Leadership is in the Story

(Photo credit: ishineushine.blogspot.com)

So, what do the lessons of Alice and the Cheshire cat, the tortoise and the hare, Stone Soup, Dorothy in Oz, and the Little Red Hen all have in common? Answer: they are all presented in "5 Important Leadership Lessons You Learned in Kindergarten" by Jesse Lyn Stoner.

Storytelling is woven into the fabric of our culture. When I became involved in wildland fire training development, I was told that one of the most important aspects of the NWCG curriculum is the instructor's experience. Being able to tell our stories is a powerful teaching tool. Not everyone has the gift of storytelling, but nearly everyone has a story to tell.

Many years ago, I proposed a storytelling self-development tool for use by wildland firefighters. At that time, I was told another entity was working on a similar project. As with many initiatives, I don't think it came to fruition. It has been two years since presented the tool to blog readers, so here it is again:

“How-To” Suggestion:

1. Download and read LILA Harvard University's Deborah Sole's and Daniel Gray Wilson’s "Storytelling in Organizations: The Power and Traps of Using Stories to Share Knowledge in Organizations" which can be found online at http://www.providersedge.com/docs/km_articles/Storytelling_in_Organizations.pdf
2. Obtain and read the book Leadership Lessons from West Point from the Leader to Leader Institute. Authors of this publication set the example of using storytelling to bring very real leadership experiences to life.
3. Research storytelling as a leadership development tool. A few printed and Internet resources are listed below as possible guides for your knowledge quest. (Supervisors: Consider adding storytelling references to your local leadership library.)
4. Implement storytelling when communicating; use the information you have gained from your research.
5. Document experiences where storytelling was used to handle a leadership challenge (bring about change, encourage teamwork, share knowledge, transmit the Wildland Fire Leadership Values and Principles,etc.). Indicate whether the experience was effective or ineffective; if ineffective, document what could have been differently for future reference.
6. Create a personal storytelling library for future use. Revisit your storytelling library to keep the information updated and relevant.
7. Continually practice and improve your skill.
8. Pay it forward. Share this leadership development tool with members of your crew; become a storytelling mentor.

Printed Resources:

Denning, Steve. The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative. Jossey-Bass. April 2005.

• Addresses “how to use storytelling to deal with the most difficult challenges faced by leadership today” including:
• Motivate others to action
• Build trust in you
• Build trust in your company (branding)
• Transmit your values
• Get others working together
• Share knowledge
• Tame the grapevine
• Create and share your vision
• Solve the paradox of innovation
• Use narrative to transform your organization

Denning, Steve. Squirrel Inc.—A Fable of Leadership through Storytelling. Elsevier. June 2004.  http://www.stevedenning.com/Books/squirrel-inc.aspx

• Addresses “the use of storytelling to address leadership challenges”
• How to bring about change
• How to communicate who you are
• How to transmit values
• How to foster collaboration
• How to stop rumors
• How to share knowledge

Leader to Leader Institute (Major Doug Crandall, editor). Leadership Lessons from West Point. Jossey-Bass. 2007.

• This publication is the ultimate reference for using storytelling for leadership development.
• “In our classrooms, as in this book, we bring forth concepts and theory, relate stories from our own leadership endeavors, and help cadets make sense of their own experiences as they look toward the future. Throughout this book, we open a window into this world of leadership development that is the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at West Point and share some of our candid reflections, compelling stories, best practices, and frontline ideas.” (Major Doug Crandall, xxvi)

Simmons, Annette. The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence, and Persuasion through Storytelling. Perseus Books Group. June 2002.

http://groupprocessconsulting.com/images/uploads/Chapter_1.pdf

• Addresses “six types of stories that will serve you well in your efforts to influence others”
• Who I Am Stories
• Why I Am Here Stories
• My Vision Story
• Teaching Stories
• Values in Action Stories
• "I Know what you are Thinking" Stories

Internet Resources:

• Brooks, Kevin. Story - Storytelling - Business –Research
• Denning, Stephen
• GoldenFleece
• Group Process Consulting. (Simmons, Annette)
• Ivy Sea Online. Stories & Storytelling.
• Lipman, Doug. Story Dynamics: Igniting Transformation Through Storytelling. 
• McLellan, Hilary. Leadership and Stories. 

