Who is your company?
Simply reading this question for what it is, you might
answer, “Engine <blank>”. Looking deeper into the question, you might
find there is much more to who exactly your company is.
Your company is a collaboration of talents, personalities,
values, strengths, and weaknesses. Your company is similar to your family. You
give and take, work together, create lasting relationships, and together fix
problems that you encounter. The old statement, “you are only as strong as your
weakest link” is very accurate. As a company, it is your responsibility to pick
up the weak member and provide assistance, whether it is educational or
personal in nature, to ensure that your company continues to grow in proficiency. Take a minute right now and think about the
following questions:
What is your company
good at?
What strengths does
each member of the company bring to the team?
With the current
mindsets of your company members taken into account, what career values does the
company share?
Is your company
continuing along a path of team building, skill proficiency, and excellence
through efficiency?
What changes can the
team make to improve the company?
One positive attitude in the company cannot create a good
identity, just as one negative attitude cannot create a bad identity. It is the
combination of all attitudes in the company that create the identity. Only you
can control your personal identity and attitude. Are you contributing positively
to the family?
Building pride.
Anyone can verbally state, “I have pride”. Those that have
pride, show their pride in their quality of work, their level of knowledge,
their application of training concepts, and their work output on the fire
ground. Many times, in today’s fire service, pride is influenced by the company
officer. If the company officer leads by example, typically the company members
will follow based on the positive influence. Unfortunately, the company officer
is not the fix all when it comes to pride. If you are still reading this
article, you care about this job.
Remember your first day on the job. Think back to your emotions, the
details of the shift, the mistakes you made, and the love for the job that you
felt. I bet you are smiling right now if you actually thought back to that day.
Why not feel that excitement everyday? Honestly, who else
gets to come to work every shift, have the family atmosphere of the firehouse,
help people daily, train on skills daily, and potentially save a person’s life?
We have it made. Sure, there are negative aspects to the job, but not allowing
the negatives to affect your identity, shows your pride.
As a company, make decisions together. Not just the tough
decisions like “what are we going to eat”, but the decisions of:
How are we going to run the line on a residence fire?
Who is responsible for what on the truck? (Seat assignments)
How should we set the truck up for maximum effectiveness?
What are we going to train on today?
These decisions create buy in and ownership.
Company assignment +
Allowing companies to make their own decisions =
satisfied, ready,
pride driven, motivated firefighters.
It is simple. Allow the guys to have buy in which creates a
positive work environment. Companies will continue to build their level of proficiency,
which creates goal driven individuals.
I have heard it all before. You know the “what a whacker”
kind of statements that I too am guilty of saying. But, what
importance does company merchandise have?
On my leather lid, I have a blue and white number “30” on
the back two panels. While to some, that may seem kind of whacker-ish, to me,
it means something. Our company colors are white and blue. Our trucks are white
with blue lettering and striping and even the interior of our firehouse is
white with blue. The simple “30” on my helmet is a symbol of my identity as a
member of my company.
An engine company patch |
Creation of company specific merchandise is such a simple
task that builds high morale, a level of pride, and ownership. If you are representing your company with a hat that reads “LAD 1
DER” on it, I guarantee that you will think twice before you act outside of
your company’s expectations and standards. Take a minute and celebrate your assignment and
career by creating identity merchandise. I promise you will see a difference in morale.
The quickest way to build a company identity of prideful
ownership is to create a set of standards. The company must together set the
bar high. Though it may seem a bit edgy, decide together that your company is
going to be the best company in town, you are going to perform better than any
other company, you are going to work with the most efficiency on scene and you
are going to be the most skilled firefighters on the job. Continue to strive to
meet that standard. In 6 months, take a minute to reflect and see how far the
company has come. You will be pleasantly surprised.
Company nicknames,
motto, and core values.
Company nicknames have a deep-rooted history within the fire
service. They typically have a historical reference within them about the
territory they serve. This type of company nickname shows ownership of the
community that is served. Ownership of
the community by firefighters is quite important. It creates a personal drive
that is unlike any other when the tones drop for an emergency in the community.
