Your Officer's View
This week we are going to look at something that has been disturbing me for the past several years. It is also something I can relate to as I have done this sort of behavior in the past, and hopefully I have learned from it and corrected or helped myself.
This theory applies to every rank, from firefighter up to chief and wherever you are you should take a look at it.
What does your behavior on an everyday basis, in the stations and at emergencies, portray to your officer or superior?
Wow, let's stop and read that one one more time. You mean is my officer looking at me each and every day as a good supervisor should, and what does he think of me as a worker, firefighter or paramedic or EMT.
Aw, who cares what he or she thinks, they can't get rid of me, I am a full time employee, or I am a volunteer they can't afford to lose me, so who cares what they think.
Maybe you should. This week, try to look at yourself and your behaviors from your officer's eyes.
Supervisors view people as a number of ways whether they would like to admit or not, and they fall into some loose categories. Let's take a look.
Are you viewed as a whiner or complainer? These folks always have something to say, and generally are not the strongest performers when the time comes to do the REAL job. There are some whiners and complainers that can be effective but they are few and far between.
Are you viewed as a gosspier, or troublemaker or stirrer of.....well you know what I mean.
These folks always thrive on the grapevine, the rumor mill, and they cause a fair amount of grief for their total net value to the agency. Often times these folks have some skill they can perform well, but their backstabbing behavior often overshadows their total good, and supervisors generally don;t find them to valuable to the agency. They are bad for general department morale.
Are you generally effective and a happy productive employee? These are the ones the boss is really looking for. This is the person who is mission focused here to do a job to truly serve the public. This is the rule of thirds folks the 1/3 of your members that want to do the job.
Are you what the boss would consider a slacker or a pretender. These are the folks that have a lot to say, but never are available for the task at hand for a variety of reasons, and to use a phrase I use all the time, "they fall under the radar" and like to stay there because their inequities may be discovered. These folks as all of us have some failings and shortcomings and rather than train on them and make those failings into strengths, they are afraid.
On the career side of the house there are folks who are just here for the pay benefits and work schedule. They fall into 2 categories, those that will tell you that honestly, and those that spend most of their time telling you what they think you want to hear. Remember Eddie Haskell on Leave it to Beaver, that phony would always say " What a lovely dress Mrs. Cleaver". We all have Eddies that work for us who claim they are firefighters at heart.
I never actually met a REAL firefighter who had to "tell" me he or she was one. I can usually tell by their actions, speech and behavior. If you are trying to tell me all the time, I may begin to wonder why.
There are many more choices, but I would be getting off the subject. This week if you have a moment, try to see your immediate supervisor and see what he or she thinks of your behavior. It doesn't have to be a formal evaluation process, but really a genuine counseling and mentoring session where a boss that you respect could help you improve personally and professionally in your career. It could be a simple and positive experience for both of you actually. I have often felt better after a genuine sit down talk about what was expected of me and how I was meeting or not meeting those expectations.
Or if you are a volunteer, don't go to this month's meeting, then complain about it after.
Or if you are a career guy, try to figure out how to bang out sick or get swaps for your day tour so you can work your REAL job, and just come in your nights when there is no brass around.
Hey, I am all about choices, I gave you a couple, try to develop professionally or continue to go even more stealth.
Your choice. Think about it.