Chief Officer Principles and Practice 3rd Edition

According to the text, what powerful trends are likely to continue shaping the fire service?

Political, ethical, legal and sociological.

List changes that department leaders need to navigate?

Demographics shifts, technological challenges, unforeseen court decisions, economic downturns, political turmoil, higher levels of emergency preparedness, and union-versus-management issues.

What is an essential element in the successful operational management of any organization?

Good leadership.

Firefighting has classically been portrayed as a labor intensive undertaking performed under conditions of great immediacy and personal danger. It is this very portrayal that causes many within it’s ranks to place a higher level of focus on what type of training?

Hands-on tasks and skills.

Leadership training within the fire service requires an understanding of…

the unique organizational aspects of the fire service environment.

What was the earliest known fire organizations?

Existed within the Holy Roman Empire- a Corps or Vigils starting in AD6.

When was the earliest fire service efforts in the United States?

Jamestown Colonies in Virginia.

From the time of Jamestown colonies until the middle of the 19th century, how was the bulk of fire service provided?

People volunteering to protect their communities.

List some well known figures in history that served as volunteer fire fighters.

Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, James Buchanan, and Alexander Hamilton.

List the five different established routes through which fire protection and suppression services are delivered.

• The municipal fire department (career, volunteer, combination or contract),

• The fire bureau (a division within a public safety department)

• The county fire department

• The fire protection district(authority)

• A private provider or contractor.

Effective leaders are also…

…Effective change agents.

The leader’s effectiveness and ability to convince employees to embrace change from a positive standpoint, is the difference between…

…a progressive department and more traditional department.

How far back does the “American Tradition” of the fire service date back?

More than 350 years.

What factors have hurt recruitment efforts and negatively impacted member retention?

Occupational cancer, post-incident stress, increased instances of suicide, and hostile events.

NFPA 1021, Standard for Fire Officer Professional Qualifications defines four levels or fire officer. What are they?

• Fire Officer I- Lieutenant

• Fire Officer II- Captain

• Fire Officer III- Battalion Chief or deputy/assistant chief of a smaller department

• Fire Officer IV- Fire Chiefs

What level of Fire Officer? Lieutenant, generally supervises a single fire company or apparatus.

Fire Officer I

What level of Fire Officer? Captain, generally the senior non-chief officer in a larger fire department, supervisor of a multiunit fire station or could be in charge of a larger group performing specialized service or a significant administrative section.

Fire Officer II

What level of Fire Officer? Battalion Chief/District Chief, or deputy/assistant chief in a smaller department.

Fire Officer III

What level of Fire Officer? Tend to be fire chiefs or hold senior positions in charge of a major component of the fire department.

Fire Officer IV

Which level of fire officers are the upper levels or the progressive sequence of supervision and leadership within a department?

Fire Officer III and Fire Officer IV

Fire Officers III and IV will excel in their positions only if they are able to…

Develop the leadership skills necessary to motivate their department members to become an efficient, effective, and safe response force.

A process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal.

Leadership (Defined by Forbes Magazine)

Leadership stems from ______ ________, not authority or power.

Social Influence

Leadership requires a…

Goal

Leadership involves…

…personal relationships that people create with others.

Who is effected most by diminished leadership skills?

Members of the fire service and the citizens who expect to be protected by the fire service. Increased danger correlation exist.

What type of culture must the leader’s influence be directed towards developing within the orginization?

A safety culture

List the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives developed by everyonegoeshome.com

1. Define and advocate the need for a cultural change relating to safety; incorporating leadership, management, supervision, accountability, and personal responsibility.

2. Enhance the personal and organizational accountability for health and safety.

3. Focus greater attention on the integration of risk management at all levels. (Strategic, tactical and planning)

4. All firefighters must be empowered to stop unsafe practices.

5. Develop and implement national standards for training, qualifications, and certifications.

6. Develop and implement national medical and physical fitness standards.

7. Create a national research agenda and data collection.

8. Utilize available technology to produce higher levels of health and safety.

9. Thoroughly investigate all firefighter fatalities, injuries and near misses.

10. Grant programs should support the implementation of safe practices and procedures.

11. National standards for emergency response polices and procedures should be developed and championed.

12. National protocols fore response to violent incidents should be developed and championed.

13. Firefighters and their families must have access to counseling and psychological support.

14. Public education must receive more resources.

15. Advocacy must be strengthened for the enforcement of codes and installation of home fire sprinklers.

16. Safety must be a primary consideration in the design of fire apparatus and equipment.

Course correction is also known as?

Discipline

List the three organizational design and development components.

1. Structure

2. Process

3. Behavior

A pattern of jobs and groups of jobs in an organization.

Structure

Structure is an important component in individual and group behavior.

An administrative group set in a hierarchy of authroity.

Bureaucracy.

