Measuring Success
November, 2011
By: Nick Bailey
FDLiveIn
We are more than halfway through the semester and by now your program should be working out all of the kinks you experienced in August with the addition of your new live-ins. The senior members of your bunkroom should be fitting into and thriving with their new responsibilities and leadership roles, while your newest live-ins should be comfortable with the day-to-day operations and show an ability to effectively manage their time between the firehouse and outside responsibilities. You must remember that for a live-in program to be successful, the live-ins must be successful. “Being successful” is a relative term, therefore it is imperative that the leadership of each live-in program understand what this term means for each of his live-ins. Now is a great time to sit down with each of your live-ins individually to get a firm understanding of where they are and where they want to go in the next month, six months, and twenty-four months from now.
Remember that this is a time for you to learn from them, so you are listening and talking with them, not at them. Do not criticize their goals or ambitions; rather do your best to create an environment in the firehouse that fosters those plans. You should cover at least three different areas when talking with your live-ins – the fire service, their education, and their personal life. Don’t get carried away all of a sudden when I say “personal life”, I am simply referring to their social life outside of school and the firehouse, because, yes that should exist for all live-ins. Understand and take notes on their comments in all of these areas for future reference because I can guarantee that you will not remember the entire conversation.
Once you meet with everyone compile your notes, see if anyone shares the same goals, and then work to help make your live-ins successful in all aspects of their lives. You are not their parents, however as their leader in this critical time period of their lives, it is your time to step up and create opportunities for others. There is nothing more motivating than for your live-ins to see their goals accomplished right before their eyes. This may seem like a daunting task, however with a bit of planning it can be simpler than you think. If one of your live-ins wants to take on a leadership role, mentor them. If one would like to become certified in a new fire service discipline, help them find a class to sign up for. Your live-ins may have goals that are hard for you to make happen, in that case be a good fireman and use your resources. Perhaps you know someone that can help one of your live-ins, or simply keep your eyes peeled for opportunities for them. Do not be afraid to pass the information on to your superiors and ask for their assistance as well.
Although I cannot remember where, I read recently that, “One of the greatest gifts you can give someone is one in which they cannot repay you for”. This is true for both the citizens that you serve and the live-ins that you lead. I am a firm believer that second to keeping your live-ins safe and well prepared, your greatest responsibility is to give them the tools and opportunities to be successful in whatever it is that they strive for. One of the measures of a true leader is the strength and uniformity of his team, this is a thought to always keep in the back of your head. At no point should a leader ever hold a team member back for sake of pride or power. I believe that it is your responsibility to make the next generation of firefighters faster, better, stronger, and smarter than this generation. If we can not do this than what does that say about us, and in what condition does that leave the fire service in a decade or two from now?
Nick Bailey is a live-in Sergeant with the Hyattsville Volunteer Fire Department in Hyattsville, MD and Co-Founder of FDLiveIn.com.
You can follow Nick on Twitter @nmbailey1 and on Facebook: facebook.com/baileynick
