The other day I was told that my article about managing change was going to be featured on the International Association of Fire Chiefs website as an example of the type of information available on the subscription service that I write for. The staff at the IAFC told me that they have been receiving a number of comments about this specific article and the the Director had even said something about it. The funny thing about managing change is that we’ve been talking about it since the early 90’s; funny how history repeats itself. Here is the link, I hope you enjoy it!
Category Archives: Weekly Devotions
As far as it depends on you
One of the things that a new supervisor is tempted to do is to seek revenge from someone who was once a peer. “Wait until he works for me, I’ll show him” or “I can’t wait until I’m the boss, I’ll show these people”. These are dangerous thoughts and beliefs that will lead to certain failure for new supervisors. When we promote into leadership, we must put aside these desires to seek revenge. An important responsibility that all supervisors have is to create peaceful work places. Some supervisors might consider this “hand holding” and will say “they’re all adults, why do I need to be the one to hold them together?” Your job as the leader is to show people the way to act toward each other and to demonstrate what is expected in the workplace. Peaceful, isn’t saying no confrontation or no discipline. Sometimes, in order to achieve peace you must have a little confrontation. Peace in the workplace opens creativity, which allows people to feel free to experiment with ideas, and then become willing to collaborate and share ideas. Peace makes supervising and leading much easier.
Romans 12:18 – “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
The bible teaches us to live in peace with one another, love your neighbor as yourself. Living this way allows us to reflect God’s love toward us by loving each other. How better can Christians show love than by living in peace? This is the message of this verse; “as far as it depends on you”. It all depends on you; how you react to a situation or how you create a situation. We are taught to “stick up for ourselves” and not be bullied. We’re not taught to avoid conflict simply to live at peace. Conflict can be good and healthy for relationships. We should try to find common ground, work out the differences and keep our focus on the issue not the person we have a conflict with. Have the difficult conversation. Starting by making it safe for everyone, stay focused on the issue and how it makes you feel rather than what you think the other person is saying. This is not a time for assumptions. When we deal with one another in an open manner, we can reach mutual understanding much quicker. By living in harmony, we live by God’s word and show others that as God so loved the world, so can we.
The Heart’s Reflection
There is a saying “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” What is in your heart will reflect on your leadership style. If you are caring for your people, deflecting stress from all angles, sincerely working with them so they can: achieve more, learn more and, reach their goals then your heart is in the right place. Do you say “I want to develop my team so that they can take my place” but are then too busy to spend time with them in one on one career coaching? What are people seeing on your heart? If you’re old enough to remember “Leave it to Beaver”, we all rolled our eyes when Eddie Haskell would say “That sure is nice dress Mrs. Cleaver” when we knew he was up to no good. No one ever thought of Eddie as a kind young man that would never cause trouble. We saw what was on his heart. In leadership positions, we must strive to have our words and actions match. It will take more time to recruit, train and develop new employees than it will to coach them and help them be successful. You will also have a more engaged and satisfied workforce which will make your job much easier.
Proverbs 27:19 – “As water reflects our face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.”
This verse is about our hearts as Christians. What is on your heart? Do you attend church weekly and sing the songs but go out on Monday and terrorize your workplace by showing no compassion for others or “steal time” by putting in less than a full day so that you can get what is coming to you? God knows what is your heart! Putting God in His rightful place on your heart may take time and it won’t be easy, but God is understanding and has compassion as you work toward it. For many of us, putting God first is a hard transition since we, as humans, tend to be so self-centered. Introduce God into your conversations at home, it may feel uncomfortable at first but that will go away. Daily devotional reading will help you understand the depth of God’s grace and love for you. As God comes into your heart, that will be reflected outward in how you lead others. You’ll be more understanding, have compassion and show forgiveness. What does your reflection look like today?
Success vs. Significance
I was fortunate in my career to have a number of people who helped me along the way. Sometimes they were just there to listen and other times they offered really sound advice that helped guide me in the right direction. Having worked in three states, in three different regions, I have met some great people along the way but one person comes to mind – Randy Bruegman. Randy is now the fire chief of Anaheim CA. and I met him almost 20 years ago. He was always there with great career advice and really helped me deal with my retirement when it abruptly occurred. Following his term as the President of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, Randy started speaking nationally about the concept of being successful or being significant.
His premise is that some people define success as reaching the top position in their industry, making a ton of money, have a nice house or success can simply mean not having controversy in your life. He then describes what being significant might look like: being a mentor, having an impact on those around you, doing things for others with no expectations in return or simply being significant to others. Most of us in the fire service like to think that we are selfless people and that working in this profession is what makes us significant. Sure, we do get to help people “on the worst day of their lives” which IS significant to them, but would we do it if we weren’t getting paid?
