How Do You Provide Opportunities and Build the Team as a Leader When There Is No Opportunity?

  Author: Nick Terrell, National Wildfire Coordinating Group

I signed up for the Great Basin Priority Trainee List for the 2025 fire season. I figured it was time to get serious about completing my TFLD Task Book. Crossing my fingers on pulling a trainee assignment through my network had worked once but I had accepted the fact that it was a lucky get, and was unlikely to happen again. My window of opportunity opened in August, and I got an offer for a fire in northern Nevada. I replied that I was available and got a call from the duty officer within 10 minutes. My resource order was for a subordinate position on an Equipment number (E#) and said in the Special Needs "REPLACEMENTS FOR TASK FORCE 2." On my first TFLD trainee assignment in 2024, I showed up on a project fire and was handed 15 resources with no trainer. This time, I thought I was ready for anything. 

The roll would turn into perhaps the most logistically challenging one of my career. Operationally, crickets. Because of this, the roll also posed a unique leadership challenge that I was not expecting: how do you provide opportunities for your people, build the trust climate, and strengthen the team when there is very little opportunity to provide? My order was for a regional surge task force that was assigned to a fire when I got ordered up. The region had ordered up replacement overhead for the task force, but so did the fire. The previous TFLD and Trainee had timed out and hit the road, so we didn't get a debrief with them. The first shift was spent figuring out what resources were ours, and which one of the two qualified TFLDs ordered I would be working with. 

The task force itself had got yarded out to different divisions when they hit the fire. Our three engines were in a structure protection group on the west flank of the fire, the Type 2 Dozer and Heavy Equipment Boss Trainee (the Qualified had timed out and the Trainee was running solo) was on a division wrapping up line construction on the east flank, and the Type 2 water tender was hanging out at the staging area near the heel. The fire had got up into the goat rocks so the crews were engaged, and all the equipment was staged up.  

As the morning progressed, the resources rolled into the staging area. I shook hands, exchanged contact info, and briefed them on what little I knew at the time. "The Type 3 Team is probably going to kick us loose, but they want to see what the fire does today before they let all of their equipment go." The next morning, we were on the demob list. Thus began a long series of days of reassignment and staging, reassignment and staging, reassignment and staging. 

We were reassigned four times following the initial fire. Each move involved making a travel plan, meeting up with a duty officer, getting an in-brief, booking and cancelling lodging reservations, and finding a centrally located staging area. Thankfully, but what turned out to be minimally so, one of the reassignments was to a fire. We drew a few shifts of night duty because the team wanted some fire presence at night. That incident was on the Wasatch front so there were a lot of curious eyes around. It got our blood pumping to get that assignment but ultimately it turned out to be just a different setting to sit around in.  

There was very little opportunity for all of us – overhead and module personnel alike – to demonstrate our competency on the fireline. What I found was that it had to be done delicately, in the minute interactions throughout each shift. In the morning briefing I gave after the first reassignment, when the whole team was assembled - after the contract resources swapped crews and we received our fresh Qualified Heavy Equipment Boss - I set firm expectations and kept it casual: be on time, respond to communications promptly, what's your favorite cartoon character? Seriously. I ended that briefing with a round robin discussion of the task force's favorite cartoon characters. It was a phenomenal way to get a bit of insight into everyone's personality type, and it completely disarmed everyone in the briefing circle. The dozer operator and transport driver were Yosemite Sam and Pepe LePew respectively. Wild boys to say the least. This could have caused folks to not take me seriously, or eroded the trust climate, but the actions I followed it up with in the shifts to come prevented this.  