Most fire departments are designed as a bureaucracy.

An organizational philosophy characterized by flexible, integrative behavior.

Adhocracy

Activities that breath life into the structure of an organization. Examples are communications, decision making, socialization , career development, and organizational design and development.

Process.

Allows for the conduct of business and the accomplishments of missions, goals, and objectives in an organization.

A multidisciplinary interaction among people and their organization. It is how people act and interact. It is based on their individual experiences, perceptions, or personal dealings

Behavior

Organizational climate is very important in gauging the pulse of the department.

What four organizational elements should the chief officer ensure?

Vision, Mission, Goals and Objectives

A collaborative effort between management and labor to envision where the organization will be in the future.

Vision

It is beneficial to enlist member input in developing the department’s vision.

What department document supports the department’s vision?

Strategic Plan

The mission statement, goals, objectives, tasks, action officers, and timeline to accomplish such tasks should align with what two organizational elements?

Vision and strategic plan.

The reason the organization exists.

Mission

Mission statements should be reviewed periodically.

Provide the purpose toward which an organization strives.

Goals

The tasks that must be accomplished if an organization is to meet its goals and fulfill its mission.

Objectives

Fire departments are most successful when…

… their members operate as a team in a coordinated effort.

Establishing the right ______ creates an atmosphere that enables the best response from team members.

Attitude

The most basic organizational principle for a fire department is the ______ __ _____ among the operating units and their individual members.

Division of Work

This division of work is based on specific functions within the department.

What two concepts can assist leaders in facilitating communications, direction and understanding?

Unity of command and span of control.

These are the beliefs, values, and norms shared by the members of an organization. Often rooted in the traditional history of the department.

Organizational Culture

List some of the common organizational culture elements.

• Shared meanings

• Perceptions

• Behavioral codes

• Prescriptions and preferences

• Basic values

• Myths, legends, and heroes

• Emblems

• Rituals

When seeking to evaluate an organization, researchers and consultants often look for…

…historical and emerging trends.

Organizations with fewer layers of supervision and management and more front-line workers.

Flatter Organizations

Significiant reductions in costs can often be achieved by reorganizing…

…supervisor and manager positions out of the bureaucracy or by reducing the overall size of the bureaucracy at all levels.

A variation of the flatter organization, is an organization that sheds cost by reducing or eliminating certain outputs or services. What is this organization called?

A slimmer organization.

In the fire service this is often an examination of response-reduction options (reducing responses to automatic alarms or minor medical calls), or a reduction or elimination of some of the organization functions. M

Much of the cost of an emergency response organization is built into the “____ _____ _____” concept.

“Worst Case Scenario”

The assumption that a combination of fewer rules and procedures with more training and individual autonomy will enable an organization to shift gears with great ease to meet new demands and challenges.

Flexibility

Give an example of an introduction to flexibility in the fire service.

NIMS incident command system

What are the two major operating principles of NIMS incident command system?

1. Can be applied to any emergency situation.

2. Is that ICS can support an integrated response in which several organizations can depend on and work closely with each other.

What is the biggest concern between the security of standard operating procedures and flexibility?

Removing the contradictions between training firefighters to act swiftly, and on their own in the face of danger, while at the same time training them to take orders unhesitatingly when working under command.

Chief officers must, at a minimum, take organizational structures and culture into account in…

Setting and achieving their goals.

Military Model. Difficult situations can be resolved only by accurate and timely decisions and …

… clear and concise orders.

Favreau list a number of functions that have guided leaders during military conflicts. List some of these.

• Be technically and tactically proficient

• Know yourself

• Seek self-improvement

• Know your people and look out for their welfare

• Keep your people informed

• Set the example

• Train as a team

• Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions.

List some of the Fire Service Leadership Attributes.

• Integrity

• Honesty

• Determination

• Tact

• Endurance

• Responsibility

• Selflessness

• Self-discipline

• Courage

• Pride

• Faith

• Judgement

• Initiative

• Loyalty

• Predictability

• Dependability

This requires integrating support and concern for people with consideration of the environment and potential tasks.

Leadership

LEADERSHIP Acronym

L-Lead from the front

E-Effectively communicate

A-Advise, mentor, and counsel

D-Decide, act, and evaluate

E-Envision the future

R- Remain flexible

S-Share your knowledge

H-Honesty is always right

I-Invest in your personnel

P-Prepare to fail, if you fail to prepare

Real failure and lack of leadership come from…

… the inability to make decisions.

What is the best way to set members down the patch of doing whatever they want?

Indecisiveness

A participative process that gives the person to whom a task has been assigned a wide latitude to make the decisions necessary to accomplish that task.

Delegation

A necessary part of leadership.

How are good leaders judged?

Not on what they do but how the team performs.

Rules based or values based?

