Mentoring is so much more than coaching. The two are often confused, and both are important.
The goal of mentoring is develop the whole person into being more than they think they can be.

Mentoring is more than a program...

Mentoring is a process that is developed through building a relationship.

Coaches and Mentors have different roles. Both are important.

A coach is there to lead and guide through tasks. Specific skills and tasks that must be perfected and mastered is where a coach succeeds.

A Mentor is someone that will guide you through the difficult situations that arise. They will be a guide for you find the path that will lead to success.

Share your vision...

A leader must share their vision if they want to have followers. In fact, if they are not sharing their vision, they are not leaders.

Mentoring in the Fire and Emergency Services

Why not have a formal mentoring program?

I recently posted a question for discussion on my Twitter and Facebook regarding formalizing the mentoring process. Most of the respondents stated most mentoring was informal. One of the respondents even stated that it shouldn’t be a formalized process. I must say that I agree that informal mentoring is effective, however the business world has been using formal mentoring for a long time with great success. I suggest that if the fire service were to establish formal mentoring it would help with the development of employees and leaders.

The business world has established formal mentoring programs that work very well. They will tell you these programs benefit the mentee, mentor and the company as a whole. In business, mentoring is a tool used to develop employees and provide guidance. Mentees receive encouragement and support form a senior leader within their organization. The mentor gives advice on developing skills and ideas. They encourage professional development and lead the mentee to become a productive member of the organization.

Mentors receive as much from the relationship as the mentee. Mentors see and hear new ideas and perspectives, which can be especially helpful when trying to integrate a new generation of employees into the organization. Mentors feel as if they are making a difference with the organization by helping the next generation. Mentors enhance their leadership skills and are held to a higher standard by the mentee.

The company or organization benefits from the mentoring relationships by developing a culture of personal and professional growth. The mentors, whom oftentimes are the senior leaders develop higher skill in leadership and coaching, which then in turn translates to how they deal with their regular tasks.

The Small Business Administration is partnered with SCORE (https://www.score.org/) an organization designed to mentor entrepreneurs in developing small businesses. The mentors are a sounding board for new business owners that help them start and grow a business.

So, if it works so well in the business world, why wouldn’t we want to follow a similar model in the fire and emergency services? Every organization has that high performer that is look for another way to give back. What about the respected retiree form your organization look for an opportunity to stay connected to the profession they love? I know a few retirees that miss their “second family” and would be excellent mentors to bring back to the organization.

Here are a couple of ideas to start a mentoring program for your fire or emergency services department. Start with a recruit class, and assign mentors to the recruits. Depending on the size of the class and the availability of mentors, small groups of recruits could be assigned a mentor that would stay with them through their probationary period. At the end of probation, they could mutually decide that they want to continue the relationship. Newly promoted officers could benefit from having a mentor that has been there and done that in the past that can provide reinforcing support or guidance on treading through the path of establishing a successful transition to formal leader.

Think of the opportunity for the mentee to receive advice and support from a trusted mentor. They may not feel completely speaking with their crew or officer about their challenges. The mentors have the opportunity to learn about the new generation of personnel.

At least from my perspective, having a formal mentoring program has many benefits for the organization. The personal and professional development of everyone involved in the program will only benefit the organization. The retention of personnel should be enhanced because our people will know they are valued because the organization is making an effort to support and develop them.

I am personally involved in the TeamMates Mentoring Program (http://teammates.org/). Tom and Nancy Osborne founded the TeamMates Mentoring Program in 1991 in an effort to provide support and encouragement to school aged youth. The goal of the program is to see youth graduate from high school and pursue post-secondary education. To reach this goal, youth meet one hour per week with a caring adult who serves as a mentor. Mentors are volunteers from the community who have dedicated themselves to making a difference in the life of a young person. Mentors give youth a sense of hope, purpose and vision. The TeamMates Mentoring Program currently provides a mentor for over 7,000 youth across Nebraska and Iowa, as well as in San Diego, California.

 Regards, Mike

Consistancy Matters

I am currently reading Mentoring Matters by Tom Osborne. Many college football fans will recognize Tom Osborn as the long time football coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. In addition to his illustrious coaching career, he founded the Teammates Mentoring Program, which is a program for mentoring at risk youth.

The quote that jumped out at me this morning is this.... "It is always disconcerting to people when their leader is erratic, up one day and down the next, constantly changing goals and plans, treating people differently depending on how the leader feels."

Many of us have probably experience leaders like this, but we must reflect on ourselves to ensure that we remain consistent with how how we treat our people and the expectations we have for ourselves and the others we lead. I have failed many times at this, but it is something that I try to do be aware of always. I know the older I get, the better I get at being consistent.

On a little side note... This book was a bit of divine intervention. I found it by accident when shopping at Sams Club. It was completely out of place when I saw it. I looked around to see where it was supposed to be, and it was not easy to find. I figure that God really wanted me to see and buy this book, so I did.

Have a great day.

Happy Employees Equal Happy Customers!

