From Firefighter to Business Leader: How to Stay Cool in Chaos
As I sit down to write this blog, I have the news on. And yeah, I'm “old school,” but each morning I sit down with my coffee and actually read a printed version of the Wall Street Journal. I can't help but think about how volatile everything seems to be these days. From the massive swings in the stock market to societal craziness. From challenges in our field and reduced profitability to the difficulty in hiring good talent. It's hard to know where to focus.
In my blog, I often write about leadership, process management, and strategy. But it is very easy to get caught up in the frenzy. The current global situation can make you feel hopeless, or helpless. Then you combine the very local pressure of running a business and trying to have a family life outside of your business, it can become overwhelming. I am reminded of the days when I was a volunteer firefighter and an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) I started in emergency medical services (EMS) back when I was about 16 years old and kept at it until I was in my 30s. I was a “Driver/Operator, an EMT, and a fire officer. I was trained in victim extrication techniques, aerial rescue, hazmat response, and of course, fire suppression and triage. I had my share of excitement. If you want to talk about facing a frenzied, chaotic environment, I can relate!
As a former first responder, it is no stretch when I say that lives depend on your assessment of a scene prior to your arrival. We get cues from the dispatcher, but until you approach the scene, you really can’t know what you have at hand. Are there hazardous chemicals present that were not disclosed? In which direction is the prevailing wind? How do we approach? Where do I position the arriving equipment and personnel? Once on scene, there is another assessment. Are there people injured or in danger? What is the immediate threat and what can I do to mitigate it? Do I need additional resources brought in? What do I take with me from the truck as I go in?
These questions are not dissimilar to how we can approach what we believe is a chaotic business world. Take a breath, assess the situation and rely on your training. Above all, don’t panic. Panic kills. And if your first thought is that you are not trained for this, then you call for help. So often, especially in business, we do not call for help. Often, there is no sudden event that is a clear indication that you need help. You just start to feel the pressure. So you wonder…”is this an emergency?” I don’t want to call for help if I don’t really need it, after all.
The next thing you know, the house is on fire. Those pesky alarms weren’t faulty after all!
My experience in the fire service started in high school. Then, when I went to college, I joined a student-run fire department on campus, one of only three in the country at the time. And as a student, I was sometimes in an awkward position where I “outranked” professors of mine. Imagine that. There were times when I was the officer in charge of the response and a current teacher of mine was under my command. But the good thing? We all knew what we were doing and we were committed to our common goal. We all recognized the different knowledge, skills, and abilities the personnel brought. And we were all focused on the priority of managing the situation. So we worked together as a team. And a team needs a leader, but the leader doesn't have to be the same person every single time. It's not unusual, given the circumstances, to have someone take charge of the scene (challenge) and issue directions. For instance, we could have a fire captain on the scene of a hazardous materials incident. But that fire captain does not have the level of hazardous materials training that someone else has. Because of the specialized nature of hazardous materials management and the need for expediency, that lower-ranking person would be responsivle for mitigating the risk and returning the scene to a stable state. At that point the captain would take charge again.
It is very possible that you encounter a situation in your practice that a person, not in leadership, has experience with. It is absolutely acceptable to have them weigh in and help resolve the challenge. At the end of the day, we are all in this for the same thing and it is okay to ask for help.