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Do you have a fire officer development program?
Does your department have a program in place to mentor the next generation of fire officers? If so what are you doing to prepare the next company officer? One of the biggest leaps in the fire service is going from line firefighter to line officer. Do you agree? Often times firefighters self study and prepare for the testing process, but are not fully prepared for the personal side of being a supervisor.
FFN member (FETC) will discuss how to be prepared for dealing with others in the "People Business" when being tapped as the next FD supervisor on FREE internet radio.... click on the link below to listen in.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fireengineeringtalkradio/2012/07/18/ep...
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by ashfire on
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Our state offers Firefighter 1 and 2 classes. After that you can take Fire Officer 1 and then if you want to go higher Fire Officer 2 and up.
You can add other classes like Instructor 1 and up.
There are so many classes to take to improve you becoming a fire officer.
In our county you have to take Fire Officer 1 to be a Capt. and take the other classes to go higher.
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Permalink Reply by FETC on
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@ ashfire thanks for the reply.
I have taken all of the classes you mention and they are great classes but in the scope of what a fire officer does on a "day to day" basis, they fall short. Interpersonal dynamics is what I am talking about. Many like to complain about how they are treated by officers but often times, the officers were never prepared to be a leader. Some will say well I am a supervisor for XYZ company so I can lead, but to be honest most supervisors are managers. Managers are task oriented, procurement of tangibles, keeping people one task, time management and production driven. Some managers are terrible leaders. Not many classes listed previously deal with things like conflict resolution or dealing with people on a relationship level... that is what I am getting at and this radio show discusses being in the people business of developing future leaders.
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Permalink Reply by Brian Mackie on
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Agreed FETC. My biggest challenge was the people side. Particularly on the small POC dept., all or most of the members worked at a large UNIONIZED mining company. I noticed the "union mentallity" being brought over to the dept. on several occassions. It was not uncommon for a worker at the mine to be able to "buck" the directions or instructions of the supervisors, and get away with it. If they wanted something bad enough, all they had to do was file a grievance and that would delay the process. So too in the dept. when officer's directives or orders were not to the liking of some members, they would complain just for the sake of complaining.. much like the oposition in a political party does.. it's not black.. it's white.... no it's not.. that white car has black tires..therefore it's black and I am going upstairs with it...bad example of course..my point is..since the people have no real fear of reprimand of any consequence, it tends to be a bit harder. On the flip side of that.. with management.. what you allow you approve! IF the officer is not prepared to defend his/her self..even though they should not really have to.. it does get a bit old and does wear the person down having to continually tread lightly in order to not upset the troops. Without a doubt, the transition to officer..is tough. As the officer, you really do have to be the best you can be.. or at least strive for it.
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