Revisiting Leadership

I’ve previously written about leadership. The topic is expansive and important and as I’ve recently been “called off the bench” to serve in a leadership capacity, it deserves revisiting. If you are a reader who has served in the military or as a first responder then I suspect the topic is especially important to you as lives were and are at stake based on leadership decisions. I also suspect that each and every one of you have worked for poor leaders. Leaders who are or were so bad at what they do that the organization would be better off if they were not there at all. Leaders who erode morale, risk lives unnecessarily, waste resources, promote sycophants and are otherwise generally incredibly cringe worthy all the way around.

On the other hand, some of us may have had the opportunity to meet or work for the rarest of all unicorns…the great leader. Like Jacobellis Vs. Ohio (US Supreme Court 1964) a great leader is difficult to define but “…you’ll know it when you see it.”. Although admittedly the Supreme Court decision had to do with a little bit different topic. I’ve said for years that the few great leaders I’ve worked for and been around I’d follow to the gates of Hell armed with a soda straw to fight the devil himself if they led me there.

What sets them apart from poor leaders or the rest of the field of highly average leaders? Charisma? Skill? Passion for their subordinates? Raw talent? All of the above? I’ve found that it can be difficult to pin down. There are this who shine in situations where others do not. First responder organizations are notoriously awful at recognizing leadership, cultivating it and maximizing it where the skill is at its best. As I have no direct experience with the military, I can only speculate based on accounts of friends and what I have read that it too has some failings is this department.

First responder organizations are notorious for promoting people beyond their depth and leaving them to drown. Time after time, a favorite son or daughter rockets through the ranks without gathering the requisite experience, skill and wisdom to handle the level of responsibility they have been handed. In response, they dump all over subordinates, make terrible and completely avoidable errors and create the miserable environment that a thrashing, panicked, drowning victim makes right before going under.

These same organizations frequently make the mistake of moving talented, happy low level leaders up in rank until they are no longer talented and no longer happy. Many first responder organizations…in fact I’d say most, have no mechanism to continue to reward and challenge low level leaders without additional promotions. They run out of lateral transfers that appeal to them, special assignments etc. and are viewed as “stagnant” by members of the administration unless they want to move upward. This is tragic as it robs the lower echelons of the most experienced and talented leaders and it also means that lower level leaders who are happy doing what they do are forced to consider moving up and being unhappy. This also fails to take into account where skills are at their highest.

There are “battlefield commanders” and “support commanders”. There are also those rare individuals who can do both. A battlefield commander can most certainly be trained to take on support leadership and vice versa. But the question is for the organization; where are they best utilized? One talented, experienced, content battlefield commander is certainly who leadership really, really wants in the field when things go to hell rather than multiple inexperienced, not-so-talented and now very unhappy people who just made a real mess of things. Figuring out leaders’ talents and where they are best utilized is a huge management responsibility.

As I mentioned earlier, I was recently “called off the bench” into a leadership position. Meaning I went from working part time wellness for a first responder organization to now running its field training program. For those unfamiliar with how that works, new employees attend classroom/academy and then move to on the job training. Once there, they become my responsibility. I have numerous trainees, trainers and four supervisors to whom I am responsible. My position is in a support chain of command but works directly daily with operations and the result in a complex web of communications. I had certainly forgotten some of the challenges of leadership. Others, I did not need to be reminded of.

There are a few things that I had forgotten and needed to be vividly reminded of. One of those things is that when negative leadership influences are replaced by positive ones, how remarkably most people respond. Leadership can be difficult. There are difficult decisions. Long hours. Thankless chores. Crappy jobs that have to be done. But when the smoke clears and you look around and see people responding to the positive efforts…all of it is worthwhile. The top two people in my organization are incredible and effective leaders. Now I am in a position to watch people around me respond and grow. It’s a responsibility that I take seriously every day and strive to ensure I don’t foul up. Don’t misunderstand me. None of what I write is intended to portray me as some sort of great leader…just as a fossil who is incredibly humbled by what I see around me. The growth and development of a new generation of leaders and public servants is simply inspiring.

I sincerely hope all of you have had the opportunity to be influenced by a highly effective leader. If you haven’t I hope you will. One old battlefield commander here has been lucky enough to have experienced several. I’m grateful and forever trying to pay it forward.

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