraying the people who gave it to us in the first place. We never own the information and experience; it is only on loan for safekeeping/improvement until we can give it to the next person in line.
Growing and changing ourselves to try and learn new technology, personnel management, and communication skills can be uncomfortable to the standard old salt, but you should be in it to the end. We started out wanting to grow and learn; this is just another way for us to move forward.
To the Mentored: I know where you are, Kid; you want to prove yourself. You want to show you belong and have earned your spot. I get it; I was young once. These mentors know you have more education and certification at your age than they did. You need to be fearless, pursue the questions, ask for details, and want to understand every nuance and facet of every subject. Be respectful and understand that some of these mentors have seen things and done things that they hope you will never have to do. They, for the most part, have earned their stripes and do want to pass things on. It may not come with the message you want to always hear or be delivered with empirical evidence to back it up. What it will be delivered with is accuracy and honest of what has worked and what hasn’t (in their experience).
Be the good new member who earns trust through the little things. Pay attention to detail, consider no job beneath you–in other words, “be there.” When someone is trying to talk to you, put down the phone and look them in the eye, listen to what they have to say, and ask pertinent questions. Before you know it, you will earn the trust.
Imagine Where We Can Go
I love that Dr. Suess quote. If the mentor and the mentored can admit they don’t know everything and put their egos aside to learn from each other, “imagine where we can go.”
Always be on the lookout for the mentors and the ones needing a little mentoring. If you can’t identify either one, it might just be you.
Bio:
Robert Ulrich is a more than 30-year veteran of the fire service and is a firefighter/EMT with the Georgetown (SC) Fire Department. He has worked as an adjunct instructor for the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy, Bucks County (PA) Community College, and Agricultural Rescue Program with the Penn State University.
