BY STEVEN M. De LISI
Why do we in the fire service do what we do, and how do we do it? Is it because of training? Training can be described as an “observable change in behavior,” yet, all too often, this observable change in behavior exists on a temporary basis, while firefighters are in the training environment under the direct influence of instructors who threaten them with failure and peers who ridicule them for their inability or unwillingness to conform to expected department norms. On return to the fire station, many firefighters revert to their same old ways. These old ways may be comfortable-“we’ve always done it like this”-or easier, but, regretfully, the old ways may also be downright dangerous and possibly illegal.
Attempting to change behavior is a daunting task for instructors. Is there an influence in the fire service more powerful than an instructor’s bark or the fear of retribution for lackluster performance on the drill ground? More dominant than the volumes of departmental policies, procedures, and guidelines that line the walls in most fire stations? Even more frightening than the dozens of “death-threat” warning labels found plastered on new apparatus? There certainly is! This overwhelming power that influences our day-to-day actions, our decision making, and, ultimately, our fate is organizational culture.
Edgar H. Schein, in his article “Defining Organizational Culture,” explains the culture of a group as follows:
- A pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group has learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems 1
Sound all too familiar? Well, if you’ve ever sat in a firehouse kitchen and listened to the “informal leader” espousing views on the fire service and just how “muffed up” everything is, well then, yes, you’ve heard it. Of course, the simple answer is to take these individuals and all who subscribe to their errant ways and pound them into submission with more training and more policies. But, before you begin, pay heed to the words from noted authorities on leadership, who warn us: “One of the biggest mistakes leaders can make is ignoring the realities of team ground rules and the collective emotions in the group and assuming that the force of their leadership alone is enough to drive people’s behavior.”2 So much for the “my way or the highway” leadership style unless your department has unlimited resources of revenue and recruits.
So what do we do? Eliminate culture altogether? That’s not likely: “Culture is the integrated pattern of human behavior that includes thought, speech, action, and artifacts and depends on man’s capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations.”1, 283 Well, unless we’re intent on getting rid of people, we’ll never get rid of organizational culture. If there’s ever been an organization that transmits knowledge to succeeding generations, the fire service is it. We just need to make sure the right message gets transmitted.
It has also been said, “The only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture.”1, 273 If that’s the case, consider the following suggestions for doing so:3
• Identify and communicate the core values and principles that guide organizational behavior and decision making.
• Specify behaviors that exemplify the organization’s values or principles (and by inference, those that do not), and lead by example.
• Develop a method by which individuals can receive feedback on their performance and behavior.
• Ensure that the reward or reinforcement systems-whether monetary, such as compensation, or less tangible, such as inclusion and access-are consistent with organizational values and principles, recognize and promote desirable behaviors, and punish undesirable behaviors.
• Personally assume the responsibility of championing the desired culture, and recognize the need for redundancy and reinforcement concerning what is expected and what is negotiable.
Of course, words alone will never change behaviors. Nor will hundreds of motivational posters proclaiming “Our employees are our most important asset” or “Safety is the number one priority.” At least, this will not happen while your engine is parked in the station with known defective brakes or when you witness dangerous people who do dangerous things geting promoted all around you. Instead, remember, “What gets rewarded gets repeated.”
Do you want to encourage dangerous acts despite countless hours of training and volumes of polices to the contrary? Just ignore those who engage in these death-defying feats or, better yet, promote these same individuals based on your personal preferences or on their performance in an assessment center. But remember, some of the most irreverent members of your organization may be on their best behavior during a promotional interview and fully capable of reciting organizational values they’ll soon ignore in practice once they’ve achieved their goal.
Do you want a better solution? Lead by example. Recognize and promote desirable behaviors. Punish undesirable behaviors. It sounds simple, yet when leaders fail to acknowledge undesirable behaviors-or worse, personally engage in these acts themselves-changing organizational culture can be nearly impossible. And for those who have struggled in “two-faced” and “Do as I say, not as I do” organizations, they know all too well that cynicism and a lack of trust run rampant. The first step to undoing this troublesome legacy is to hold all employees accountable. All employees!
Yet, there are a number of stumbling blocks to employee accountability, not the least of which is ego. Richard L. Daft and Robert H. Lengel in Fusion Leadership state that one’s ego is “attached to material, financial, and external possessions, including one’s position in the hierarchy, the boss’s approval, and traditional control. When ego is attached to the old way, there is little room for subtle potentials such as vision, courage, heart, and communications to awaken and express themselves.”4 In other words, your ego may be SO BIG that you can’t, or won’t, recognize the need to change or be willing to communicate the need for change to anyone in your organization. You just continue to do what you do because that’s the way you want to do it.
As one alternative, Daft and Lengel offer the term “dropping your tools,” which they refer to as a “metaphor for giving up ego.” They explain that dropping your tools allows you to unlearn, detach from, and leave behind the old way when responding to a crisis. The old way is a bag of heavy tools that, if held on to, threatens the life of an organization.”(4) Of course, your own life could hang in the balance as well.
So drop your tools, be willing to change, lead by example, and be accountable. However, those who embrace this dramatic paradigm shift and accept responsibility to orchestrate an improved organizational culture and, ultimately, a better and safer fire service must be provided the opportunity, the reinforcement, and the reward for doing so. ■
Endnotes
1. J. Thomas Wren, ed. The Leader’s Companion (New York: The Free Press, 1995), 279.
2. Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee. Primal Leadership (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2002), 176.
3. Francis Hesselbein, Marshall Goldsmith, and Richard Beckhard, eds. The Leader of the Future (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996), 207.
4. Richard L. Daft and Robert H. Lengel, Fusion Leadership ((San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2000), 255.
■ STEVEN M. De LISI, a 25-year veteran of the fire service, is deputy chief of the Virginia Air National Guard Fire and Rescue in Henrico County. He has served as a company officer for the Newport News (VA) Fire Department and as a regional training manager for the Virginia Department of Fire Programs. He is a certified hazardous materials specialist and previously served with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, Technological Hazards Division. De Lisi recently received the Chief Fire Officer Designation from the Commission on Fire Accreditation International and has a master’s degree in public safety leadership.