You can go through your whole career without ever knowing if you were significant to someone besides your patients or fire victims. I was given a great gift in these past few weeks from people who wanted to tell me how much I helped them. I heard from the supervisor of one fire officer that I had trained, who was glowing about what a great leader and manager this person was. While he didn’t give me all of the credit, (I wouldn’t have taken it anyway) he wanted to know what I was emphasizing to the young officers and would I be willing to mentor him as he looks at a future promotion. Another call came from someone who I just met over the summer. The military exercises that I participate in put me in touch with people from all over the country. My new friend called me to ask for advice about taking a position in another state. We met while working at the same command post but he was given my name by someone who knew me really well. We spend the better part of two hours on the phone as he prepared for his final interview. He called to let me know he was offered the job and was getting ready to start. He couldn’t have been more appreciative of my advice.
My point here is this: Are you being successful or significant to those that you work with? What you accomplish in your work will pale in comparison to what you help someone accomplish. People find great satisfaction in helping others; I know that I did.
Who do you work for?
Another word for work is labor. The dictionary defines labor as hard physical work. If you’re not sure, ask any mother if labor was hard work and I’m sure she can give you a unique perspective on “labor”. Sometimes what we do, day in and day out, isn’t what we’d like it to be. It’s not that its too hard, it simply isn’t satisfying. When we lose our job satisfaction, we loose sight of our purpose and whom we’re serving. At times, we struggle to remain positive, to work hard and meet the mission or vision that is before us; complacency takes over and the “I don’t care’s” start to fly. As leaders, no matter what we’re faced with, we must keep our focus on the mission or the work before us. Are you a front line leader whose actions will have a direct impact on your customers or are you a support team leader that works to serve those impacting the customers? Complacency is where customer service starts to break down and in some professions, can become deadly. Think of the paramedic who is treating you for a heart attack, do you want the one who doesn’t care? Our job as leaders is to keep complacency out of our work and the work of our people.
Colossians 3:23-24 “What ever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men… It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
In times when we’re locked in a battle against complacency, we can be comforted in knowing that when we do our best work, with all of our heart, it is pleasing to God. God is with us all of time, even when we don’t feel like he’s there. When times get harder you should be focusing more on your relationship with God, not less. Our human instinct is to focus everything on the work before us and let the rest of our life take the back seat for a while. Nothing can do more harm than putting God in the back seat! Bring God closer; he will help you through the struggles of work or overcoming complacency. You are serving Him, doing his work as a faithful disciple. God cares about the work that you do and how well you do it. When you are feeling down about work, imagine God smiling at you because He knows what is in your heart. Look to him to get you through, He’ll light the way.
Through the waters
Are you there for your employees? Leadership includes providing direction, vision and support for your mission. Your employees should be able to count on you to be there for them when they are struggling. It is important for them to know that they can count on your help when they need it. Imagine a child who is working through a problem and they need to find a parent to help them. As parents, we see them get lost very easily and just being there with a simple reminder is all that they needed. This is not to say that our employees are children, but a good illustration of an effective leader is someone who is a good parent. Leaders should want to help their people navigate through their challenges (waters) and when things get worse, you can stand by them so that they are not swept away. Do your people feel confident that you’ll be there through thick (rivers) and thin (water)?
Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you…”
You can feel confident that God will be with you through thick and thin. This is another promise that God has made; to be with us in all that we do and that nothing will sweep us away – we have eternal life through Him. It is a great relief to know that we are not alone; we will not be challenged beyond what God knows we can handle. While we might think that we can’t possibly take any more and we feel like the waters are rising quickly, we should also feel the comfort and peace in knowing that He will be with us. If we develop trust and establish a relationship with our people, they will have faith in us to believe that we will take care of them. We too then, need to develop our relationship with God and continue to learn about His promises. Don’t rely on God only when you pass through the river, get to know Him and see what happens when you are only passing through the waters.
The Armor of Light
Calling someone a Christian leader should naturally come with the assumption that they will lead ethically, unfortunately there is temptation everywhere. We all have the ability to justify any action we take, whether right or wrong; the devil is always at work to throw us off course. The Josephson Institute lists twelve rationalizations that people will use justify not making good ethical decisions: “1. It’s necessary, 2. if it’s legal, it’s okay, 3. it’s part of the job, 4. if it’s for a good cause, 5. doing it for someone else, 6. fighting fire with fire, 7. it won’t hurt anyone, 8. everyone’s doing it, 9. it’s okay if I don’t gain from it, 10. I’ve got it coming, 11. I can still be objective and 12. it’s creating necessity.” No mater how we try justify our actions, when we violate the trust of our people, we have lost the one thing that is hard to get back; their respect. If we think about what happened on “Wall Street” and compare the rationalizations listed, it is easy to see how things got out of control and greed took over. We must guard against temptation at every turn and stay vigilant against the pressures of world around us.
