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Respect the Rank
Respect the Rank
Refusing to do what’s right because you don’t respect the company officer hurts you & the whole crew
By Scott Cook
Photo Chris Mickal
I know I tend to put the responsibility on the company officer and upper echelon for crew and department performance. But that doesn’t excuse some of the stuff those of us who ride backward do that can negatively affect team performance.
For whatever reason, some of us don’t want to play nice. There could be any number of reasons: It could just be your personality, or something really could be troubling you on or off the job.
And, let’s be honest. Often the problem is a few company officers and chiefs out there who we don’t think should be in their positions. Maybe we were passed over for the position, maybe “everyone should have known so-and-so was going to stink at the officer level” or whatever. When we feel this way, we don’t always do what’s best for the team. Why not? Because doing what’s best for the team makes the designated adult look good. And our egos just can’t have that, can we?
I have news for you. They may not always have the stones to admit it, but if you have a poor company officer, their superiors know that they’re a poor company officer. Who do you think is covering for the company officer? Someone likely stuck their neck out for that person to get promoted and you can bet they’re not going to take the fall for the failure of the person they hand-picked.
And don’t go around thinking the company officer has the chief fooled. It may look that way on the outside, but unless the chief is a fool, the company officer doesn’t have him fooled.
But enough about that. The higher-ups are also watching you and evaluating you to see how you react to the situation. If you can’t deal with the less-than-stellar company officer, how are you going to manage the incident when things go south? A squared away chief is aware of your crappy company officer, and how you are dealing with the situation.
You owe it to yourself and your buddies to pick up the slack. If the whole crew pulls together, things will get better. I know—or at least I feel certain—that you wouldn’t do anything that would affect the safety of your brothers and sisters. But everything that you don’t do gets noticed by those same brothers and sisters, and their trust in you is damaged every time you make a decision to let the company officer take it in the shorts for something you know you should have done but didn’t because of your disdain for the company officer.
By the way, your buddies are tired of hearing about how crappy you think the company officer is, too. They may agree, but that doesn’t mean they want to hear about it.
Finally, if you think you have a legitimate complaint, document it. Write it down. When you get called in, or decide to go make your case for transfer to another crew, just saying “Capt. So-and-so did this, that or the other thing” isn’t enough. You must provide specifics: What did they do? When did they do it? Where did it happen? Who else saw it? And anything else related to the events.
You may very well be right, so-and-so may have no business being in the position they’re in, but if you don’t provide evidence and a solution, you’re just whining. Until you’re ready to take it to that level, step up and give the company officer the respect their rank deserves.
Scott Cook is the former chief of the Granbury (Texas) Volunteer Fire Department and a fire service instructor. He’s also a member of FireRescue’s editorial board.
Refusing to do what’s right because you don’t respect the company officer hurts you & the whole crew
By Scott Cook
Photo Chris Mickal
For whatever reason, some of us don’t want to play nice. There could be any number of reasons: It could just be your personality, or something really could be troubling you on or off the job.
And, let’s be honest. Often the problem is a few company officers and chiefs out there who we don’t think should be in their positions. Maybe we were passed over for the position, maybe “everyone should have known so-and-so was going to stink at the officer level” or whatever. When we feel this way, we don’t always do what’s best for the team. Why not? Because doing what’s best for the team makes the designated adult look good. And our egos just can’t have that, can we?
I have news for you. They may not always have the stones to admit it, but if you have a poor company officer, their superiors know that they’re a poor company officer. Who do you think is covering for the company officer? Someone likely stuck their neck out for that person to get promoted and you can bet they’re not going to take the fall for the failure of the person they hand-picked.
And don’t go around thinking the company officer has the chief fooled. It may look that way on the outside, but unless the chief is a fool, the company officer doesn’t have him fooled.
But enough about that. The higher-ups are also watching you and evaluating you to see how you react to the situation. If you can’t deal with the less-than-stellar company officer, how are you going to manage the incident when things go south? A squared away chief is aware of your crappy company officer, and how you are dealing with the situation.
