Leadership Skills: That Noise You Hear … It’s the sound of opportunity knocking—will you open the door?

From the June issue of FireRescue magazine

By Chief Marc Revere

There’s a fable about a lumberjack who was purported to be the best in the land and had won numerous competitions. The edge of his axe blade was honed to perfection; the tried and true methods he used were passed down from his father and his father before him. He was in the prime of his life and his strength, but he never changed his techniques or invested in new technology. One day, a lanky youngster challenged him to a tree-felling competition. The lumberjack laughed and took the bet. They squared off, facing their respective stand of trees, and the starter yelled, “Ready, set, go!” at which point the kid drop-started his chainsaw. The lumberjack dropped his axe and with a look of bewilderment on his face, exclaimed, “What’s that noise?!”

Are there people in your organization who are like that lumberjack—professionally limited by their resistance to change, confined to their comfort zone? Such people don’t appreciate the benefits of lifelong learning. They fail to understand the concept of “accept, adapt and accelerate—or atrophy.” Like the lumberjack, they fail to even realize that atrophy has already set in.

As we look ahead to the IAFC’s Fire-Rescue International (FRI) conference in August, we should keep in mind two fundamental rules of success: Attitude and curiosity trump résumé, and tenacity in the pursuit of learning and achievement will always eclipse intelligence.

Doors Begin to Open
It has been said that if one door closes behind you, two doors will open in front of you. The more doors you open and close, the more choices you have. FRI is one of the best paths to opening new doors.

Several years ago, when the IAFC’s Professional Development Committee was developing the Officer Development Handbook, the committee agreed on a definition of professional development: the planned, progressive, career-long process of education, training, self-development and experience. (Note: If you haven’t already done so, download the Officer Development Handbook from the IAFC Web site. It may just open another door.)

“Career-long” in this definition means just that—it starts when your career starts, and it doesn’t stop until you retire. Some people wait to attend FRI until they’re chiefs. I made the same mistake, and I kicked myself for not attending sooner. As I walked from one class to another, I bumped into peers and colleagues from the National Fire Academy, committees I had participated in, training I had taken and alarms I’d been on. They in turn introduced me to more fire service professionals (more doors opening), who in turn did the same.

My Rolodex and my idea list expanded rapidly. In essence, I had more ideas and contacts than I could fully utilize. However, when I did need assistance, that network proved invaluable. The bottom line: You can’t do it alone, and the network you’ll build at FRI will mean you’ll never have to.

Training Is an Investment
Many of us are facing unprecedented economic upheaval; most of us have been asked to cut our training budgets. However, we must remember economic downturns are not new and are cyclical in nature. When I’ve worked for cities where I’ve been asked to cut our training budget, my response is always that I will find other ways to make cuts; training is the last account I’ll cut. As long as we have one member working in high-risk operations, we must train.

Training is not discretionary in the fire service; it’s mandatory! As fire chief or training officer, if there’s one battle worth fighting, training is it. We know our firefighters will give us their last full measure of devotion; we owe it to them to advocate for their needs with the same tenacity.

The reason for this conviction is that technology is transforming at such a rate (research, skills development, education) that it demands we grow with it. Maintaining the status quo for a while, waiting for the economy to get better so you can fund your training programs or send a member to a conference, only means you’re losing ground—and potential lives, including our own.

Let’s look at the investment of attending FRI. Say, for example, your cost for travel, registration and lodging is $1,000. This equates to $2.79 dollars per day out of your agency’s annual budget—less than a cup of coffee a day.

Now let’s look at the return on investment. What if you attended a rapid intervention team (RIT) class that exposed your agency’s limitations in rescue breathing, given your current generation of SCBA? Then immediately after the class, you walk over to an SCBA vendor (in the same building) to discuss enhancements to your current equipment, or to research alternates.

In military terms, your attendance becomes a “force multiplier” that has a direct impact on firefighter safety and community risk reduction and, I would venture to say, is in perfect alignment with your mission statement. The benefits of attending FRI expand beyond that which we can immediately see and comprehend, but your agency, the citizens you serve and your members are better off as a result.

What’s That Noise?
My background is not unlike the lumberjack’s, and it might not be that different from yours. My son is a firefighter, his uncle and I are firefighters and his grandfather (now many years retired) was a firefighter. We have more than a century of service within those three generations. During this time, the mission has never really changed—protect life and property—but technology and tactics have. Unlike the lumberjack, professional development has allowed the generations within my family to keep pace with the demands of our changing roles—thus allowing us to come home safely each night to our families.

Now back to our lumberjack’s question: What’s that noise? From my perspective, it’s the future. It’s technology. It’s a lesson learned or an “ah-ha” moment. It’s an idea or concept that can save a life—like the concept and institutionalization of residential sprinklers, which are saving lives where most lives are lost due to fire, developed in 1979 by Ron Coleman. Or the creation of a new industry—EMS, developed by the late James O. Page—that fundamentally changed the fire service.

Both men taught at FRI. This year will be no different; there will be men and women at FRI who have and will have a profound impact on the future of our industry. Wouldn’t you like to know them?

The “noise” at FRI is an orchestration of professional development from vendors, lecturers and leaders, and people like you and me. That noise means opportunities and knowledge that benefit not only you personally, but your agency and the American fire service. By attending and learning, each of us personifies the motto of the fire service: Semper Vigilance—always vigilant.

See you at FRI!

Marc Revere is the fire chief of the Novato Fire Protection District, an Internationally Accredited Agency in Marin County, Calif. Chief Revere’s 33-year fire service career includes more than 17 years as a chief and fire officer. He has completed executive education at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and holds a bachelor’s degree in management from the University of Redlands. Chief Revere is a certified Chief Fire Officer and an Executive Fire Officer graduate and serves as one of 12 members representing the Professional Development Committee for the IAFC.