Value-Added Leadership

At FDIC on Tuesday, March 22, Phoenix (AZ) Fire Department Chief (Ret.) Alan Brunacini conducted a discussion between the young and the old at his annual “Value-Added Leadership” workshop.

The always engaging Brunacini spoke personably to an attentitive audience of firefighters, which included his sons, on the necessity of each generation understanding the most recent batch of new recruits. Topics included how the younger generation’s technological upbringing can keep them from understanding the concept of manual labor, which is truly the basis for the fire service. He stressed how members of the older generation should take the responsibility of teaching them this type of work, which is at the heart of the fire service.

“We must take them by the hand and show them what we expect out of them as both firefighters and human beings.” 

Brunacini spoke reverently about this new age group, but he also warned that this new, electronically fluent generation, which now has the ability and know-how to create both audio and visual documents of any moment and at any locale during the day. This increases the chance of inappropriate behavior being seen and heard. 

“Think before you speak. Don’t do anything that feels good when you’re mad. And don’t look down at anybody.”

He also delved in the younger generation’s issues with seniority. “If you want to be successful in the organization, you must understand this system. The youngest must earn their keep.”

Brunacini stated, “In our class, we discussed how the relationship between Chief Smith and Firefighter Smith gets acted out when Mrs. Smith calls us for help. How we perform on that worst day of her life is really showtime for everything the community has invested in our department. We are going to have an opportunity to really examine in our class what Mrs. Smith actually remembers (and what she does not remember) about the time we spent together when she calls us for assistance. We will talk a lot about the effect of added value service.” Ultimately, Brunacini’s point remains the same: Understanding and comraderie between the generations in the fire service will ultimately spill over into its relationships with the customer.  

Four Firefighters Hurt in Fire in Abandoned Harlem (NY) Building

Four firefighters were injured battling a massive fire that tore through an abandoned Harlem building where jazz icon Billie Holiday reportedly once lived.