Follow-up

I’m writing a follow-up to my post, Time For Change

I am humbled by the response from the post from Facebook, email and face to face. I am actually quite surprised by the number of people that actually read the post.

Almost everyone has been very supportive. There are a few people that didn’t really understand why I would request to step back to a Captains position. I wasn’t exactly clear in the post, mostly because I didn’t want to air dirty laundry or sound like a whining cry baby.

The Fire Service is a MERITOCRACY! The truth is that I know merit is more important than fairness. I believe that those that are performing and putting out the most effort deserve the choice assignments, and the benefits that go with effort and performance. There is always someone making excuses why they don’t know something or can’t do something. Excuses are like a-------s  oh you get the point.

I think training and working on the craft of firefighting is the most important thing we can do during our shift. I believe that we should seek opportunities on and off duty to improve our knowledge, skills and abilities. In our area of Nebraska, there are ample opportunities for FREE and low cost high quality training.

I believe that the traditions of the fire service are important. I believe that people should have pride in the fact that they are lucky enough to be firefighters. I believe that we should be willing to maintain and clean our fire apparatus and our fire stations, so that the people we are protecting can see that we are proud of what we do for them.

So you wonder why I stepped aside. It had nothing to do with me wanting less responsibility. It had everything to do with me not agreeing with my Chief’s on what is important.

Now I’m back to being a Captain, and loving every minute of it. I am feeling recharged again. The crew and I are making plans for more company level training. Back to basics type stuff.  

For those that have asked me to call them, please be patient. I will get you all called in the next couple of weeks. For those of you going to the 2013 Les Lukert Winter Conference, we can get together there.

http://www.nsfsi.com/

Speaking of the 2013 Les Lukert Winter Conference, I am looking forward to attending this year as a student. Hopefully I will see a lot of you there. If you are attending, Friday night is the Nebraska Society of Fire Service Instructors membership meeting. Please plan on attending this meeting, as this will be election of President and Vice President for a 2 year term.

Time for change!

I once saw a quote somewhere that has stuck with me. It was something along the lines of; If you don't like the direction you are going, Change directions. Well I made a decision to change directions.  I decided to turn in my white shirts and white helmet, and step back into a red helmet.

This was not a decision made out of anger or without thought. It was made after considerable thought.

I am a huge believer in bringing solutions to the "bosses" when I see problems. When I realised that the solutions I was bringing did not align with the overall culture of the organization, I couldn't continue to compromise my principals.

"When you have to start compromising yourself and your morals for the people around you, it’s probably time to change the people around you."

After a year of frustration over the direction of my department and shift, I decided that I could no longer meet the expectations of my supervisors. After what turned out to be a very private but ugly disagreement on what is important for a fire department, I requested a reassignment back to Captain.

I discussed the request with the Deputy Chief and the Fire Chief, whom were reluctant to make the change. I pressed hard, and made a formal written request about a week later. It has taken about 3 months for a selection of a replacement to take place, and finally the switch.

So, last Sunday, January 13, 2013, the change was made effective. I immediately had a sense of renewed purpose. My new crew seems excited for the opportunity to work together. I feel a reduction in stress.

For those of you that want to discuss this privately, I would be more than happy to do so.

I will be at the 2013 Les Lukert Winter Conference next month. This will be the first time in several years that I will be attending as a student, and I am really looking forward to picking up some new information, or at least new ways of seeing things.

For more information on Nebraska Society of Fire Service Instructors and the Les Lukert Winter Conference go the their website. http://www.nsfsi.com/default.asp