People are Your Primary Action Item

Without a strong allegiance to your people the loser is the end user 

I sat in rapt attention as the old captain talked. Some of the best learning experiences of my career were realized as I spent time with the quirky, hippie veterans of my department as they rambled through their last days on shift. They’d sit in the recliner, rocking slightly, as they dropped pearls of wisdom on me. One day one of them asked, “Have you ever read The No Asshole Rule?” I answered, “No.” 

“You should.” 

My brow furrowed. What is THAT supposed to mean?

Perplexed, and battling my ego, I asked why. As a newly promoted officer, with a stiff exterior, but a framework at times made of glass, there is a struggle to not take everything said to you as a personal affront. This was one of those times. I pushed the blur of my momentary rage aside and heard him out. He explained the premise of the book, how despots in the workplace foul the water for everyone and must be dispatched. The author was a local professor, and how it had implications in our world as firefighters. The conversation meandered as they do with the older folks and we arrived at the importance of the internal customers of the organization; how the neglect of the employee ultimately leads to the suffering of who we say we value most, the customer.

Many organizations pride themselves on having an all encompassing mission statement geared towards hitting all of the current buzz terms in the name of relevance and public service. They are typically over crafted, apologetic, and nauseating. A forward gazing organization has invested much time and effort into crafting a mission and value statement that at once sells the importance of the service provided and preaches how valuable the customer experience is to the members of the company. What is sometimes overlooked is how critical the internal customer experience is to cultural success and positive outcomes for the end user; Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

When leadership fails to do what they say they’ll do:

Trust is Not Possible: Employees and stakeholders may lose trust in the leadership and the organization. This can lead to decreased morale and commitment. Don’t forget that morale is a metric, though difficult to quantify, as important as response times or any other unit of measure.

Culture Erodes: The people who make a difference are the ones who say what they’re going to do and then they actually do it. The organization’s culture may erode if leaders don’t practice the values they preach. This can lead to toxic work environments.

Reduced Performance: True motivation must come from within, but great leadership ensures that people don’t lose motivation. Even good people will seek the lowest level when they lose their purpose. When employees are less motivated, reduced productivity and performance are invariably the byproduct.

Reputation Precedes You: Word travels fast and when duplicity is common nobody is going to go the extra mile. People will do just enough to stay out of trouble. 

Loss of Talent: Valuable employees who don’t align with the negative shift in values may choose to leave the organization. It becomes more difficult to attract and retain quality employees as the reputation for hypocrisy spreads.

Inability to Implement Vision Statement: You can’t hold people to a standard you’ve never established. When values and actions aren’t aligned, it can lead to confusion and inconsistency, making it difficult to execute strategic plans effectively.

Resistance to Change: Two things people hate most are change and the way things are; or so the idiom goes. A lack of trust and alignment can lead to resistance from employees when it comes to implementing changes or new initiatives. In order for people to implement changes they must believe that those changes are truly for the good of all involved. 

Building trust:

Clear Expectations: Develop and communicate clear expectations. As stated earlier, you can’t hold people to a standard that has never been established. Additionally, your people have the right to have expectations of you. Managers and leaders must be held to an even higher standard than those they supervise. 

Consistency: Treating people fairly is critical to building trust. When people feel they are being wronged or treated unfairly it can lead to them acting out in subtle ways that can adversely affect culture. Treat people fairly. Everyone will appreciate it. 

Open Door Policy: True open doors require open minds. When a subordinate summons the courage to approach leadership with concerns, they must be heard in an environment free of judgment and retaliation. Maintain open lines of communication where employees feel comfortable voicing concerns and suggestions. If you don’t, be prepared for a lot of quiet employees and advanced problems that will take much longer to resolve.

Forthrightness: The job of the leader is to serve as a coach and mentor. Both can serve as someone who can give honest feedback (coaching) that can correct behaviors without creating resentment. You must have regular, honest, and objective performance reviews to provide constructive feedback and recognize achievements.

Everyone is a Mentor: Place an emphasis on developing the next generation of leaders. New people must be made to feel like functional team members early on in order for them to feel comfortable stepping into unfamiliar situations. Mentoring programs, whether formal or informal, help employees grow professionally and personally and are critical to the success of any culture.

Emphasize Life/Work Balance: Allow people to drop out on occasion to recharge. Like birds migrating, the leader takes the majority of the headwind and makes flying easier for the rest. When they get worn out, the leader drops to the back of the formation and allows another to take on the wind. It can’t be upwind, uphill, and upstream all the time. That type of environment leads to embitterment and burnout. Foster a workplace culture that supports work-life balance, mental health, and overall well-being.

Survey the Internal Stakeholder: Be ready to hear some things you don’t want to hear. Be an honest self-evaluator, and don’t dismiss concerns as simple static. Internal customer concerns should be given equal, if not greater weight than end-user gripes. Conduct surveys to gather feedback on employee satisfaction and areas for improvement and then follow up on areas identified for improvement. Nothing destroys initiative more than asking for feedback and then disregarding it as noise.

Include as Many as Possible: Everyone wearing the uniform is a potential contributor . There is no substitution for contribution. The person contributing feels invested, the team benefits from more participation, the collective spirit is lifted, and morale improves. Foster an environment of inclusion to ensure that all employees feel valued and respected.

Sense of Urgency: When your people come to you with a problem, it’s your concern. Give them the autonomy to work within the system to resolve whatever issues arise, and if they are unsuccessful and seek your council, it becomes your responsibility to assist them. Discuss the issue and work to resolve it in a timely manner. “Backburnering” an issue and hoping it just goes a way is a trust killer. People are your primary action item. Have mechanisms to resolve conflicts in a fair and timely manner.

Leadership Skill Emphasis: Train leaders and managers in people management skills, emphasizing the importance of fairness and respect. Leaders must understand how many eyes are on them. They must set forth expectations, model the correct behaviors, and meet with their people regularly to ensure everyone is on the right track. 

People are your most important action item

Many books and articles have been devoted to finding your why and developing it into  purpose. I’ve railed about it; find your passion, make it your purpose, practice patience, and in time, you’ll see progress.  

People are at the heart of all service. If you’re not putting them first, you’re doing it wrong. The talent of the group drives organizational success, which leads to better overall satisfaction and greater employee retention. A strong culture of collaboration with management leads to better outcomes for the end user. I learned a great many things from the conversations in the day room chairs from the old guys. I cherish the time I spent actually absorbing what they had to say. It was a rare time in my life where I recognized the magnitude of what I could glean from the conversation and had the presence of mind to shut up and listen.

The most important thing I heard consistently was how you treat people matters. Treat people right. The XX’s and OO’s of any job can be taught in any classroom at anytime. Fires are the easy part. People are a consistent challenge. The subtleties are what separates the greats from those who simply hold down the position of leadership. The great ones possess humility, empathy, accountability, and technical competency. They blend all of them seamlessly and have a seemingly hands off leadership style until its time to be hands on.

Even when it seems they’re not there, they’re observing and assessing. They are able to meet people where they are through a genuine interest in the growth and development of the group. Most of all, they are deliberate in their leadership actions. Without displaying a deep commitment to the internal customer, the organization is contributing to a negative outcome for the end user.

Wichita (KS) Launches Firefighter Wellness Initiative to Combat Cancer

Wichita Fire Station One kicked off a firefighter wellness initiative to begin providing yearly cancer screenings for Wichita firefighters.

New Bill Aims to Expand Cancer Death Benefits for NC Firefighters

A new bill working its way through the North Carolina General Assembly would expand death benefits for firefighters diagnosed with cancer.