Leadership Principles of a Highly Effective
Battalion Chief
Battalion Chiefs Todd Keathley and John Oliver
Leadership
What is Leadership?
 True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed or
assigned. It comes only from influence
Why is leadership important?
 Leadership ability is the lid that determines your
level of effectiveness
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The single most important ingredient in the
formula of success is knowing how to get along
with people.
Theodore Roosevelt
Qualities of a Leader
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Trusted
Respected
Competent
Committed
Positive attitude
Consistent
Personal character
Integrity
Leads by example
Inspires others
The measurement of a leader - How many other
people have you helped to be successful
Qualities of a Leader
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Trusted
Respected
Competent
Committed
Positive attitude
Consistent
Personal character
Integrity
Leads by example
Inspires others
Leadership is not a position, it’s a disposition
WES CLAFLIN AWARD - STACY MAXWELL, CFO
SCARLET AWARD - BRIAN MURDOCK,
FIREFIGHTER
VALOR AWARD - ROGER ADAMS, RETIRED
BATTALION CHIEF
INSTRUCTOR OF THE YEAR - AARON BACKUS,
CAPTAIN
CAREER DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD - DAN
MAHAR, ENGINEER
VOLUNTEER DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD LORIN MYERS, CHAPLAIN
Qualities of a Leader
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Leadership is firefighter safety
Trusted
Respected
Competent
Committed
Positive attitude
Consistent
Personal character
Integrity
Leads by example
Inspires others
Lessons learned from the SC fatal fire: Tragedy to
Triumph
The instructor relates how this tragedy has
changed the department forever and caused a
transition from operating with outdated, unsafe
practices to a department leading the way in
education and training on a national level. The
instructor explains how improper leadership,
education and organizational culture lead to this
senseless tragedy. This event is reflected in the
changes seen in almost every operation the
department performs. Among the changes address
are new hiring criteria, fair promotional policies
based on performance not popularity, and the
development of many training programs.
2013 FDIC Symposium
What does success as a Battalion Chief look
like to you?
When you have earned the trust and respect of your
subordinates, colleagues and superiors.
Leadership
Can leadership be learned?
In fact, there is no greater return on your
investment then the effort that you will put into
being a leader. It takes a conscious effort on
your part. Start making the investment today.
Take good leaders and make them great
Leadership
How do we develop our leadership skills?
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The first person we must examine is ourselves - Mirror
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Who we are determines how we see others - Lens
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Leadership is not developed in a day, it’s
developed daily
Tell me your favorite leadership book or author?
Getting Real
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Admit your faults
Ask for advice
Worry less about what others think, reputation
verses integrity
Be open to learning from others
Put away pride and pretense
One of the nice things about being imperfect is the joy
that it brings to others
Strength Based Leadership
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CEO’s of major corporations are great at one aspect of
their industry.
They surround themselves with people that possess the
skill sets they don’t have. Roy Disney, Steve Jobs.
The Universal Fear – That at some point someone’s going to
realize it’s just me.
See yourself as a Battalion Chief that doesn’t have all the
answers but someone who will use their skills and the skills of
their co-workers to meet the responsibilities of the position.
Five levels of leadership
#5 Personhood – People follow you because of who you are
and what you represent
#4 People development – People follow you because of what
you have done for them
#3 Production – People follow you because of what you
have done for the organization
#2 Permission - People follow you because they want to
#1 Position - People follow you because they have to
Building Trust
There are three qualities a leader must exemplify to
build trust
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Competence
Character
Connection – personally & professionally
Work
Marriage
Finances
Family
Children
Health issues
Substance abuse
 Personal Character
Demonstrated in the little decisions made everyday
 Decisions – character or compromise:
 Do the right thing, even if that choice
brings negative consequences.
 Leaders cannot rise above the limitations of
their character, especially when it comes to
leadership.
 Character makes trust possible and trust
makes leadership possible.
 Your actions have to match your words.
Building Trust
PepsiCo chairman and
CEO Craig Weatherup acknowledges,
“People will tolerate honest mistakes, but if you
violate their trust you will find it very difficult
to ever regain their confidence. That is one
reason that you need to treat trust as your most
precious asset. You may fool your boss but you
can never fool your colleges or subordinates.”
John Maxwell – Leadership 101
Building Trust
How to you secure a positive influence in the
organization?
“You don’t build trust by talking about it.
You build it by achieving results, always
with integrity and in a manner that shows
real personal regard for the people with
whom you work.”