Stories from the Fireline can be a powerful self‑development tool. Effective use of the tool requires thought, organization, and practice.

Common Threads

What do leaders have in common? Dr. Mike Useem (Director Center for Leadership and Change Management at Wharton, University of Pennsylvania) believes there are 15 principles that all great leaders share:

1. Articulate a vision.
2. Think and act strategically
3. Honor the room.
4. Take charge.
5. Act decisively.
6. Communicate persuasively.
7. Motivate the troops.
8. Embrace the front lines.
9. Build leadership in others.
10. Manage relations.
11. Identify personal implications.
12. Convey your character.
13. Dampen over-optimism.
14. Build a diverse top team.
15. Place common interest first.

This video kicks off our series on those principles as provided in him book "The Leader's Checklist." 

We're Back!

We're back! At one time the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center (LLC) shared our blog updates via their mobile app. Well, that feature was disabled, but it's BACK! Not only do you know when a new blog entry is available but also when reports and other great information is released by the LLC are available. Be "in the know" and download the app today by following the link below or clicking on the icon in the right margin of this blog page.

Wildland Fire LLC app - check it out on any phone!

Thanks for taking care of us, Wildland Fire LLC!

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Thanks to a very observant reader who noticed that our Facebook link was incorrect, we have updated the link on our sidebar. The old site actually redirected you to the National Interagency Fire Center's Facebook page (our official BLM sponsor). Therefore, be sure to visit the new link and "like" our page. We provide a variety of information and references beyond that found on the blog.

IGNITE the Spark for Leadership and become a fan today!

Is Being Too Safe Putting You at Risk?

(Photo credit: TotalMortgage.com)

There is quite a debate ensuing around complexity and how humans respond to risk. A few fire veterans I have conversed with lately wonder if the risk aversion pendulum for safety has swung too far, that we are more risk averse, and that we are actually putting ourselves at greater risk.

In the Harvard Business Review blog article "What to Build Resilience? Kill the Complexity," Andrew Zolli weighs in on the subject addressing July's release of the final report of the 2009 Air France Flight 447 disaster which killed 280 people.

Over the next few months, we'll showcase some of the talk regarding the issue. Zolli's article will give you a foundation for our discussions. Check out a few of the concepts he presents.

Risk Compensation: As we add safety features to a system, people will often change their behavior to act in a riskier way, betting (often subconsciously) that the system will be able to save them.

Risk Homeostatis: Suggests that, much like a thermostat, we each have an internal, preferred level of risk tolerance — if one path for expressing one's innate appetite for risk is blocked, we will find another. 

Cognitive Diversity: Getting people to think more broadly and diversely about the systems they inhabit. 

 Ask Yourself

• Do the safety features you have built into your firefighting equipment change your behavior to act in a riskier way?
• Do you have an appetite for risk? If yes, do you have a mechanism to keep that appetite in check?
• Can you determine the difference between operating in areas of vulnerability or using the keys of resiliency?
• Has your organization adopted the tenets of a high-reliability organization? 
• Have you developed a culture as a learning organization using pre- an post-mortem exercises?
• Do you embrace cognitive diversity?

Staff Ride App

It is approaching about six months since the Wildland Fire Leadership Development Program released the Staff Ride App for use. Our Fall meeting is scheduled soon and we will be discussing our next steps with the Staff Ride App. With the amount of activity that the Rocky Mountain Area saw this year I was wondering if any crews (hand, engine, helicopter or other) were able to take advantage of travel routes home and the availability of the Staff Ride App. for an opportunistic visit to South Canyon and if they had some feedback? There has been some feedback from a few sources, and one magazine article that I am aware of. If you had an opportunity to look through the Staff Ride App., especially if you were able to take it up on the hill, post up and let us know what you think.

