Making Some Difference
This week I thought I would venture into a familiar area. We as firefighters spend most of our lives trying to "make a difference". In most cases I think that we often do and we should be very proud of our actions.
I want you this week to really take some personal introspection and see what type of difference you are making. Is the positive difference you think?
I started this by looking at some of my actions and realizing that what I thought may have been positive differences are in fact no difference at all. In some cases in my professional life I am not making any impact. Hey that is a damn site better than making a negative difference.
In other cases such as writing a silly column like this every week and some of the training bulletin archives I have stored on the web site, I think I have had some impact. I have received emails and gotten feedback that I have made some others in the fire service re-think some of their views.
But, this column has a tone similar to the rearview mirror one from a couple of weeks ago. How do you know that you are not making the perceived difference and influence that you want.
Pretty simple my friends....ask others. We are afraid to ask others of how we are perceived and worse yet when we are asked, we rarely tell the truth for fear of not saying what the other person wants to hear.
You need to find out from the others around you if you really are considered a good firefighter. You need to also find out from your supervisor if you are a good firefighter. You need to ask your close personal friends and family about things in your character....honesty, dependability, and others.
Now comes the tough one....ask someone you really do not like or get along with well, what their thoughts are.
What! Did I lose my mind?
No that's right, I am not talking about calling any enemy you have, but I am talking about asking someone who you might have a strained relationship with, to have a straight forward honest conversation with.
A couple of things will happen.....if the person agrees, you will find the most valuable information about you from a source you never considered. During the course of that conversation you will also discover the reason that you and this person have a strained relationship, and you might actually develop a rapport with this person and view them in a new light.
All of this is pretty risky business and might cause more trepidation then going up a back stairway in the smoke.
I assure you that you will learn if you are making a difference.
You can then decide if it is the "difference" that you actually set out to make.