Fire and Emergency Services
Company Officer — Lesson 2
Fire and Emergency Services
Company Officer, 4th Edition
Chapter 2 — Leadership
Learning Objectives
1. Match leadership terms to their definitions.
2. Recall information about the leadership trait
theory.
3. Select facts about the behavioral theory of
leadership.
4. Identify characteristics of various situational
leadership theories.
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Learning Objectives
5. Choose correct responses about the
principle-centered leadership theory.
6. Match levels of leadership to their
definitions.
7. Identify characteristics of the basic
leadership, situational leadership, socialchange, and alpha leadership models.
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Learning Objectives
8. Select facts about developing leadership
skills.
9. Select facts about leadership concepts.
10. Identify various types of power.
11. Identify personality attributes needed and
steps to be taken to achieve command
presence.
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Services Company Officer
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Leadership Terms
• Supervising — Act of directing, overseeing, or
controlling the activities and behavior of
employees who are assigned to a particular
supervisor
• Managing — Act of controlling, monitoring, or
directing a project, program, situation, or
organization through the use of authority,
discipline, or persuasion
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Leadership Terms
• Leading — Act of controlling, directing,
conducting, guiding, and administering
through the use of personal behavior traits or
personality characteristics that motivate
employees to the successful completion of an
organization's goals
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Leadership Trait Theory
• Although many have attempted to determine
the specific character traits that make a
person an effective leader, no single trait was
found to be consistently present in all
examples.
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Services Company Officer
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Examples of Leadership Traits
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Supervisory ability
Decisiveness
Intelligence
Self-assurance
Initiative
Desire for professional success
Integrity
Personal security
Sense of priority
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Services Company Officer
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(Continued)
Examples of Leadership Traits
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Vision
Industriousness
Interpersonal skills
Empowerment
Innovation and creativity
Consistency
Preparedness
Living in the future
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Services Company Officer
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Basic Leadership Style
• Autocratic
• Democratic
• Laissez-faire
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Services Company Officer
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Two-Dimensional Leadership Style
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Services Company Officer
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Contingency Leadership Theory
• Is based on the belief that there is no single
best leadership style
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Services Company Officer
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Contemporary Leadership Styles
• Charismatic
• Transformational
• Transactional
• Symbolic
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Services Company Officer
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Theory X and Theory Y
• Theory X leaders believe:
– The average worker is lazy, dislikes work,
and will avoid it whenever possible.
– Because of their dislike of work, most
workers must be coerced into performing
adequately by threats of punishment.
– The average worker prefers to be closely
supervised and shuns responsibility
because of a general lack of ambition. (Continued)
Fire and Emergency
Services Company Officer
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Theory X and Theory Y
• Theory Y leaders believe:
– The average worker does not inherently
dislike work – in fact, most workers feel
work can be as natural as play or rest.
– Workers will perform adequately with selfdirection and self-control without coercion.
– Workers will support organizational
objectives if they associate those
objectives with their personal goals. (Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Theory X and Theory Y
• Theory Y leaders believe:
– The average worker learns not only to
accept responsibility but, in fact, also
learns to seek responsibility.
– Only a small part of the worker’s
intelligence, ingenuity, and imagination is
ever harnessed, but with proper
leadership, workers will excel.
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Theory X and Theory Y
• Few leaders subscribe completely to either
Theory X or Theory Y. Instead, a leader who
is said to be a Theory X type probably leans
more toward that direction, but still holds
some Theory Y views as well.
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Theory X and Theory Y
• Generally, Theory X leaders are more
concerned with production or the results of
labor and believe that they must constantly
push their workers to perform because
workers are not self-motivated.
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Theory X and Theory Y
• Generally, Theory Y leaders are more
concerned with people and believe that
workers will be motivated to produce because
it is human nature, unless they are stifled by
management.
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Services Company Officer
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Theory Z
• Says that involved workers are the key to
increased productivity and that each worker
can perform autonomously (without
supervision) because all workers are
trustworthy
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Theory Z
• Basic concepts:
– Leadership style that focuses on the people
– Employees remaining with the company for life
– Close relationship between work and social
life
– Workers’ goal to produce economic success
nurtures togetherness
– Participative approach to decision-making
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Services Company Officer
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Leadership-Continuum Theory
• Leaders that embrace empowerment
understand that it is possible to move along a
continuum from one extreme to another,
using the most effective and efficient
leadership style based on the specific
situation.
