The Firefighter`s Bookshelf
JOHN LEE COOK, JR.
THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE
Stephen R. Covey
(Simon and Schuster, 1989)
When I joined the volunteer fire company in my hometown in 1969, there were no minimum training requirements. Beginning the night I was voted into the department, I enjoyed all the same rights and privileges as the most senior member of the company.
In 1972, I became a career firefighter, and I once again discovered that there were no minimum training standards. Metropolitan fire departments conducted rookie schools, but small departments like mine relied strictly on on-the-job training.
Fortunately, my state adopted a minimum training standard for career firefighters in 1973. The state standard grandfathered everyone employed prior to the adoption of the standard and excluded volunteers. Now, every career firefighter in the state has at least a minimum amount of training before being allowed to fight a fire. The events in my state coincided with the national movement to adopt a minimum training standard.
In 1971, the Joint Council of National Fire Service Organizations created the National Professional Qualifications Board to facilitate the development of a national performance standard for firefighters. In November 1974, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) adopted the first edition of NFPA 1001, Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications. NFPA 1001 is now widely used throughout the United States as the minimum training standard for firefighters, both career and volunteer. Although I cannot empirically prove that the adoption of a minimum training standard has improved firefighter safety, I intuitively believe this to be the case.
WHAT ABOUT OFFICER TRAINING?
With the adoption of minimum standards for firefighters, the path to becoming a firefighter became more certain. A person need only score high enough on the entrance exam to become a career firefighter or join the local volunteer fire company and complete the minimum entry-level training course. But how does a firefighter become an officer? The path becomes less certain at this point. Although minimum training standards are common for firefighters, many jurisdictions have been reluctant to adopt them for officers, even though a national consensus standard has existed since 1976, NFPA 1021, Standard for Fire Officer Professional Qualifications.
Unfortunately, an officer`s badge does not come with instructions, and I have observed that very few departments provide a formal training program for their officers. Therefore, most officers are left to their own devices if they want to increase their personal knowledge and improve their skills. Lucky individuals will find a wise and experienced officer to mentor them. Otherwise, it is simply trial and error. To assist officers and those who would become officers increase their skills and make career progression a little easier, I offer some personal insights gained during my 30 years in the fire service.
OFFICER “INVESTMENT” PROGRAM
My first advice to anyone who is an officer or who wants to be an officer is to invest in yourself. Like any form of investment, the earlier the investment process begins and the more contributions made, the greater the payoff. Unfortunately, there is a parallel with an individual`s personal life. When a person is young and starting a family, he may not be able to afford a house or have enough money to make regular contributions to a savings or retirement account. Likewise, a young person is often limited by time and may not possess the financial resources necessary to pursue a college degree or to attend formalized training programs.
Personal achievement requires sacrifice as well. One of the least taxing and most effective forms of investment is to develop the habit of reading early in one`s career. Reading can help a person raise the odds of becoming an officer and improving personal and technical skills after promotion. Reading training manuals and books about tactics, strategy, and command helps to develop an officer`s technical skills. The lessons taught in the manuals and textbooks should then be reinforced by live training evolutions and actual emergency incidents.
Management and leadership skills are equally important, because the majority of an officer`s time is spent supervising people and dealing with the various personnel problems that occur in a fire station. Reading classic and contemporary books about management and leadership is an excellent way to improve knowledge. Actual practice and personal interaction should then reinforce the knowledge gained by reading. A person does not have to be an officer, however, to be a leader or a manager. There are many opportunities to lead and to manage in every aspect of a person`s life. This is excellent preparation for becoming an officer.
To encourage the development of an effective reading habit, I will review and recommend in each column one or more books that can help prospective officers to achieve success. You may wish to purchase the books for your personal library. Most of the books are available in paperback or can be found in a quality used bookstore. They are also available at the local public library.
THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE
I chose this book because the author`s concepts work equally as well in an individual`s personal life as in his professional life. Therefore, I would recommend that if you read only one book, it should be this one.
Covey`s seven habits are as follows:
Be proactive. Create your own future instead of simply reacting to the events that occur. It is not what happens to us but our response to what happens that counts. The fire service is by tradition reaction based, and this may be a difficult habit to develop and practice.
Begin with the end in mind. Where do you want to go, and what do you want to accomplish in your life and/or career? Each person should set goals and objectives for himself and develop an inner compass, based on his personal values and beliefs, that will always provide direction in the pursuit of goals and objectives.
Put first things first. Address first the issues that are both urgent and important instead of focusing time and energy on things that are neither urgent nor important but that nevertheless demand attention.
Think win/win. Always seek mutual benefit in all human interactions. There is always a price to pay if one or both parties lose. Find solutions that benefit everyone whenever possible.
Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. Always listen with the intent to fully understand the other person, and make sure that your needs and wishes are also understood before arriving at a solution to a problem.
Synergize. No single person is as strong or as smart as we all are together. Tap into the skills and talents of others. Firefighters are resourceful and collectively possess a great deal of skill and knowledge. Allow others to help you succeed.
Sharpen the saw. Preserve and enhance the greatest asset you have–you. (Although each habit is important, I am going to focus on this habit.) Sharpening the saw means that a person should constantly seek to renew the four dimensions of his nature–physical, spiritual, social/emotional, and mental. The fire service has recognized the importance of the physical dimension for some time now, and many progressive departments have comprehensive wellness programs in place, which help to sharpen and maintain physical well-being.
The spiritual dimension is a person`s core center and a commitment to his value system. A wise old captain who worked for me used to say, “The light shines from above.” This was another way of saying that an officer, particularly the fire chief, constantly demonstrates by his actions, words, and deeds what he believes in and what he values as important. The chief has to walk the talk to be credible with the troops.
The social/emotional dimension is a person`s relationship with others and focuses on keeping one`s life in harmony with one`s true principles and values. Some fire departments have addressed the social/emotional dimension by offering conflict resolution training, implementing programs that assist employees with personal and emotional problems, and offering crisis stress debriefing following critical incidents. We are finally beginning to understand that a person`s work life affects his home life and that a person`s home life impacts his work life.
The mental dimension focuses on a person`s mental development and study discipline. Many firefighters discover early in their careers that paramedics routinely do better on promotional exams. Paramedics are not smarter than everyone else–they simply have more practice at taking tests and have developed the discipline required to study more effectively for an exam. Over the years, I have known many excellent, knowledgeable firefighters who could not get promoted because they did not have the skill to score well on a promotional exam.
Tragically, many firefighters do not read or study as a matter of routine; they wait until an exam is posted before they begin to study. In many departments, promotional opportunities are rare; thus, a person`s study skills become rusty over time. The mind, like the rest of the body, needs to be exercised. Reading and learning new things are forms of exercise that renew and expand the mind. Fortunately, all learning does not have to be work-related. It is okay to read for fun, and it is equally important to improve all aspects of one`s life. The important thing is to read.
Given the competition for your time, it is perhaps best to focus on quality rather than quantity. Your time will be better spent reading a few really good books instead of reading many marginal books. A librarian or a bookstore can provide guidance in this area. This column will also help you to identify some of those books.
JOHN LEE COOK, JR., a consultant and writer, retired from the fire service after 30 years of service. He had been career chief of Conroe and Denton, Texas, and director of fire and rescue for Loudoun County, Virginia. He has a bachelor`s degree in business administration from Sam Houston State University and a master`s degree in public administration from Southwest Texas State University. He is the author of Standard Operating Procedures and Guidelines (Fire Engineering, 1998).