Transitions

Quite a few of our posts lately have focused on the formation of veteran fire crews. Here is a perspective from a veteran who has moved into the private sector. Viewers can see why their incorporation into the wildland fire service has been so successful. Here are a few parallels:

• Structured and routine work environment
• Work ethic and value system
• Uniform and personal professional equipment (PPE)
• Technical  skills
• Leadership skills
• Committed 
• Rugged work environment
• Irregular work schedules

Surround Yourself with Good People

(Photo credit: EnCognitive.com)

In "The Job of a Leader with Jack Welch and Bill Hybels," Jack Welch shares his perspective on how good, secure leaders surround themselves with smart, talented people.

Here are a few highlights:

• Draw out the people who make you smarter.
• Learn from those around you.
• Hire smarter people. Don't hire "dopes."
• Promote your people. Don't hide them. 
• Encourage your people to grow.
• Don't envy your talented people.
• Celebrate your successful people.

Resetting the Moral Compass

If you are a student of leadership and follow the experts, there is a lot of chatter regarding ethics and character. In many of the books I read or speeches I hear, there is a sense of urgency to address this leadership concern.

Dr. Rushworth Kidder, Institute of Global Ethics, shared his insights in a Washington Speakers Bureau presentation "Moral Courage: The Guts of a Tough Decision" prior to his death in March 2012. In this talk, he leaves us with a lot to think about regarding our future.

• A paradigm shift is occurring:
• Attention to ethics.
• Capacity for technology to be leverage our ethics in ways we have never seen before.
• Unethical impulses are not capable of producing global, immediate, and catastrophic effects.
• Leadership development for the next generation must focus on ethics and character.

From Fires to Flood, Wildland Firefighters are There!

BLM Aids in Santa Clara Flood Relief 
by Rachel Tueller

Mike Dargatz and AFMO Terry Swinscoe distributed Gatorade to volunteers.

On Wednesday, September 12, 2012, residents of Washington County, Utah were shocked when monsoon rains resulted in a flood so severe that it caused more than 2.83 million dollars-worth of damage to the quiet neighboring community of Santa Clara. Flood waters that breached a nearby earthen dike resulted in the closure of area schools and caused damage to more than 61 homes and 16 businesses.

Chris Madrigal, Fuels Tech loading UTV

  The morning following the incident, the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) Arizona Strip District joined throngs of individual residents, private businesses and numerous agencies that poured into the community's Incident Command center by the hour to offer assistance. The city's Incident Commander directed BLM staff to a location at the Town Hall where surplus Gatorade from the 2012 fire season could be distributed to help relieve volunteers who'd been working late through the night and continued into the morning hours.

Michelle Petty, Fire Logistics 

Fire crews also offered the Incident Commander assistance through man-power which the IC eagerly and affirmatively responded to. The IC directed the small crew to a nearby neighborhood where they were able to assist a family whose business, a fully operational preschool, was located in the basement of their home. The home and business owner was relieved and excited to see a fire crew appear at her doorstep as she indicated that there were heavy objects located in the basement that she and other volunteers sorely needed help with. With a clear reddish brown mud line reaching five feet high in the basement, removing the items from the basement required a great deal of effort. More than 50 volunteers that included Dixie State College students, evacuated high school students, soldiers from the Army and Navy, fellow parishioners, and family, friends and neighbors worked steadily through the heat of the at the residential business. Volunteers were asked to haul items from the preschool out to the lawn so owner could sort, clean and/or dispose of the items. Each home in within the flood zone had crews of similar sizes assisting flood victims in mop up efforts.

Brad Danduran aiding flood victims in clean-up efforts. 

Members of the crew helping with clean-up efforts.

Santa Clara Mayor Rick Rosenburg toured the incident zone with officials from the NRCS, U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency in hopes that the agencies might rebuild the dike in Tuacahn Wash. A 40 foot high gap is now present in the dike which was compromised by the pressure from the large amount of water and debris that coursed down Tuacahn Wash in what officials are calling "more than a one hundred year flood." While no structures were completely lost, due to the extent and severity of the damages caused by the flood, officials anticipate relief efforts and volunteer assistance will be a continual need for several days.
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This post is a reprint from The BLM Daily, an internal publication. Rachel Tueller is a Public Affairs Officer with the BLM Arizona Strip District.