In this organization, the general operational mode is that if something is not forbidden in writing, then it must be okay.

Rules-based.

*In both a rules based or a values based organization, the leader’s job can be made easier if there is a department mission statement and a code of conduct/ethics established to help make decisions that may have to be judged on the basis of what is morally right.

Rules based or values based?

Within this organization, leaders must decide which actions are acceptable based on the established values of the department.

Values based

*In both a rules based or a values based organization, the leader’s job can be made easier if there is a department mission statement and a code of conduct/ethics established to help make decisions that may have to be judged on the basis of what is morally right.

In all cases of delegation, what is vital to a successful outcome?

Communication

For delegation, subordinates must be free to accept or reject the task and must clearly understand the task… (3)

Parameters, limits, of authority, and responsibility.

Leadership is focused on influencing people to take action to achieve…

…a desired result.

List the six different fire service leadership styles.

Charismatic leadership

Situational leadership

Contingency leadership

Citizen leadership

The transformational/transactional leadership continuum.

Power can provide a leader with the tools necessary to influence the performance of subordinates. List the seven different types of power.

Legitimate Power

Reward Power

Expert Power

Referent Power

Coercive Power

Informational Power

Ecological Power

Type of power?

The subordinates believe that the leader has the right to make a request and the subordinates have the obligation to comply.

Legitimate power

Type of power?

Subordinates comply with the leader’s request in order to obtain rewards.

Reward Power

Type of Power?

Subordinates comply with the leader’s requests due to a belief that the leader has special knowledge.

Expert Power

Type of Power?

Subordinates comply with the leader’s request due to admiration of or identification with the leader.

Referent Power

Type of Power?

Subordinates comply with the leader’s requests to avoid punishment.

Coercive Power

Type of Power?

Subordinates comply with the leader’s request due to a belief that the leader is able to discover or obtain relevant information rapidly and efficiently, usually through a network of sources.

Informational Power

Type of Power?

Subordinates comply with the leader’s request based on perceptions off opportunities and constraints.

Ecological Power

The basis for charismatic leadership lies in the _______ and ______ of the leader.

Strength and Example

According to David Nadler and Michael Tushman, what are the competencies that provide charismatic leaders with the power they posses?

Articulating a compelling vision

Setting high expectations

Demonstrating personal excitement

Expressing personal confidence and support

Seeking, finding, and using success

Empathizing

Limitations in the charismatic leader are listed as?

1. The leader sets unrealistic expectations.

2. People become dependent on the leader

3. People become reluctant to disagree with the leader

4. The leader must deliver an aura of continuing magic.

The basic premise of contingency leadership involves the relationship between what two orientation?

Task orientation and relationship orientation.

The importance of the leader in creating a healthy, competitive spirit is a key to …

…Organizational success.

In the contingency leadership style, the leader is responsible for creating the proper ______ _______ in which people can derive satisfaction from thier efforts.

Situational Environment

In a career department, when a lower positioned employee is asked or required to “act-up” into a position of higher authority due to an absence of the higher-ranking officer. This is an example of what type of leadership?

Citizen Leadership

Citizen leadership often emerges within a democracy.

What is the basic component for creating effective citizen leadership?

Concern for the follower.

List four of the attributes of citizen leadership that provides for the person rather than the task.

Flexibility, training, concern, perspective.

This type of leader is focused on ensuring that others highest needs are being met as a higher priority than being recognized as a leader.

Servant Leader

This type of leadership includes valuing people as individuals and for their ability to make significant contributions to the success of an organization.

Servant Leadership.

What are the five ways that James Autry lists in in The Servant Leader?

1. Be authentic

2. Be vulnerable

3. Be accepting

4. Be present

5. Be useful

______ is not about being boss; it’s about being present for people and building a community at work.

Leadership

This type of leadership also serves as a moralistic approach to leadership.

Servant leadership

List the five attributes of a servant leader.

Enthusiasm.

Vulnerability that allows the leader to be open and receptive to the needs of others.

Acceptance of others.

Availability to meet the needs of the people.

Useful, proactive participation in the life of the organization.

This type of leadership is demonstrated when a chief officer shows interest in the emotional well-being and level of knowledge, skills, and abilities of those being led.

Servant Leadership

Type of leadership?

• Leader assessment of the relative worth of the individuals that make up the team.

• Leader knowledge and understanding of the needs of the organization.

• Leader knowledge and understanding of the needs of the people.

• Leader skills to create and environment in which the needs of the organization mirror the needs of the organizational members.

Transformational Leadership

This type of leadership lies within the area of power. It relies on the power afforded him or her to give orders and guidance to followers.

Transactional Leadership

What is the downside to Transactional Leadership

This type of leadership, subordinates may begin to believe that employee assignments, rewards, and punishments are based more on the employee’s friendship with the leader and less on actual performance.