John Maxwell – Leadership 101
Gaining Respect
The transition from a member of the crew to the
Battalion Chief
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You can’t force it
You can’t demand it
Let people come to their own conclusion
When in command, take command
Be flexibly concrete
Treat people as you want them to be
Believe in your people before they believe
in themselves
Gaining Respect
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Take responsibility for your mistakes
Give away the credit
Push recognition down
Be a humble leader
Delegate effectively
Lead by example
What should you expect from your Captains ?
Role of the Company Officer
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Most important position in the Fire Service
Direct supervision of Firefighters
Training (be the catalyst)
Be a student of the job
Be a coach and mentor
Clearly define employee expectations
Confirm employee knowledge of policies and
procedures
Most Important job of a Company Officer?
To implement the goals and objective of the
organization on a daily basis as they've been
defined by your administration.
Through the use of PPE
Policies, Procedures and Expectations
Where do the policies and procedures in the
Fire Service come from?
Injuries & fatalities
 Best Practice
 Minimum Standard
If your organization killed a firefighter today, what
policies, procedures, practices and philosophies would we
change tomorrow?
Many causes are fundamental and rudimentary in nature
Organizations make sweeping changes after the fatal event
Fundamentals
Poor apparatus placement
 Improper line selection/placement
 Poor radio communications
 Free lancing/lack of team continuity
 Applying offensive tactics to a
defensive situation
 Lack of equipment maintenance
 Failure to evaluate risk versus benefit
 Lack of equipment knowledge/familiarity
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Crew attempted to follow hose lines on the floor to locate the exit;
however, hose lines were tangled on the floor, creating a problem on
exiting
Firefighters located a hose line and were following the line out but
discovered they were going back into the structure when they reached
the nozzle
“Champions
don’t beat themselves If you
want to win, do the ordinary things better
then anyone else – day in and day out.
We’re not going to fool people or out
scheme them. We’re just going to outplay
them. Because we’ll know what we’re
doing. When we get into critical
situations, we won’t have to think. We’ll
play fast and fundamentally sound.”
Chuck Noll
Defining Expectations
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Be familiar with the organizational policies and
procedures
Identify areas of importance or concern
Define your personal expectations
Provide organizational and personal expectations
to your members “in-writing”
Promotes employee success
Prevents injuries and fatalities
Prevents conflict
#1 reason for employee supervisor conflict
Lack of or misunderstanding of employee
expectations
Handout
On February 10, 2010, a 69-year-old male Fire
Chief (the victim) died after being crushed
between a parked tanker and a pumper being
backed into the fire station.
NIOSH Report – January 2012
One Career Fire Fighter
Killed, Another Seriously
Injured When Struck By a
Vehicle While Working at a
Grass Fire Along an Interstate
Highway
Content of interior radio reports
Location, Location
 Heat conditions
 Visibility
 Possible extension
 Hazardous conditions
 Changing conditions
 Overcrowding
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Interior size up
Recommendation
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Instruct firefighters not to overcrowd the area of
the interior attack team.
On December 20, 2004, a 24-year-old male career
probationary firefighter (the victim) died after he
became separated from a fire-attack team at a twoalarm, single-story, residential structure fire.
Solutions for overcrowding?
Identify overcrowding as a safety issue
 Appropriate use of resources by
Incident Commander
 Location for Back-up line
 Feedback from interior crews
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It’s better to
prepare then to
repair
Define expectations
early and often !
If Only
Implementing a program or change that you
don’t agree with
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Educate yourself
Tell your members WHY
Listen to their concerns
Look for opportunities to improve the program
or change
Provide feedback
Circle of influence
Total Control
Influence
No Control
Ways to improve your team
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Improve yourself – leaders are learners
Identify team’s strengths and train to improve
weaknesses
Recognize individual performance and achievement
Assist subordinates in reaching their goals
Evaluate attitudes (expand their focus)
Prepare – the 6 P’s
As the supervisor goes, so goes their subordinates.
Ways to improve your team
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The secret to your success and the success of
your team is found in your daily agenda
Champions don’t become champions in the ring,
they are merely recognized there. If you want to
see where someone develops into a champion,
look at their daily routine.
John Maxwell
3 Area’s that Determine an
Employee’s Success
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Conceptual
Technical
Human
Harvard Business Review
Conceptual
Organizationally, where have we been,
where are we today and where are we
going in the future
Quarterly Report
 Strategic Plan
 Standard of Cover
 Budget
 Annual Newsletter
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Technical
Are you capable of making emergency scene decisions
in accordance with your policies & procedures that
keep people safe and in a manner that reflects
a command presents?
