IGNITE: Excellence

Always do more than is required of you. - George Patton

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In memory of the Granite Mountain Hotshots.

Growing a Team

(Photo credit: Carson NF, Tres Piedras RD)

 Growing a Team

(Submitted as part of the 2015 Wildland Fire Leadership Challenge IGNITE the Spark for Leadership Contest)

Task

The main task of the Growing a Team project was to build, cultivate and share a straw bale garden. Straw bale gardening can be done anywhere water and sunlight are available. The bale is saturated, and then fertilized with very inexpensive nitrogen pellets. Within two weeks the bale starts to naturally decompose and become its own organic planting ground. The general gardening idea along with tips and tricks was derived from the book Straw Bale Gardens by Joel Karsten. Our team’s garden was constructed behind the fire cache at our ranger station in northern New Mexico. We substituted alfalfa bales for straw that were donated to the effort by the range program.

(Photo credit: Carson NF, Tres Piedras RD)

(Photo credit: Carson NF, Tres Piedras RD)

Purpose

The purpose was to put together an easy, minimum-effort garden. The garden was intended to serve as a “zen” spot. Anyone could escape to get away from their desk or away from the phone, snap into a string bean, take a breath of fresh air and reset the mind so they could more effectively tackle the rest of the day. The garden was to be constructed by multiple functions to create team input, buy-in, ownership, and mostly shared benefit.

(Photo credit: Carson NF, Tres Piedras RD)

(Photo credit: Carson NF, Tres Piedras RD)

End State

The end state was to be a non-obtrusive but pleasant diversion for members of the office to reap some homegrown produce. I don’t know what it is exactly, but there seems to be a quiet joy and satisfaction derived from enjoying produce that is picked by the individual. It is instantly therapeutic. In this day and age when there is so much emphasis on natural foods and their health benefits, this provides the vehicle for your team to enjoy the benefits of an improved diet. This would take a well-planned and fairly prolific garden to successfully accomplish but is easily conceivable and theoretically not difficult. I don’t mean to plug the book, but detailing straw bale garden success would just be reinventing the wheel. Our garden was mildly successful but as most things go, the first try is usually less successful than desired. A larger group to share the burden would have been helpful but also the honest trial and error of garden placement will have an effect on results as well.

Aaron Livingston
Assistant Engine Captain

Carson National Forest, Tres Piedras Ranger District

For more information on the Growing a Team project contact Aaron @ alivingston@fs.fed.us

IGNITE: The Heart & Spirit

People are the heart and spirit of all that counts. - Max De Pree

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Nominate Someone Today!

Avoiding a One-Size-Fits-All Leadership Style

(Chief Kelly Zombro, CalFire, talking about the 2003 Cedar Fire near San Diego, CA)

How many times have you taken a profile or survey to help you identify your leadership style? These profiles can give you a idea of your overall leadership preference. However, what individuals need to realize is that leaders should adapt their styles as the situation warrants. How you prefer to lead and how you should be leading under a given situation may be very different things. Avoid leading with a one-size-fits-all mentality.

Situational Leadership
Leaders use a variety of power sources and leadership styles to influence others. Being able to select the most effective leadership tools in a given situation is an application of situational leadership.
Power can be defined as a person’s ability to influence the actions of others. How leaders use power shapes others’ perception of their ability to lead. A leader’s ability to read a situation and apply the appropriate source of power enhances their ability to lead.

The more visible power is, the less it works. The less explicitly leaders rely on power to accomplish tasks, the greater their power actually is. Those who rely on position, reward, or discipline power have less real influence on others. On the other hand, those who are able to rely on expert power and respect power—less overt forms of power—often influence in ways that have more far-reaching and deep effects.

To gain power, the most effective leaders give it away. By giving away some power to team members, leaders actually increase their influence and strengthen their ability to lead. Leaders also use different leadership styles as appropriate for the level of experience of the people involved and the situation.

With inexperienced people or time-critical situations, leaders use a directing style, explicitly telling people what needs to be done. As team members gain experience, leaders increasingly seek team members’ participation in discussions and decision making, working together to devise plans and actions.

Leaders keep sight of the long-term goal of being able to delegate most tasks and responsibilities to experienced and capable team members, setting the conditions that enable them to grow as leaders.

At every step of the way, leaders judiciously employ the amount of supervision required. They provide adequate feedback to make sure people can successfully accomplish the mission yet avoid micro-managing competent team members.

(Leading in the Wildland Fire Service, pp. 38-39)

Wildland Fire Leadership Challenge - Digging a Little Deeper

• Read and discuss Daniel Goleman's Harvard Business Review article "Leadership That Get's Results."

IGNITE: Vision

The only thing worse than being blind is having sight with no vision. - Helen Keller

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IGNITE: Stress

Stress isn't working 15 hours at a job you like; stress is working 15 minutes in a job you dislike. - Kathleen Lane

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Trust and Empathy

(Photo credit: National Public Radio)

I often listen to podcasts when I fly commercial, as I'm not really one for conversations with the stranger sitting next to me on a long flight.  One of my favorite podcasts is NPR's Ted Radio Hour, which weaves together clips from several Ted Talks and interviews with the speakers on a given topic.  On one flight, flying from Tucson to Boise on a roundabout itinerary that took me through Portland - gotta love early-morning cancellations - I found myself listening to a show entitled "Trust and Consequences," and finding lots of ideas that fit in well with fire culture.

IGNITE: Leadership Failures

He who never made a mistake, never made a discovery. - Samuel Smiles

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Fire Transforms

An Introduction: Peter Carpenter from The Smokey Generation on Vimeo.

Individuals enter the wildland fire service; firefighters emerge. For many when fire "gets in your blood," you have a hard time ever giving it up. Through the brotherhood or sisterhood, bonds are made and teams formed.

Peter Carpenter was a Redding Smokejumper from 1959 to 1961. Listen to how a career in wildland firefighting transformed his life in this video from The Smokey Generation.

How has a career in wildland firefighting transformed you?

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What is your story? We challenge you to become a part of this amazing  project and share your leadership stories. Bethany Hannah began The Smokey Generation: A Wildland Fire Oral History and Digital Storytelling Project for her master's thesis. All members of the wildland fire service, not just hotshots, can share their stories by following her example. Click here for potential leadership questions. Visit The Smokey Generation website for complete information.