There are few endeavors that are more team centric and have a higher consequence for failure than the fire service. We live in a team environment and that environment has a direct impact on the service we deliver. If you have a high functioning firehouse, then you will have a solid team and will do good work on the fireground. We must acknowledge that the converse of this statement is also true. If you work at a dysfunctional firehouse, then your chances for success on the fireground are totally dependent on luck.
We spend countless hours teaching skills, covering mandated training topics, performing maintenance and station duties, and a whole host of other duties and tasks. While these are all important to some extent, the fire service does a poor job of building the skills in its membership for developing high-performing teams. To an extent, leaders probably just think team building is something that will naturally happen. Maybe the leaders were never good team players to start with. How can we expect someone who does not know a skill to teach a skill?
Maybe the leaders in an organization do not understand how important building functional teams is to operational success. No matter the cause, many fire departments exist in a space where there is a huge gap between their current team centric environment and what that environment should be.
It's easy to say, "I am just a firefighter, this isn't my job." Chase Sargent is a retired Division Chief from the Virginia Beach Fire Department and a good friend of mine. Chase taught me an important lesson about saying "it's not my job." He says that the person who says this knows there is a problem, and can for the most part, define the problem and offer a solution, but they also know when things go sideways, they will not be the one held accountable for the outcome. It's your firehouse, so yes, it's your problem. I say to everyone who rides a fire engine, you have a role in building your team.
I do not claim to have all the answers when it comes to building high performing teams, and I would caution you to take advice from someone who makes such a grandiose claim. Along with my successes in team building, I have had my share of failures. What I will share with you in the following pages are my thoughts and observations on what worked and what did not work for me. These lessons have been compiled over the span of close to five decades, in ranks from the most junior member of an organization all the way up to fire chief. Not everything is going to fit every situation. I encourage you to use this like a menu. Take what you think will work and leave behind what you think will not.
At the end of each chapter, I will leave you with a few nuggets (a term I borrowed from my good friend Chief Shannon Stone) that summarizes the key points of the chapter. If you focus on these points, then you will get the key elements of each chapter.
