Just a Little More Heat Is All it Takes

By Tom Rinaldi

I once attended a sales presentation by one of the larger fire apparatus manufacturers and the theme of the presentation stuck with me. The presenter compared making or losing sales to whether water reaches boiling point at 212 degrees Fahrenheit or lingers at 211 degrees – never quite boiling or making a sale. All it takes is one degree, just a little extra effort, to determine success or failure.

From experience, we have the same problem within the fire service – some leaders who don’t want to give one extra degree of effort. They are willing to languish at 211 degrees. I’m afraid that living in the social media driven era, we are becoming more isolated from our fellow humans and discount the value of effortless interaction. Here’s an example. You send your officers an e-mail about a task that needs to be completed and you get nothing – no reply when the appropriate response is a quick "OK" or "will do." An uncomplicated reply does two things – acknowledges that you got the message and that some effort will be taken to complete the task or that you understand what needs to be done. Here’s another example. You have a work detail at the fire station and a number of members help clean up the station and do a terrific job. Before they walk out the door, take a moment to get them together and say, "Thanks for your effort, it’s much appreciated." It’s the little things that you do that show you care and acknowledge the people who have made an effort.

If you are elected to an administrative office, you are the leader; it’s up to you to be organized and make sure that the jobs of all the officers on the administrative team are performed in an efficient and timely fashion. Remember that the president is ex-officio on all committees and is responsible for seeing that all of the administrative committees understand scope; goals, objectives, and your expectations are coincidental with their job duties. As president of a fire company, if you let the administrative committees float through the year with no specific expectations, oversight, or guidance, you can expect to get results that are less than satisfactory and not up to the boiling point. It’s up to you to make things happen. You were elected to a leadership position, now lead! I didn’t say that you had to attend every meeting or micromanage every detail, but you need to be involved, you need to audit progress, and you need to be in contact with your committee chairpersons to make sure that they are performing their intended function, are efficient, and are accomplishing the goals set out at the beginning of the year. Don’t just allow them do what they want to do and expect stellar results. You and the rest of the fire company members will be disappointed.

The other extreme is letting things go until they boil over, making a big mess. As an elected leader, your job is to pay attention to what’s going on. While you may have been popularly elected, you will soon find that those who elected you have not forgotten their expectations of your leadership abilities – you will still be held responsible. Very often, things start to go astray and it’s up to you to wrangle it back into line. You have accepted the responsibility of being a leader; pay attention to how the organization is operating and make the needed adjustments. Ignoring problems will only result in disorder or unnecessary drama, which is a distraction for everyone and accomplishes nothing. No one said being a leader is easy. There are human resource responsibilities with every leadership position, so if you don’t intend on being responsive to the needs of the membership, take my advice and don’t run for a leadership position. The goal is to have the fire company percolating along at an even boil where things are getting done, people are busy, and even though you can’t make everyone happy, most are content and recognize progress. An officer has to work at making things happen, knowing how to adjust the heat up or down to keep things at just the right temperature. If you are not willing to accept this responsibility, you should probably take advantage of additional leadership training.

Too many times in the volunteer fire service we find that while someone has properly identified a positive goal or an important initiative, at times the "group think" or "mob mentality" turns negative and positive ideas never quite get their time to boil. As a fire service leader you have to inspire and encourage your team to the boiling point to make sure officers and members understand your expectations. Don’t let the group be languid; if you tolerate it you are going to be unhappy and frustrated. Don’t think that others won’t notice. The easiest way to keep everyone progressing as a unit is to set three prioritized goals every six months. At the end of the year, six goals have been achieved and all you have to do is manage the heat.

It’s all about expectations – for yourself, for your officers, and for the members. I suppose if you never have any expectations you will never be disappointed, nor will you ever accomplish anything. Most of you have experienced how frustrating it is to have unfulfilled expectations. Take a look in the mirror and ask, have I taken the time to see the big picture? Am I able to identify what’s right and what’s wrong? Have I been able to take corrective action with the support of the officers? If not, why?

As a good officer, line or administrative, you have to set realistic goals and priorities and communicate expectations to others or you will be adrift in a sea of chaos. If you’re adrift, it’s time for a mid-course correction. Take time out, step back to reassess, reorganize, and go back at it, but don’t give up. Oh, and don’t be too big to ask for advice! Get a clear view of where you are, where you need to be, get the rest of the management team together and chart a course, reset your objectives, and get on with it. Take the extra time, make the extra effort to make the water boil, and don’t languish without direction. Don’t let the membership sit drift through the year without a track and don’t let a committee go off on its own to do whatever it wants.

You have been elected to a position of leadership. Leaders make things happen, and you have to be involved. Don’t assume that it will get done without intervention, that things will go smoothly, and that it will be done correctly, on time, or as expected without that little bit of extra effort by you. You need to take the time to be involved; leaders supply the heat to make things boil. Don’t be lukewarm or lacking in conviction; you will never have a happy fire station and trust me, it won’t take long for people to notice. Take the time to acknowledge correspondence, to speak to new members, and to say thanks or good job. If someone wants input from you, give them input, even if you only write back, "It looks fine to me" or "I have no comments, thanks for allowing me to review." Make sure thank you notes are sent, take the opportunity to promote your department’s positive actions, and make sure your committees and officers are engaged.

If you don’t want to take the extra time to be a good leader, to provide the heat to make things reach boiling point, perhaps you should step away or better yet – attend some of the excellent leadership courses being offered by one of the fire service organizations and get inspired.

About the Author:
Tom Rinaldi is a 47-year member of the fire service, past chief, county fire advisory board member, and currently a third-term commissioner with Stillwater Fire District. He holds a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Niagara University and a certificate of fire science from Montgomery College. Rinaldi has served with volunteer and career departments in Maryland and New York. He is retired from the New York State Office of Emergency Management and is currently employed by Chazen Engineering as a code compliance inspector for the town of Malta at the GlobalFoundries semiconductor facility. Rinaldi is the 2nd vice president of the Association of Fire Districts of the State of New York, vice chair of the Law & Legislative Committee, and liaison to the New York State Codes Coalition. He is also the 1st vice president of the Capital Area Fire Districts Association and author of the weekly newsletter the Capital Bulletin. Email Tom here.