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Leadership-Continuum Theory
• The list of leader actions begins from the
autocratic end of the continuum and
continues as follows:
– Makes the decision and announces it
without discussion or employee
involvement (Tell)
– Makes the decision and then sells it to
employees based on why it is in the
organization's best interest (Sell)
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Leadership-Continuum Theory
• The list of leader actions begins from the
autocratic end of the continuum and
continues as follows (continued):
– Presents ideas to members and invites
their questions (Consult)
– Presents a tentative decision to members
that is subject to change (Consult)
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Leadership-Continuum Theory
• The list of leader actions begins from the
autocratic end of the continuum and
continues as follows (continued):
– Presents the problem to members, asks for
suggestions, and then makes the decision
based on the best recommendation
(Consult)
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Leadership-Continuum Theory
• The list of leader actions begins from the
autocratic end of the continuum and
continues as follows (continued):
– Defines limits on a decision and asks
members to make the decision (Share)
– Sets limitations and allows members to
make all decisions (Share)
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Services Company Officer
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Path-Goal Theory
• This theory is based on employees’
perceptions of the unit’s goals and objectives.
• The leader determines the best of four styles
(depending on employees’ perceptions) to
use in influencing members in the
accomplishment of those goals.
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Path-Goal Theory
• Leadership styles
– Directive
– Supportive
– Participative
– Achievement-oriented
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Results-Based Leadership Theory
• Explains that leadership ability should not be
judged by personal traits alone but by the
results those traits have on the success of the
organization
• Says that effective leadership is the result of
personal attributes multiplied by the results
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Services Company Officer
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Principle-Centered
Leadership Theory
• Focuses on the use of basic values or
principles to lead an organization
• Suggests that there are certain core ethical
values on which individuals base decisions
and live their lives
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Principle-Centered
Leadership Theory
• Focuses on value-driven leadership and
proactively living one’s own life versus
enduring a reactive life, always feeling
controlled by another’s actions
• States that the leader uses certain values to
guide internal and external personal relations,
make decisions, create policy, and determine
success
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Principle-Centered
Leadership Theory
• Leaders use certain values, including:
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Integrity
Excellence
Respect for the individual
Harmony
Loyalty
Faith
Honesty
Courage
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Services Company Officer
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Levels of Leadership
• Level 1 leader — Highly capable individual:
Makes productive contributions through
talent, knowledge, skills, and good work
habits
• Level 2 leader — Contributing team member:
Contributes individual capabilities to the
achievement of group objectives and works
effectively with others in a group setting
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Levels of Leadership
• Level 3 leader — Competent manager:
Organizes people and resources toward the
effective and efficient pursuit of
predetermined objectives
• Level 4 leader — Effective leader: Catalyzes
commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear
and compelling vision, stimulating higher
performance standards
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Levels of Leadership
• Level 5 leader
– Executive: Builds enduring greatness
through a paradoxical blend of personal
humility and professional willpower
– Has characteristics that the others do not
– Has strong personal character and humility
and is focused on a vision of a goal
– Is an example for fire officers to strive for
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Services Company Officer
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Basic Leadership Model
• Is based on the theory that divides leaders
into three categories
– Autocratic
– Democratic
– Laissez-faire
• Places leadership on a continuum from one
extreme (autocratic) to another (laissez-faire)
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Basic Leadership Model
• A company officer should be a balanced
leader – one who approaches leadership
from a moderate or centered point on the line
– Balanced leadership fosters respect and trust.
– The balanced leader leads by example.
– Officers who strive to balance leadership will
follow the continuum and use the three basic
leadership theory categories at appropriate
times.