"Happy employees equal happy customers. Similarly, an unhappy employee can ruin the brand experience for not just one, but numerous customers." Sir Richard Branson

How does the above quote apply to the Fire Service that we love so dearly. If you have never thought of it this way, but our bosses (the tax payers) are also our most valuable customer. If we do not treat them well each and every time we have an encounter how will they respond when we need funding for new equipment or staffing?

Who sets the tone for how we should act towards our customers? Some say that it is all of our responsibility to always do the right thing when ever we have contact with the customer. I go further to say that we should strive for having a positive contact always, regardless. If the Firefighters do not feel appreciated by their officers how are they going to treat the customers?

If the Chiefs are not investing time and energy into developing positive relationships with those whom he is charged to lead, will that lead to happy employees? In most cases, when you invest in your employees they will far exceed the expectations.

Investing implies that money is involved. I contend that investing goes far beyond money, and time and energy is much more important especially in times of severe budget constraints. Do we have mentoring programs and succession plans to develop our future leaders? Mentoring does not need to be a formalized program, it only needs to be a way for our developing firefighters to get information and guidance from those that have "been there." Succession planning needs to begin at the station level, training each person to do the job of the others on the crew, especially the company officer.  Chief Officers need to be mentoring the company officers to fill their roles. Believe me, when we get our people thinking and understanding the roles and responsibilites of their leaders, they begin to think and act for themselves in a manner that is in line with the Department objectives.

Remember the "Big 4" that is the mantra sweeping the fire service that has been so eloquently promoted by Mark Von Appen. Do Your Job, Treat People Right, Give All Effort, Have An All In Attitude. The "Big 4" applies to all of our responsibilities.  When our people know we care about them, they will care about the people they serve, the customers.

Safety

Do those we lead feel safe? Of course we should be providing for their physical safety at all times, and there is a lot of safety considerations that must be made. I am talking about emotional safety.

Do the people on your crew feel safe to make decisions? Do they feel safe to make mistakes?

I am hoping that I have instilled a feeling of safety in my crew to make decisions. Whether in routine station and public situations they should all feel that they have the ability to make decisions without consulting me for everything. They will only feel that way if I have given them the foundation to of expected and acceptable behaviors. If when they make a decision that I might not have made, I must consider the impact of their decision, and then explain what might have been a better decision. If I “blow up” what is the likelihood that they will feel safe next time? Probably not.

“Firefighter Jim” is a good member of the crew. Jim is unwilling to make autonomous decisions. Everything he wants to do, he comes to me first. He wants my approval for everything. Unless his decision will have an effect on the entire crew, I tell him to go for it. These are minor situations, that do not require my prior approval, but he still comes to me for them. I often wonder what happened in his past that has made him feel unsafe about making these decisions.

I wonder how others are instilling safety in their crew to make decisions and take actions? If the member is not willing to make those types of decisions in routine situations, how will that change in the times of crisis.

Be Safe, but most of all make your people feel safe.

Mike

Sun Tzu

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."  Sun Tzu, The Art of War

This quote is an interesting analogy that applies to many situations. As responders we must know not only ourselves, but our capabilities when confronted with our enemy (fire, HAZMAT, etc.) or we will struggle to successfully make the situation better. 

How Well Do You Know Your Crew?

As the leader of your crew, do you know the people you are working alongside? I spend nearly as much time with my crew as my own family. If I want to successfully lead my crew I need to know as much about them as they will allow me to know. 

I want to know about their wife and children. I find it enjoyable to see their families grow. I find it hard when they are going through hardships. 

I have learned that I also must be in tune to their little quirks. By being able to read those quirks I can determine how to handle difficult conversations with them. I know that some of them will take any effort to correct actions or behavior poorly, no matter the delivery or intent. 

A Firefighter that we will call “Firefighter Joe” is a prime example. Firefighter Joe is not actually on my crew, but he is on my shift. Firefighter Joe is a hard worker. Whenever something needs to be done around the station, “Firefighter Joe” is the one that always steps up to handle any and all tasks. “Joe” takes pride in his performance. Now for his quirks…  If a Captain tries to give Firefighter Joe a tip on how to do a firefighting task better he becomes quickly offended. His ego will not allow him to take constructive help. Firefighter Joe is an open book with his personal life which has been tumultuous at times. Joe’s openness has been exploited in the good natured (sometimes not so good natured) teasing that can happen at a Fire Station. Firefighter Joe does not usually handle this well. 

If Firefighter Joe makes a mistake or accidentally damages something, he immediately feels like he will be fired. No amount of comfort will make this feeling go away for him.

So how do we work with Firefighter Joe’s quirks? I try to reassure him that he is doing a good job, and give something constructive that can be worked on to become better. When the inevitable, “why are you coming down on me for this when no one else has ever told me this” happens, I reassure him that I want him to be the best he can be. Sometimes this helps, other times not so much.  I know that he will go to other Captain or one of the Chiefs and tell them that I yelled at him, even though I never once raised my voice beyond conversational level. 

When you want the best for the firefighters you work with, you just need to let them know how to be better. It is not always fun or easy, but if you understand the quirks that they have, it helps in the delivery of the message.

**Firefighter Joe is used to protect the individual, and is not solely one person. Every department has the same people working there, the names and faces are different, but the personalities are the same.**