The Letters of Leadership
You don’t have to be born a leader; you can learn these valuable skills
By Battalion Chief Jonathan L. Pennington

I was standing in a burned-out kitchen at one of our housing projects, giving advice to an acting captain on the hazards of not performing a thorough overhaul. My shift has had a captain’s vacancy for some time, and this acting captain had been filling the slot. Tests had already been given, interviews were scheduled, and it was very evident that the acting captain was about to be promoted to the position permanently.

He had performed very well over the last several months, and I was looking forward to his future success as a station captain. I would be responsible for matriculating him through his 6-month probationary period and wanted to provide him with the knowledge, skills and abilities he would need to be successful.

As I walked down the stairs and out of the building, I thought to myself, “If I could only assist him with the development of managerial skills or leadership skills, which would I choose?” The answer: leadership skills.

I had promoted to captain early in my career and was very young at the time. At this point in our fire department culture, it was not acceptable to be promoted young (seniority only was the flavor of the time). I had excellent management skills and could manage the details of a station or project with the best of them, but when it came to leadership ability, I found myself lacking. Some of this was due to my lack of opportunity to develop as a leader due to my age, and some of it was due to the fact that our fire department, for quite some time, had showed little interest in developing leaders (thank goodness this has changed).

Years later I promoted to battalion chief and found myself improved (and somewhat battle-scarred) but still lacking in the level of leadership ability I expected of myself. I had to stop, look around and assess what I could do to become a better leader. I had read all the available books, but none seemed to fit into our fire department’s culture. It wasn’t until a year or so into my tenure as battalion chief that I had an opportunity to spend some time with a retired captain from our department. He and his son, who is now a captain with our department, came over to my home to help put in a set of doors. His name was “Hap” Alley.

I had opportunities to speak to Hap in the past, but only briefly. He was considered by our department to be one of the best, and he was loved by all. When stories were told about his activities, people stopped and listened with a sense of respect. After spending some time with him, I found that he had something special that had been forged over time. He had the traits of a good leader—acquired out of experience, not textbooks. I began to think about his words and how he had performed as a captain in our department.

From this encounter I began to put significant effort into developing my leadership ability (yes, you can learn it and don’t have to be born with it). The items I learned from Hap, as well as other everyday people in my life, are listed below and have contributed to a marked success in my ability to lead.

L = Loyalty
To lead, you must be loyal—not only to your department but also to the men and women who serve with you on a daily basis. It is not a cardinal sin to err on the side of the troops.

Additionally, your loyalty must be fairly applied to all of your people and consideration given to them in all of your decisions. Don’t take your relationships with your firefighters lightly. Your very success as a leader depends on relationships. Without them, there’s no one to lead.

E = Excellence
A leader must strive for excellence in everything they do, but they also must understand that their people can only do so much and that other factors impact their abilities. Family stressors and other blockers to excellence exist, and you have to be flexible enough to accept that not everyone can or will strive for excellence. This doesn’t mean they don’t have merit and should be ignored. And this doesn’t mean they’re not good firefighters or don’t care about the fire service.

You have to look at every person on an individual basis and place your team members in positions that highlight their skills and ensure them of success. I’ve found that everyone has a special skill; you sometimes have to study the person for a while to find out what it is. It’s worth the investment of your time to study and find each of your members’ unique skills.

A = Able
As a leader, you must be able. You can take this term and apply it to many areas of our profession. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines able as: 1) Having sufficient power or resources to accomplish something; 2) susceptible to action or treatment; and 3) especially capable or talented.

If you expect your firefighters to respond to you as a leader, you must be able to do the job. When it’s physical fitness training time, it’s important that you’re in the weight room with your people. And when it’s time to hit the drill tower for hands-on training, you’re there with them, wearing your gear and participating in the session, etc. You must always strive to stay abreast of current tactics and strategies if you expect to lead firefighters.

D = Dedicated
Leadership is about being dedicated to not only our craft but also to the people who make our profession such a respected and honored one. Take time to invest in your firefighters and to get to know them on a personal as well as professional basis. One of the key things that I learned from Ashland’s (ret.) Fire Chief Mark Osborne: Be dedicated to your people. When he asked how your day was going, you always felt that he was truly interested in the answer. When it comes time to lead firefighters, you may find that they feel compelled to follow someone who has dedicated so much of their personal time and attention to them.

E = Empowering
One of the key concepts that I learned along the road to becoming a leader was the gift of empowerment. I discovered that if I gave my firefighters the ability to control their own destiny (within the confines of our basic rues and regulations) that they took ownership of their job and performed better and did more than I could have ever expected.