I highly value relationships and I made tons of effort to get to know the people on the task force, giving them the respect they were due. I think about the sources of power when reviewing my actions on that roll: I prioritized my experience power by subtly dropping hints of my operational fire career, and my respect power by giving my attention to all the people on the task force, from module leaders to first year crew members. The sources of power I did not prioritize were position power and discipline power. For example, on one reassignment I had the resources pick a park in the town we were traveling to, while the Qualified Task Force Leader and I headed for a county fire station to in-brief with the duty officer we were reporting to. After meeting with the duty officer, I called the task force resources to the fire station to brief them. The station had a large equipment yard where we could park all our vehicles, including the dozer transport. I thought this was optimal, but the group hated this idea and strongly advocated to stage in the park. I was concerned about response times from the park because the dozer transport would not fit there, and the park was much more visible to the public. I packaged that message in the form of leader’s intent and the responses that they gave me made sense. I extended them some trust, and we staged in the park for the remainder of our time there. I could have used my position power to override them, but the travel time was nominal between both locations, community members were friendly, and the task force felt strongly rooted in their position to stage at the park.  

I hope that you never have to do what I had to do on that task force roll. I hope that your assignments have a high operational tempo, and you draw engaging fireline missions. I think we know how to lead in those situations. I think it’s easier to lead in those situations. Especially when it comes to ad hoc teams. Established crews or Incident Management Teams have the entire fire season to build cohesion. A throw together group of fire resources does not. Leadership is a complex and subjective skill. There are so many flavors of leaders out there and there is no right or wrong way to lead firefighters (as long as it’s done safely of course). But I found that if you really pay attention to the minute interactions on a boring tour, you can build a trusting and healthy team. I had no doubt in my mind that if that task force group were to hit a going IA, that they would perform exceptionally. And on the day after I briefed my replacements, while traveling home, I received a text with some photos of them doing just that. 

Nick Terrell is a career federal wildland firefighter. Following a career altering injury, he left his position on a handcrew for a wildland fire support position. The career change has allowed him to pursue a master’s degree at Boise State University studying Conflict Management and Leadership. He still maintains operational fire qualifications and is a diligent student of fire.

The Surprise of Command Staff

 Author: Christopher Ayer, Corona De Tucson Fire Department

Being a subordinate is easy -- you are focused on your job and completing tasks. Especially as a back seat firefighter, you wake up, get some breakfast, grab some lunches, water and Gatorade. If things are going well, you get some ice. You get driven to the fire line, told what the plan is and put your head down and work. You get done with work and get driven back to camp to get some dinner and rinse and repeat. It’s the most fun job in the world -- work hard when there is work to be done and sometimes there's down time to play cards, read, or solve all the world’s problems with some of your best friends.

We go from easily the greatest job in the world and take that giant step to being the boss. Crew boss, engine boss, firefighter type 1 -- over night you go from being one of the crew to being the “the man”, supervisor, middle management, fun police. Yes, I know I am being overly dramatic, it takes a week or so. But I had my eyes opened by my former “fun police” and mentor, who shared a very complex and deep realization that I had never really considered or confronted before.

The step up in leadership comes with some unrealized and dramatic changes that can be so quickly overlooked, and not completely understood by a new leader.

1    You are now part of the command staff.

Promotion to a new leadership position means you are now part of that chain of command. All the good, the bad and ugly that you used to look at from lower in the chain, you are now part of it. This was pointed out to me, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. In conversations I referred to the agency and the leadership like I used to, but now I am literally part of it. 

We have all seen that leader get promoted that was part of the crew, maybe a little wild, little disrespectful, maybe in a little over the top and they change like a light switch when they are promoted. What happened? How did they go from wild child to company man overnight? How could they not go up there and shake out the problems they lobbied for before their promotion? Well, they just became part of that leadership team and the dynamics are not the same. Once you are there and involved in that new role expectations and needs change. 

For me it was the realization that I now must value things differently than I did before, things that seemed trivial or why is that a big deal, now are extremely important not for me but for the people below me. That role comes with taking care of people below you not about some administrative decision or paperwork that is redundant but about being sure your people’s needs are met: food, water, shelter, training, equipment, payroll.

2.     Acknowledgement of a job well done.

Everyone looks for that pat on the back or words of encouragement from their boss. Tt goes an extremely long way to building your confidence especially as a new leader. Even more so when you have had a couple of those welcome to leadership situations that every new leader gets hit with, the ones that weren't in the training manual or S-131 or S-231. But with your step in leadership or promotion you just become part of that command staff. The expectation for you is to make those tough decisions. 

