Many say that dealing with personnel issues is the most time-consuming challenge leaders face. I submit that much of the time spent on personnel issues could be eliminated if we, as leaders, were better at managing culture change in our departments. Culture change isn鈥檛 always a comfortable conversation, but it鈥檚 a crucial one, so let鈥檚 get uncomfortable!
Change is not comfortable
If I were to ask you when you are most comfortable, your answer would likely be something like:
- 鈥淲hen I am off duty.鈥�
- 鈥淲hen I am in a familiar place.鈥�
- 鈥淲hen I am with familiar people.鈥�
- 鈥淲hen I am doing familiar things.鈥�
Time off and positions of comfort are where we re-energize, maybe coping with all the difficult things we see on the job or even just catching up on lost sleep. Spending our time off the job, barring the challenges of mental anguish, we should be able to come back to work and be ready for what鈥檚 next. And if we want to learn and grow in the process, we must be prepared to get uncomfortable, because our lives don鈥檛 always fit into those four statements above.
We鈥檝e all heard the saying, 鈥渢he only constant in life is change.鈥� If change is inevitable, why have we historically been so horrible at it? In the simplest of terms, it is because change takes us from a place of comfort to a place of the unknown 鈥� the uncomfortable. Humans simply don鈥檛 like to be uncomfortable.
The culture of accountability
I recently had a discussion with a chief about how memebrs are routinely reprimanded for bad behavior on the job, particularly related to harassment or discrimination, and yet we continue to struggle to simply wear seat belts on our fire trucks and ambulances or waist straps on our SCBAs 鈥� with no consequences.
At first, I thought the answer was easy in that there鈥檚 a federal law that establishes the parameters of much of what we know today affecting harassment and discrimination. Conversely, there is no federal law requiring seat belt or waist strap use. There IS a federal law requiring seat belts to be installed on all vehicles except buses (which is still mind-boggling to me); however, the use of seat belts was voluntary until New York became the first state to require seat belt use in 1984. Today, the state of New Hampshire is the only state to not require adult seat belt use (equally mind-boggling to me that there is a state still not following suit). So, while there鈥檚 no federal law requiring adult seat belt use, there are 49 state laws requiring them to be used.
Why are we allowing our members to consciously break the law? We all know certain first responders who refuse to wear a seat belt, even though there are 49 state laws requiring them to do so. Where is our culture of accountability here?
Make no mistake, this is an accountability issue that pushes some beyond appropriate behavior. In fact, I was part of a department where, after a seat belt edict came down where battalion chiefs were instructed to write up anybody whom they witnessed without a seat belt, firefighters had navy T-shirts made with an orange strip resembling a seatbelt, so if the BC saw them on the road, it would look like they were wearing their seat belts. Once this was discovered, the chief took appropriate steps to cease that activity. Where was our culture of accountability at the personal and company officer level there?
Driving dangers
Red traffic lights and stop signs are NOT suggestions, even if you have emergency lights and sirens running. While state laws and local policies differ, most either require a stop or allow responding apparatus to proceed through red traffic lights and stop signs with 鈥渄ue caution鈥� or in a manner that they are 鈥減repared to stop.鈥� I鈥檝e watched several videos this week (cell phone and dash cam) that show everything from two fire engines wrecking at a four-way intersection, to an SUV that slowed but did not stop, T-boning a car in an intersection, to an ambulance with total disregard for the red light being T-boned, overturning and sliding. The right of way is NOT guaranteed to you in any manner of response. We must be granted the right of way. It is the driver鈥檚 responsibility to ensure that all other traffic is stopped before they can be reasonably assured that they have been granted the right of way. Where is our culture of accountability?
Speed and priority of response is another issue that has many variables and differing policies across jurisdictions. I encourage departments to give serious consideration to categorizing responses as something similar to 鈥渉ot鈥� (lights and sirens) when life safety and property conservation is at risk and 鈥渃old鈥� (normal driving) when life safety and property conservation is not at risk. A recurring malfunctioning fire alarm would most likely not be a hot response. Yes, I am aware of two incidents, TWO, in 43 years where that alarm was something more than an alarm. You know your area, you know your response conditions 鈥� make the right decision based on what you know or suspect. We need to have better accountability here.
After-action reviews
Shelves in fire departments across the country are littered with lessons learned spelled out in AARs. We know that every one of the things I mention above has been identified as a lesson learned or a contributing factor in multiple AARs, some completed internally and some by third parties. Citing seat belts, if these were truly lessons learned, we wouldn鈥檛 continue to see firefighters thrown from fire engine wrecks. In my 43 years, I haven鈥檛 read ONE investigatory confirmation of a 鈥渟eat belt malfunction鈥� that would have allowed a restrained firefighter to be ejected from the vehicle. Where鈥檚 our culture of accountability?
Take accountability action
Just like the dinosaurs that are not coming back, neither will rubber boots, bucket brigades, horse-drawn fire engines or back-step riding. While sometimes kicking and screaming, we have adapted to those changes. Many of the changes in safety are rooted in the names of firefighters who died in the line of duty 鈥� you likely know some of them.
We MUST hold ourselves accountable, both when we鈥檙e right and when we鈥檙e wrong. The next time you consciously choose to break the law or push the envelope with any of the topics we鈥檝e discussed here, add 鈥測our honor鈥� to the end of your explanation because that鈥檚 where you鈥檙e headed, as either a witness or defendant.
Be prepared to have the difficult decisions you鈥檒l need to have to improve your culture of accountability, and simply just do the right thing (JDTRT), for you, for your crew, for your family and for your community.