A company nickname it a firehouse kitchen |
Other company nicknames are of an edgy nature that provide a
blatant show of company pride. I personally like these types of nicknames. There
is nothing wrong with thinking your company is the best around, so long as the
team consistently strives to meet the statement given. Openly show identity. It
is a part of our fire service history.
Creating a set of core values has a long history in the
United States Military. The fire service being Para-military has long ago
adopted this tradition and followed suit. The core values of your company make
a statement on what the members of your company place as their values, morals,
and what the company family places as priorities. A simple example of one
company’s core values is “kindness, efficiency, accountability, and proficiency.”
Many fire departments have a set of core values. While everyone in the
organization goes by the fire department core values, many companies expand
with their own set of core values. Company core values sets a standard for its
members.
A company motto is a brief statement of intent. The company
motto is another aspect of what your company makes decisions based on, how your
actions represent the company, and the performance level you wish to obtain on
scene and in training. “Always ready” and “Do the right thing” are two examples
of positive company mottos.
After creating this foundation for your company, you can
start the construction process of building a firehouse culture that always
shows your company’s identity.
Company memorabilia.
The history of your company is very important. The history
provides a road map of where the company has been and how it has traveled to the
current time. Hang up photos of former company members, training sessions, fire
calls, former trucks, and past community involvements. Take photos today to add
to your cache of memorabilia. It is important for future members to know the
pride in which those that have come before them have had in the company. The
history shapes the future. Preserve company history and display it openly.
A crew photo from a training drill |
A historic sign from the local community on display inside the firehouse |
Firehouse or Fire
Station?
A house is a home. A station is place that you are assigned
to work. I personally do not like the term “Fire Station”. I don’t want to be
involved with any company that is inside of a “Fire Station”. I want to be with
a company that lives in a “Firehouse.” I want my company’s engine house to be
my home away from home, especially since I spend so much time away from home on
shift. As a company, hang pictures, display your history, paint the walls, and
make it your home. This is one of the best ways to create the family like bond
of your company. Create a home together. This is not just a career, but also a
life style and culture. Do you want to spend 24 hours in a middle school with
bare white block walls, or a house that has photos, decorations, and the warm
feeling of home?
A company nickname displayed in the apparatus bay |
A company logo mural painted in the living room of a firehouse |
Company equipment set
up.
If your company has a say so, there is likely a method to
how your rig is set up. If there is no method to the madness, you might be a
cookie cutter company that lacks thought. There is no way that one
truck set up can succeed in every atmosphere and territory.
Succeed = operate with
proficiency due to preplanning and forethought.
Get by = managing to
get the job done by having to adapt and overcome daily.
I want to address the idea that “every truck should be set
up the same.” I understand the methodology behind that idea, such as, any
firefighter within the organization can be placed on any truck and know where
the tools are located and how the lines are set up. I will even admit that I
agreed with that stance at one point; however, I have changed my stance on this
over the past few years. I think it is so important for the company to make
these decisions. I mean, it IS these guys that are riding the truck and doing
the job. Why not choose how they can accomplish their incident objectives best?
But what about the guy that floats over from another company? He should be on
the engine floor looking through the truck, asking questions, studying the
layout, and preparing himself to work on the home company. Who knows, he might
even learn something new to share back at his company.
A company nickname on the window of the truck |
Think about the level of training the company will get by
continuously trying new methods of setting up the truck. In order to set up your company for success, members
will have to look at:
What tactical
challenges are present in our community?
How can we store our
equipment to increase efficiency?
What types of building
construction are encountered in our community?
There are so many different methods of doing everything we
do out there. All you have to do is look, listen, read, and learn. Who knows,
you company might even invent a new method of completing a task that can help
others. Share that knowledge and experiment. Do not settle for “the way we have
always done that.” By thinking about alternative methods, you build your
experience and expand your mind.
What kind of
identity do you want to have? The choice is yours.
Thank you to Captain Erick Mohn of Wake Forest Ladder Company 1, Lieutenant Charlie Laird of Durham Highway Engine Company 1, Engineer Will Patterson of RDU Airport Rescue Company 30, and Jeff Hannum of Tailboard Firefighting of NC for contributing to this article.
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