You owe it to yourself and your buddies to pick up the slack. If the whole crew pulls together, things will get better. I know—or at least I feel certain—that you wouldn’t do anything that would affect the safety of your brothers and sisters. But everything that you don’t do gets noticed by those same brothers and sisters, and their trust in you is damaged every time you make a decision to let the company officer take it in the shorts for something you know you should have done but didn’t because of your disdain for the company officer.
By the way, your buddies are tired of hearing about how crappy you think the company officer is, too. They may agree, but that doesn’t mean they want to hear about it.
Finally, if you think you have a legitimate complaint, document it. Write it down. When you get called in, or decide to go make your case for transfer to another crew, just saying “Capt. So-and-so did this, that or the other thing” isn’t enough. You must provide specifics: What did they do? When did they do it? Where did it happen? Who else saw it? And anything else related to the events.
You may very well be right, so-and-so may have no business being in the position they’re in, but if you don’t provide evidence and a solution, you’re just whining. Until you’re ready to take it to that level, step up and give the company officer the respect their rank deserves.
Scott Cook is the former chief of the Granbury (Texas) Volunteer Fire Department and a fire service instructor. He’s also a member of FireRescue’s editorial board.
Add a Comment
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Comment by anna m mills on September 22, 2009 at 4:51am
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yes that was stated not to put yourself or your team at risk! respect is earned but you also as was stated need to give that person a chance! you may be sore because you were over looked or you lost that position that is no reason to not give someone a chance if its a legal grip write them up so many of us need to check our ego
great article and which many of us need to follow!
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Comment by Scott Cook on September 19, 2009 at 9:07am
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Considering everything I've written about safety previoulsy, I thought not doing something unsafe went without saying...I have never, and would never, advocate doing something unsafe just because the boss (or anyone else) said "do it."
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Comment by Paul Montpetit on September 18, 2009 at 7:30am
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Pretty sad when you have to "respect" the man solely because he has "rank"....In this case I "respect" the rank and NOT the man...Someone has to earn repect...it isn't a gift to be given easily it has to be earned...I learned this a long time ago while serving in the military..we had Officers that one doubts that could use the latrine without help...did we respect him...? Personally no, but still had to show proper respect for the rank he held....pretty sorry state...but that's the way it is.....Paul
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Comment by Joey "BigShow" De Piano on September 17, 2009 at 10:20pm
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I agree to a point with you..yes the team and company comes first but not before your or your teams safety because some wacker is in the position because for years the tradition has been "hey the guy put time in let him move up"..thats no one sticking their neck out thats pure Bull..just cause you spent 4 ..5 years climbing the ranks does not make that person qualified and thats the entire teams stupidity for letting the practice go on and on
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Comment by Darrell Bear on September 17, 2009 at 10:44am
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I Agree with Mark ... I dont really care if you respect me but on the fire ground or emergency scene , you gotta respect my rank or walk hard .. otherwise someone is eventually get hurt and not make it home. Rank is there for a reason and the rookies have to learn that.
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Comment by Mark Stigers on September 17, 2009 at 10:22am
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You do not have to respect the man but respect the rank.
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Comment by Craig Roberts on September 16, 2009 at 10:24pm
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That is very true and proper thing to do. But not mentioned is when the Company Officer's direction in either dangerous or imporper. These are times it is harder to make the right decision either to follow orders or break from that to ensure no harm comes to anyone thru his actions or orders. I have been fairly lucky in that when ever I had such an officer be they a Captain or BC I had knowledge that the DC or higher was aware and I and the rest of the crew did the proper thing to ensure safety and provide documentation.
A crew must be a crew. If the crew doesn't stick together right or wrong it becomes a group of lose cannons and prople start getting hurt or fires tend to get away.
Very good article and I hope many rookies read it!
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