Romans 13:12 – “…let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”
The “deeds of darkness” can be those things that we consciously do and those things that we do or think unconsciously. As Christians, we are under attack by the devil everyday; he’s trying to win us over from God. Remember how he tempted Jesus by offering him the riches of the world and how did Jesus respond? He used scripture to rebuff those temptations. God has given us everything we need in His word through the bible. If we have the word on our hearts and in our minds, we will know what to do when the urge to justify our actions starts to rise up. When we put on “the armor of light” we can hold our heads high and confidently look at ourselves in the mirror and smile knowing we did the right thing; even when it was hard to do. In the long run, people will respect you for acting ethically despite how they may initially respond. The struggle is daily but our armor will keep us protected.
Can you really do more with less?
I mentioned earlier this week that I submitted an article on automatic aid to the International Association of Fire Chiefs. For my non-fire service readers, automatic aid is when two or more fire departments respond to emergencies in each others communities without having to be specially requested. It is an awesome concept in the Phoenix Valley where regardless of the name on the truck, if you need help, the closest truck will be there. Talk about customer service! All 26 agencies participate equally protecting 3.9 million people in 2,036 square miles.
I start to get a little heart burn when local government starts using the phrase “do more with less”. I’m finding out pretty quickly that it simply isn’t possible. You can do less with less or you can do what you did but not as well with less but not more. The federal government shows us that as they continue to trim billions of dollars we, the average citizens, don’t really see or feel it. The bigger you get the less efficient you are. Think about your waist line, the bigger you get the less you can do without a little strain. You can also starve yourself resulting in malnutrition and simply move through your day not being exceptionally productive and just getting by. A number of federal agencies have duplicated efforts to serve the same population need but local government is, by its nature, not able to grow that big or be that inefficient. Elected Officials at the local level hold the purse strings a little tighter than congress does – thank God!
My point is this, we can’t do more with less and it may be time for the fire service to stop pretending that they can. Automatic aid can help fill the gaps on emergencies but can we do more together on other levels? Can we partner in administrative functions? If we can’t, perhaps its time to start talking about what we can’t do anymore because we have less instead of trying to hold on to what we have always done. There are always efficiencies to be found, that was all done a couple of years ago. Now we’re faced with trying to sustain a 40″ waist on a 32″ budget; you can only suck it in for so long before you blow the button off and kill someone.
Dwell Among Them
Does your workforce get the chance to see you regularly and what do you leave behind as you depart? There is an old theory called the Seagull Management Theory – you fly in, leave droppings everywhere, and fly out. When was the last time you caught someone doing something right – and said something to them? Your workforce needs to hear from you, see you and be connected to you. Put your dwelling place among them. You don’t have to move your office and become a permanent fixture but become a “regular” in their space. You should strive to reach a point that when they see you, its not a cause for concern and they feel comfortable having you around. Walk among them, catch them doing things right and build unity of purpose. You’ll be amazed to see the results of a team built around the same purpose.
Leviticus 26:11-12 “ I will put my dwelling place among you… I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.”
The Leviticus verses are telling us that God intends to dwell with us, walk among us and be our God. It’s saying “God will lead you through it all, get used to Him because He’s not leaving, He’ll live with you, walk with you and never leave your side. God will be here for the good and bad times, you can count on Him – He is your God. We are His people today because we believe; we see His actions daily and feel His presence. Does your workforce believe in you?
Management By Walking Around is far more effective than the seagull management theory. Build a strong relationship by being present and engaged. You’ll find that the view from the ground is better than the view from above.
Chaos
The old saying that chaos breeds discontent is very appropriate when it pertains to morale. In these economic times many people are leading as though “these people should be grateful they have a job, that’s the only morale they need to worry about”. The top employers remain on top because they remember who is on the front lines with their customers; unhappy employees have a direct impact on customer service. Some believe that keeping the peace means coddling people, they are dead wrong! Peace keeping can be multi-focused; it’s not always about benefits. Good supervisors offer coaching, provide developmental opportunities and encourage teamwork as a way to create a peaceful environment. Employees that are encouraged by their work, as Maslow told us, tend to perform at higher levels which often results in greater satisfaction and customer service excellence. Many managers will say that “our employees are our greatest asset” but when it comes to helping them be productive and happy; they are just another asset. As a leader, our job is to work with the employees toward a common goal. We all will work smoother and happier with a little order, routine and consistency, the opposite of chaos.
1 Corinthians 14:33 – “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace…”
God does not want us to live in disorder and chaos. Jesus Christ, His son, was known as the Prince of Peace. Jesus was a great reconciler for us; bringing us to peace with God our Father. Jesus taught us to be humble, loving and forgiving of one another. These are all synonymous with peace. God does not want us to live in fear but be loving and forgiving toward each other with the knowledge of everlasting life with Him through Jesus Christ. There is no greater display of peace but to promise ever lasting life in heaven with God our Father and His son, Jesus Christ. Now that’s peace! The disorder we see around us today is not created by God, it is the temptation to turn away and believe in our own power rather than rely on our God of peace.
Where There's Smoke... 