A NUMBER of years ago, I was part of a citizen fire academy of a local city. I think it’s every kid’s dream to ride fire engines. Well I did!
I unexpectedly found out a great deal about leadership as I observed firefighters in action – at accidents, hospitals, citizen’s homes and even at the fire station. Whether you’re a small business or a multi-national company, here are four principles of effective leadership.
1. Crystal Clear Roles and Responsibilities
“When we go out there’s a game plan. People know what to do. Some start the search; others ventilate the roof so heat and smoke escape. The driver positions the engine, unloads the hoses. It’s more than a job description. It’s plan with specific standards and expectations. There’s no room for mistakes – our lives depend on everyone doing their job and doing it well.”
What’s your game plan? Does everyone know it and live it every day? Are you sure?
2. Constant Communication
“When you get to a fire it’s easy to get sucked in. The adrenaline is going. The fire is like a magnet pulling you in. It’s not enough for the right hand to know what the left hand is doing. Everyone needs to know what’s going on. If a firefighter or paramedic is left out of the loop, it can lead to disaster.”
How do you keep information flowing? Are all your people in the communication loop all the time?
3. Commitment to the Team
“It’s not my job is not tolerated. No matter if we’re putting out fires, extricating someone from a wreck or opening a locked car with a child inside, we’re always backing each other up. We’re a TEAM, not just a bunch of firefighters.”
Many managers think that bringing a group of people together and saying: “We’re now a TEAM” miraculously transforms a group of people into an efficient, cohesive working group. It’s not that simple.
How do you move your people from “me” to “we” – to share, help each other and work together to accomplish goals?
4. Customer Focus
I asked a station captain: Who are your customers?
“Anyone who deals with my men (and women)… the lonely lady who comes in regularly to get her blood pressure checked, the child who just feel off the swing set and his parents , the family from another state that has a wreck on the freeway,. We don’t want some to feel more served than others.”
Do your people know who your customers are? Does everyone- the front line, support staff, sales force and all your managers – deliver outstanding service every single day?
Smart Moves Tip:
What I learned from the fire fighters is that great leadership is no accident. It’s the result of a deliberate effort to manage priorities, the flow of communication, collaboration among and between teams and consistent service quality.
I you want someone to do anything, you have to be willing to do it yourself. You also need to put your own skin into the game.
Examples —
1. There is a big deadline and you ask everyone to stay late. This means you stay late too. This is what effective leaders do. (willing to do it yourself.)
2. If you are working with people overseas and want to increase their productivity, you schedule and facilitate a regular 4am call. (putting skin in the game)
These are the kind of things that effective leaders do.
Chris, I totally agree effective leaders must take an active and personal role in managing people and projects.