As that new leader where do you draw confidence and strength when you are struggling through those new position growth? My mentor pointed this out to me, it’s the people below you. Servant leadership, mission-driven leadership, is focused on taking care of the people around you. Are they happy coming to work? Do they have what they need? Are they able to grow and advance? Are you addressing the reasons that you might have disagreed with you leadership in the past and providing a great working environment? I am not advocating that you are going to get a meaningful 'thank you' or a 'you're doing a great job,' but as a leader can you see how the team is functioning and that is your pat on the back, your acknowledgment that you are performing your job well.

These two simple facts seem so obvious. I was dumb struck when he pointed them out, but over the last few days they have really hit home. Being part of the leadership of your crew or agency accompanied with realizing where to look to see if you are having that impact that led you to taking that leadership step will help support you as a new leader when things don’t seem like they are going in the right direction.

Christopher Ayer is a Captain/ Paramedic/ Engine Boss Trainee/ Wildland Coordinator for Corona De Tucson Fire Department in Tucson Arizona. The expressions and views are those of the author.

 

What Kind of Leader Do You Image being?

 Author: Christopher Ayer, Corona De Tucson Fire Department

How do we lead? What does leadership look like in your mind?

Everyone has an image of what a great leader looks like from the outside. We’ve all seen examples of outstanding leadership: Dick Winters leading at Brecourt Manor, Phil Jackson coaching the Bulls to a three-peat, Franklin D. Roosevelt guiding the nation through the Great Depression and World War II. But none of us wake up one day as that caliber of leader. Promotion doesn’t magically give us all the characteristics or skills those individuals displayed when they led with excellence.

Recently, there’s been a lot of discussion around impostor syndrome—a concept that hits most new leaders at some point. Those feelings of inadequacy, of not being good enough, are completely normal. The first few weeks or months in a new leadership role are often filled with doubt, overthinking, and second-guessing. You may ask yourself if you’re truly ready to lead, especially when tasked with guiding your peers.

This isn’t a new struggle. It’s been around for centuries. Consider this quote from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius:

"If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment."

After my own promotion, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I stumbled. I second-guessed almost every decision and criticized myself daily. My choices felt either too late or never good enough. This led to hesitation, indecision, and often trying to change course midstream. Before I knew it, I was micromanaging everything—not because I didn’t trust my crew, but because I felt like it was the only way I could prove I was doing my job.

It wasn’t until my most senior firefighter and engineer started joking (and grumbling) about my constant oversight that I realized how off track I’d gotten. Fortunately, I had a great crew—experienced, driven, and many with twice my time in the fire service. Two of them even helped train me when I first got hired. They didn’t need me telling them every step—they thrived with autonomy. Their gentle but honest intervention forced me to take a step back and come up with a plan.

The turning point came when I asked myself: What do I want my leadership to look like? Visualizing my ideal approach helped me step back and truly observe situations. It gave me a better sense of what the crew needed, and how I could support rather than control.

That reflection led to a few core questions I return to often:

• What does leading look like to me?
• What do my interactions with crew members look and feel like?
• What kind of leader would I want to follow?

When you’re stuck in impostor syndrome, it can be hard to see the leader you want to become. It blinds us to the possibility of being the lead-by-example, servant-minded leader we admire in others.

The final piece for me was revisiting Leadership Strategies and Tactics by Jocko Willink. In the section on impostor syndrome, he reframed something that had been weighing me down: the slow decision-making, the self-doubt, the constant worry about how my choices would be perceived. He helped me see that those feelings didn’t mean I was failing—they meant I cared. I cared enough to want to get it right. That realization helped me shift from doubt to preparation. It reminded me that I didn’t need to rush. Taking a moment to think things through meant better long-term results. I began to see the “why” behind my hesitation, and that gave me the confidence to move forward with purpose.

So, I’ll ask again—what does leading look like to you?

Christopher Ayer is a Captain/ Paramedic/ Engine Boss Trainee/ Wildland Coordinator for Corona De Tucson Fire Department in Tucson Arizona. The expressions and views are those of the author.