Don’t try to keep all of the power and glory for yourself. To quote author and speaker Brian Tracy, “The more credit you give away, the more will come back to you. The more you help others, the more they will want to help you.”

Our fire departments are filled with talented people who, when given a job, the tools and praise for a job well done make being a leader easy. All would-be leaders need to do is realize this simple but very powerful concept.

R = Resilient
Merriam-Webster’s defines resilient as: 1) The capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress; and, 2) An ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.

I like the first definition the best. It seems like being a leader comes with its share of stressors. At times it does seem that your take on the fire service and even people becomes deformed due to the stress of the job. A leader cannot fold his or her hands at the first signs of failure or in the face of overwhelming stress. Remember: If at first you don’t succeed, you’re running about average (M. H. Alderson, soccer coach).

To be resilient, you cannot be an island unto yourself. You are surrounded with great people; don’t be afraid to ask them for help. You won’t lose respect by showing your vulnerabilities to your firefighters. It’s important, however, as a leader to exhibit the fortitude to push through stressful times and the ability to regain your shape.
Your people will look to you to lead them through the tough times more so than the good times. It’s easy to be a leader when all is well and people feel secure. Only the resilient can sustain leadership.

S = Service
When you hear the word service, the first thing that pops in to most people’s minds is service to community. This is important to leadership, but the service that I’m speaking of is service to your people. Todd Eastham is the owner of a health and safety firm in Kentucky that specializes in emergency response solutions and is soon to be Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky Free & Accepted Masons. He is a very good friend and well respected community leader who says the best leaders are servant leaders. Leaders who place their people before themselves gain the respect of their people and their willingness to be led. Thus, if you want to develop as a leader, you must be willing to be a servant.

H = Honesty
The worst thing an aspiring leader can do is to lie to their people. Your firefighters can forgive many things, but lying to them is not one of them. It doesn’t matter how small or large the issue is, you must step forward and tell the truth.

I’ve found that if you address a problem when it first occurs with honesty and a desire to be fair and consistent, everyone wins. In today’s times, honesty is refreshing. So many people want to avoid the conflicts that sometime arise from telling the truth, but they’re not doing themselves or anyone else a favor by avoiding it.

Today the fire service is faced with staffing cutbacks, station closures and budget cuts in numerous areas. Being a leader is not an easy task by any means, and it seems to be getting harder every day. But one thing’s for sure: It only gets more difficult if you aren’t honest with your firefighters.

I = Integrity
Merriam-Webster’s defines integrity as firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values; incorruptibility. As a leader, you will be entrusted with many gifts, such as organizational and personal information, upholding the standard operating procedures of the department, following the state and federal law and many other important items. When you’re seen as a person who can be counted on to live life with integrity, or even a better term incorruptibility, you will find that people will want to follow you.

P = Passionate
Lastly, the item I find most important to developing leadership skills is passion. You must have a passion for people first and the job second if you wish to grow as a leader. I’m not saying the fire service is not important; I’m saying that it’s not more important than people.

Passion is contagious and can change the face of your organization. People who are passionate tend to draw others in and inspire them to be led if they contain their passion wisely.

It’s important to contain your passion for the fire service and not allow your passion for the profession to cause you to push your ideas too quickly. Change takes passion and patience. Slowly and progressively exposing your firefighters to your ideas shows a true passion for them. Allow time for the ideas to sink in and for people to fully understand your position. It’s important that you’re not seen as having an agenda for advancing yourself.

Many would-be leaders are cut short because their passion for the job is presented in a manner that makes others think they are out for self-glory and their passion for their firefighters is not allowed to be seen. Take time to explain your position, accept criticism graciously and be passionate about your people.

In Closing
Management can be taught to a person and they can develop these skills to become world-renowned. I suggest that leadership is the same. It takes time and effort, but you can learn to be a leader in your organization. Textbooks and gurus are wonderful resources, but don’t overlook the people around you for inspiration.

The above lessons came the hard way, as I hit just about every pot hole in the road along the way to leadership. Some will learn by no other method than failure, but most are very willing to be led the way to success. Take time from your busy life and invest in your future fire service leaders. As a leader it’s the best investment you will ever make.

I leave you with this parting question: If you could help someone be a great manager or a great leader, which would you chose?

Jonathan L. Pennington, CFO, MIFireE, CSP, is the battalion chief of the Ashland (Ky.) Fire Department.

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