Are You a Servant Leader?
This seems particularly true as wildland fire organizations emphasize a more flexible, adaptable and nuanced approach to their work. Lots of things are changing in the fire world, and hosting agencies will undoubtedly ask incident management teams to do new things as well as old things in different ways. Our conversation coincided with the fact that I have been talking to many team members about why their teams do or do not succeed. I have found that being keyed into a service orientation, playing down of ego and showing concern for the interests of others are success factors for a growing number of teams and team members.
As the name implies, the system expects incident management teams to provide just that, incident management. However, I see it differently, and so do many line officers. The operating environment is shifting, and more-and-more, a team is expected to temporarily participate in the leadership of the host unit's program. Increasingly, the line officer needs an effective mentor and consultant as much as they need a skilled tactician or logistician. Teams that succeed in this environment put their self-interest aside and maximize their focus on serving the interests of those they came to help.
Leadership is all about influencing people to affect change, achieve common goals and help people realize mutual purpose. Having this kind of influence demands that leaders actually affect the lives of people, a huge responsibility and what may be described as “the burden of leadership.” In his book Leadership: Theory and Practice, Peter Northouse points out that ethicists would tell us that because leaders typically exercise more power and control than those they would lead, they also bear more responsibility because their leadership affects the lives of others. That's how I see it too. So, what are the implications for incident management teams?
Today, line officers often look to incident management teams not just to manage their incident, but also to help them institute and emphasize their organization's purpose, direction and values. Whether the issue is doctrine, firefighter safety, wildland fire use or appropriate management response, incident management teams exercise a great deal of influence over and set the tone for the local implementation of these initiatives. The wildland fire community has proven a bit slow to recognize the influence potential of incident management teams. But that will undoubtedly change, and teams will come under increasing pressure to help shape the future of wildland fire agencies in the United States.
By virtue of their position, role and purpose, as well as their experience, training and profile, incident management teams find themselves in the position of having more opportunity to influence other people in important ways than others might have. That status brings with it an obligation to help people work through, and grow from, the challenges they face in a supportive and assisted environment.
Often, we hear about that special team that not only manages its incident well, but also leaves the hosting unit a better place than it found it, often at a higher level of functioning. If I were a line officer, I'd hope that when a team left my unit, my organization was more capable, more self-sufficient, and functioning at an elevated level because of the team's influence.
At the bottom line, leadership involves influencing people to affect change, achieve common goals and help people realize their mutual purpose. That kind of influence enables, and in fact requires, that leaders actually have an effect on the lives of people, and that represents a colossal responsibility. Leadership scholars are beginning to understand that ethics remain central to effective leadership, and ethicists tell us that leaders, who naturally exercise power and control over those they lead, also bear more responsibility for how their leadership affects people's lives.
I believe wholeheartedly that teams need to approach their work from a position of service, and I am finding a growing number of teams and team members who see that kind of service orientation, their ability to play down their own egos, and a focus on the interests of others as factors in their success.
Mike DeGrosky is chief executive officer of the Guidance Group, a consulting organization specializing in the human and organizational aspects of the fire service. He also serves as an adjunct instructor in leadership studies at Fort Hays State University. His interests include leadership, strategy, and bringing the concepts of learning organizations and high-reliability organizing alive in fire organizations. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. focused on organizational leadership. He can be reached at info@guidancegroup.org.
