Things will be different when I'm in charge.

Early on in my career, I remember uttering something similar when I was riding in the back seat, frustrated with the lack of training, coaching, engagement, and mentoring my current officer was providing me.  I couldn't stand how little he seemed to care about this job and the people on our team.  I watched as he ignored performance issues with others, afraid to have what might prove a difficult conversation.

I promised myself that when my opportunity came, I'd do the right things for people, the right way, and regardless of whether it upset them.  This job demands a high standard, and the citizens expect nothing less than an A-performance from everyone on every run.   Eventually,  I got my wish, and with my shiny new badge pinned on my officer's shirt, I got to work fixing problems and challenging the status quo.

It doesn't take long to realize that leadership is overglorified.
 
It turns out I spent less time giving orders on the fireground and way more effort towards sorting through the professional and personal problems showing up in our firehouse.  Shortly after that, I learned a tough but necessary lesson--just because your badge says leader on it doesn't mean that people will line up to follow you. I also quickly learned that many of my peers were not as passionate about the opportunity to lead as I was. Instead of support, I watched as other leaders did their best to sabotage our momentum for fear it might raise the standard for all. 

After twenty years in public safety, I've learned all too well the reality of leadership--it can be hard, honestly, it can be really hard. Life is messy, and people's problems at home--such as marriage, finances, or a sick loved one--will follow them to the fire station, even when we do our best to keep it from doing so.  Also, often from a lack of sleep, stress, or having traumatic experiences, we struggle to reconnect and be present with our families once we get home from the firehouse. It's as if our minds won't let us focus on just the family or the fire service, even though we're told to check our feelings at the door--because our brains don't work that way.
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Leading involves a significant investment of time to help when problems arise.

Leading involves moments spent coaching and counseling, as much as it does training and running calls.  It's celebrating when the team's performance is excellent but not letting our egos hide from dealing with the mistakes that will inevitably happen--especially our own.  Yesterday's leadership training is only concerned with producing a stable availability of people who think they are ready to take on the next lleadership position. But, in reality, it does little  to prepare them to to work through the many, often complicated interpersonal issues laying in store for them. In order to lead through the problems facing today's fire service, our training must include a firm understanding of how power is derived through building relationships, displaying empathy, and service to one another.  No longer is a shiny badge and the ability to yell, Because I Said So the only requisite to lead .

At Embrace The Resistance (ETR) we understand that a leader's actions, even for the right reasons, will encounter plenty of reactions from critics.

This backpressure is similar to that of a nozzle, which instead of allowing water to haphazardly exit a hoseline to no further benefit, instead creates the ability to use it in a way that has impact and reach to help others.  The nozzle has the ability to act as a force multiplier, but we must have techniques and an understanding of how it creates nozzle reaction so as to not grow frustrated enough that we simply refuse to open it.  The opportunity to lead, especially from a formal position, offers us the same force-multiplying capabilities.  But if leaders do not anticipate the reaction of others, while also lacking techniques to combat or displace it, then they will never have the confidence and inclination to use it well enough to maximize their impact and reach in their organization and on their teams. 

On our website you'll find plenty of information, including videos, podcasts, training opportunities, and encouragement designed to help you prepare t maximize your potential leadership influence.  We don't waste our time or yours pontificating about leadership theory and what might work.  Instead we've chosen to share our own mistakes over the last 20 years in public safety, blending it with the ongoing revalations now available regarding the effects of social and cognitive psychology on leadership. Make sure to get over and like our Facebook Page to stay up to date as in-person classes and workshops roll out in your area.

So, are you ready to get to work?

#LeadersWanted