Fire Ground
 Hazardous Materials
 MCI
 Confined Space
 Water Rescue
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Human
What kind of character and skills do
you demonstrate when dealing with
people
Dealing with conflict
 Dealing with the poor performer
 Creating a positive work environment
 Demonstrating a genuine respect for people
 Dealing with the public
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Dealing with Conflict
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It’s unavoidable
Nobody likes conflict
Why is it difficult to confront?
 Fear of being disliked
 Fear of being misunderstood
 Fear of rejection
 Fear of the unknown
Harmful Strategies
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Win at all cost
Whine about it
Pulling rank
Pretend it doesn’t exist
Conflict is like cancer, early detection increases the
possibility of a healthy outcome.
Conflict / Poor Performance
 80% of the time people don’t realize there
is a problem
 30% of them realize there is a problem,
but don’t know how to solve it
 20% percent realized there is a problem,
but don’t want to solve it
Your job is to tell people what reality is
Healthy Conflict Resolution
1. Care before you confront. What's best for the
employee?
2. Meet together ASAP.
3. First seek understanding, then agreement.
4. Outline the problem:
• Describe your perception
• Explain why it’s important to you
• Tell how it impacts you and/or the team
Healthy Conflict Resolution
5. Encourage a response and “listen”. Listening
will:
 Confirm your perception is accurate
 Identify extenuating circumstances
 Better understand the problem
 Employee needs to know they were heard
6. Agree to an action plan
 What does the corrected behavior or
performance look like?
Dealing with Poor Performance
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Identify the problem, not a symptom
Skill or will
• Attitude or knowledge
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How is this effecting the individual and or
the team?
Dealing with Poor Performance
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Identify the performance issue for the employee
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Let the employee respond and listen
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Identify future expectations for the employee
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What does the employee need from you to meet
these expectations or be successful?
Show confidence in the employee, you are in
this together
See this as a training opportunity
Workplace Environment
Lead by example
 Basic level of RESPECT
 Good general conduct
 Impact and consequences
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The inappropriate actions of an employee will
impact them and you!
Conduct in the Workplace
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How long will it be funny?
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You can’t put the genie back in the bottle
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What is funny in a fire station has no humor in a court of law
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Even if you win in a court, you loose
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There are no special rules or consideration for the fire
service work environment or schedule
If what was said in your fire station today was printed in
the newspaper tomorrow, how would it sound?
Conduct in the Workplace
 Supervisors
 Are expected to maintain a productive,
non-hostile work environment.
 Are expected to educate employees about
rules and conduct that violates policies
involving jokes, comments, actions,
electronic devices, etc.
STOP
Employee Performance/Behavior
Counseling
 Discipline
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Begin with the end in mind, what do you want to
accomplish?
Take the personalities out of it
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Everyone else is watching
Steps for a counseling session
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Identify the problem - be specific
In writing – dates, times, members present and
circumstances
Let employee give input and listen to the
employee’s point of view
Stay on task an on topic
Define future objectives, expectations/performance
Calm voice, no emotion
Steps for Counseling Session
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Does the employee need anything from you?
Get commitment from employee.
Show confidence that employee can and will
improve.
Schedule a follow-up session.
Document
Calm voice, no emotion
What if the employee becomes angry?
Discipline
Assume nothing – Fact Find
 Documentation
 Proper notifications – Supervisor, HR
 What punishment fits the crime?
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Fair, consistent, objective
Has the same or similar offense occurred prior?
 What were the intentions of the employee?
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When are you required to offer union representation?
Employee Discipline
What is the purpose? (Change behavior)
 Some employees need this process to
change
 Fact find - Investigatory interview
 What is your organizations past practice?
 Notification of Supervisors
 Union Representation
 Human Resources
 Documentation
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Don’t Personalize
Summary
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Study leadership with intention
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Lead with humility, character and Integrity
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Work to develop your leadership skills
Clearly define your expectations
Help others to succeed
Believe in people before they believe in themselves
Questions?
Be Safe!
14-AUG-2010
Hunter said he was in shock for most of the time after
the floor collapsed. Much later - when he realized he
had failed to answer a radio call - he relieved himself
of duty and headed home to Monroe in what he
described as the longest drive of his life.
His wife, Etta, said when he telephoned her she could
barely understand him.
"The closest that I can describe it is that it was like a
wail. Sheer agony," she said. "The pain of still being
alive when somebody that you care about is dead."
Hunter's spouse said in the future, fire officials should
accompany an officer home in such circumstances.
"For a while, I couldn't see how I could ever go back to
work," Hunter said. "I took a leave for almost one
month, then I was ready to go back," he said.
In all, 30 firefighters took leaves for ailments ranging
from stress to burns.
Seattle Times Jan 5, 1995