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| (Photo Denis Doukhan/Pixabay) |
Whether you make the choice to lead self, people, teams, or organizations, there is great responsibility. Caring for self is hard enough, but when you transition to taking care others, the pressure of leading can feel like Atlas holding up the world.
Once we commit to becoming leaders, our focus is no longer ourselves. Fire leaders assume the serious responsibility of putting others into harm’s way and for making decisions that profoundly affect citizens, communities, and natural resources. Leadership is a tough choice. Leaders choose to sacrifice their own needs for those of their teams and organizations. They routinely face situations and make decisions that others criticize and second-guess. Leaders take risks and face challenges every day. - Leading in the Wildland Fire Service, p. 6.
As you move through the levels of leadership, the number of people under your influence increases. Followers lead one; leaders of organizations can lead many. So how does a leader responsible for vast numbers of people take care of them?
"Do small things with great love." - Mother Teresa
The answer is they don't take care of ALL of them at one time or alone. They take care of those within their direct responsibility; those people take care of people, and those people... Yes, the leader is ultimately responsible for all those under his/her chain of command. How he/she does that is what matters. This is another reason for the philosophy of leaders create other leaders.
Depending on the size of your team or organization, caring for the masses seem like a monumental task. Consider Mother Teresa who cared for the ill in Calcutta. She did not take care of the multitudes all at once or alone. She took care off one person at a time. After that person, she cared for another and another... By showing what right looked like, the nuns under her leadership took care of the millions—one person at a time. Leaders are effective when they share the workload as much as possible. Read Don Jacobson's article "One Person at a Time: The Leadership Genius of Mother Teresa."
Wildland Fire Leadership Challenge - Digging a Little Deeper
- Read Erika Andersen's article "Great Leaders Don't Do It Alone...They Get Help."
- Watch Simon Sinek talk about this concept and building self-confidence.
Pam McDonald is a writer/editor for BLM Wildland Fire Training and Workforce Development and member of the NWCG Leadership Committee. The expressions are those of the author.
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