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Services Company Officer
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Situational Leadership Model
• Depends on matching the leader’s style to the
maturity of the members of the unit or
subordinates
• Maturity of employee is based on:
– Ability to perform the task
– Willingness to perform the task
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Situational Leadership Model
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Situational Leadership Model
• Has four readiness levels based on the
elements of maturity
– Telling
– Selling
– Participating
– Delegating
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Services Company Officer
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Social-Change Model
• Is a value-based model of leadership that
places service at the core for social change
• Goals:
– Promote in individual self-knowledge and
understanding of one’s interests, talents, and
values
– Increase leadership competence in order to
cause positive cultural change in an institution,
community, or society
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Social-Change Model
• Individual subdivision — Critical values:
– Consciousness of self and others: Awareness
of values, emotions, attitudes, and beliefs that
motivate people to action
– Congruence: Consistency of thoughts,
feelings, and actions toward others
– Commitment: Personal investment of time and
energy for the duration of the project
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Social-Change Model
• Group subdivision — Critical values:
– Common purpose: Shared goals and values
defined by active participation of group members
– Collaboration: Application of mutual trust as a
means of empowering others and self
– Controversy with civility: Acknowledgement that
group members will inevitably hold different
views and differences must be addressed in a
civil values-based, respectful manner
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Social-Change Model
• Community/society subdivision — Critical
value: Citizenship: Acknowledgement that the
members of the group have both individual
rights and responsibilities to the community
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Services Company Officer
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Alpha Leadership Model
• Is based on the concept that the leader
involves followers in the process of
accomplishing a goal within the limits of the
system
• Is a relationship between four elements:
leader, followers, system, and goal
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Alpha Leadership Model
• Alpha leaders must be aware of larger system
and goals by applying one of core skills:
– Anticipating
– Aligning
– Acting
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Services Company Officer
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Developing Leadership Skills
• Create a list of accepted leadership traits,
which becomes the criteria or benchmark
standard that is compared to the individual
• Perform an anonymous survey of the
company officer’s subordinates, peers, and
superiors in a 360-degree feedback
evaluation that includes objective responses
to questions about the officer’s leadership
traits
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Developing Leadership Skills
• Use a professionally developed and
administered personality profile such as the
Myers-Briggs Profile or the Acumen Survey
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Services Company Officer
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Paths to Improving
Leadership Skills
• Courses
• Seminars/workshops
• Literature readings
• Counselors/mentors
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Services Company Officer
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Leadership Concepts —
A Good Leader:
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Sees opportunities
Identifies challenges
Communicates
Plans for success
Builds trust
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Services Company Officer
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Leadership Concepts
• Great leadership that is common to
successful leaders includes the following
actions:
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Challenge the system
Inspire a shared vision
Enable others to act
Model the way
Encourage the heart
Establish priorities
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Services Company Officer
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Reward Power
• Is based on one person’s perception of
another’s ability to grant rewards
• Increases in direct relation to the amount of
rewards an employee sees a leader or
supervisor controlling
• Examples
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Services Company Officer
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Coercive Power
• Is based on subordinates’ perceptions of the
leader’s authority to punish.
• Strength is not proportional to the authority to
punish but rather to the subordinates’
perceptions of the leader’s authority to punish
• Examples
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Services Company Officer
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Identification Power
• Power is derived from someone’s desire to
identify with and emulate another.
• Referent or personal power — One’s
perception that they have power because of a
relationship with someone who does have
power.
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Services Company Officer
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Expert Power
• Power is based on one person’s perception
that another’s knowledge and expertise can
help in the first person’s endeavors.
• In any given situation, the one with the most
knowledge often has the most power, even if
that person does not have the most authority.
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Services Company Officer
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Legitimate Power
• Power is derived because of the organizational
structure of the department/organization.
• This type of power is derived from one of three
sources:
– Shared values
– Acceptance of a social structure
– Sanction of a legitimizing agent
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Services Company Officer
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Personality Attributes Necessary
to Achieve Command Presence
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Self-confidence
Trustworthiness
Consistency
Responsibility
Acceptance
Expertise
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Services Company Officer
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Steps to Create
Command Presence
• Step 1: Know what the situation is.
• Step 2: know what resources are available to
apply to the situation.
• Step 3: Know the strategy and tactics
required to resolve the situation.
• Step 4: Listen to all points of view.
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Services Company Officer
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(Continued)
Steps to Create
Command Presence
• Step 5: Make the decision.
• Step 6: Take responsibility for the decision.
• Step 7: Implement the decision.
• Step 8: Evaluate the decision.
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Services Company Officer
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Summary
• When a member of the fire and emergency
services is selected, elected, or promoted to
company officer, that person’s worldview
changes. Both responsibility and authority
increase with the new position. To make this
transition, a company officer must have a
strong foundation based on self-awareness,
which will provide emotional stability required
later.
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Summary
• A company officer must be able to recognize
the various leadership models and the
theories they are based on and determine
which model is best by considering the
situation, personnel, organization, and
personal leadership abilities. A company
officer must be able to put all the theories and
concepts into action and lead by example.
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Summary
• The recognition of leadership skills
development, leadership concepts, and types
of power and their use are also important
knowledge areas for company officers.
Recognizing, understanding, and adopting
command presence will apply leadership
concepts to everyday situations.
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Services Company Officer
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Discussion Questions
1. Define supervising, managing, and leading.
2. Name three leadership traits.
3. Discuss the differences between the
autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire
leadership styles.
4. Discuss contemporary leadership styles.
5. What is the difference between a Theory X
leader and a Theory Y leader?
(Continued)
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Services Company Officer
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Discussion Questions
6. What is the leadership-continuum theory?
7. Describe a Level 1 leader.
8. Describe a Level 5 leader.
9. Describe characteristics of the socialchange model.
10. Describe three types of power.
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Services Company Officer
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