Time to Get Real: Authenticity and Congruence as a Wildland Fire Leader

 Author: Nick Terrell, National Wildfire Coordinating Group

Can you think of someone you work with, or have worked with, who’s actions and words don’t match? I bet you can, and I can too. It's called incongruence and it's not a desirable leadership trait. The extreme example of this behavior is the “do as I say, not as I do” leader. You don’t need to hear it from me that this method will lose a person in a position of power massive amounts of respect real quick. You know that already, probably from experience. On the less offensive side of the spectrum, this behavior could manifest as someone who is remiss to speak up or who speaks up in a way that they perceive is socially acceptable in their peer group but does not align with their personal character. It's someone who is not living in a way that is true to their personal value system.

I have been this person, and I have known many smart, capable, and competent wildland firefighters who speak and act differently when they are faced with an opportunity to step into a spotlight. No matter how small that spotlight may be, the fear of being judged by our peers can keep us from manifesting our true character. As a Follower developing into a New Leader (reference the Wildland Fire Leadership Levels https://www.nwcg.gov/committee/leadership-committee/leadership-levels) I hesitated to speak up and show my true character) I hesitated to speak up and show my true character.  I believe that was a function of building competency and confidence when making this leadership level transition. In other words, I had not yet built the various skill competencies that wildland firefighters use, so I could not conceptualize how to overlay my personal value system in carrying out my Duty.

It was the transition from New Leader to Leader of People where I hesitated to speak up because of a fear of judgement. At this point in my career, I was confident and competent, and I knew that I did not use my confidence to mask a lack of competence. Some people do that. I bet you have encountered those folks in your career too. I had reached a level of skill competency where I could authentically manifest my personal values in my leadership style, but I did not speak and act in a way that was true to that value system for fear of judgement from my peer group.

So let's back up a bit. I mentioned incongruence as the undesirable leadership trait. What we need to focus on and strive for is congruence in what we say and what we do. Congruence is an effective and desirable leadership trait because of its association with authenticity. Effective leaders are authentic. You can sense it.

When leaders speak and act in alignment, you can tell that it's coming from a genuine place. From a place based on what they value as a person. Through this alignment of action, word, and value, a person manifests their true character. So now think of the person who you have worked with who employs authenticity in their leadership style. Maybe it was someone who wasn't even in a leadership position, but you could feel that they were putting their heart behind what they said and did. On the rare chance that you can’t think of an example, maybe the person is you. This person is a much more effective and likeable leader, the kind of person we all want to work with.

I have worked with too many good people who do not practice congruence and authenticity. I believe that many wildland firefighters hesitate to show their true character and values because they fear being seen or ultimately judged by peers for what we perceive to be deviations from what is culturally acceptable. This phenomenon is difficult for me to cope with and it's hard for me to abide by. I believe it reduces the richness of our wildland fire culture.

Perhaps you don’t have a clear picture of what your personal value system is. No shame if you don’t, values change over time. People change over time. I could not have articulated my personal values until somewhat recently when I completed a values assessment. I have included the assessment I took below and I encourage you to take it to map your personal value system to gain a good anchor point to lead people from.

A wildland fire leader’s ability to manifest their personal value system congruently between their actions and their words is a core skill. A Personal Anchor Skill. We have the Duty to be proficient in our jobs, both technically and as a leader. Effective and proficient leaders lead from an authentic position based in their personal value system. Through authentic behavior, fire leaders generate Respect by knowing their subordinates and looking out for their wellbeing, and they lead with Integrity by setting the example. Speak and act in alignment with who you are and what drives you as a person no matter how unique your style may be. The people you lead will respond to it positively, even if there are aspects of your character that stand in contrast to their own.

References:

1) Further reading to expand your perspective of authenticity and congruence:

“Congruence is what separates the most influential leaders from everyone else. Here’s why.” Matthew Jones. Inc.com. 2018.

https://www.inc.com/matthew-jones/congruence-is-what-separates-most-influential-leaders-from-everyone-else-heres-why.html

2) Personal Values System Assessment:

https://www.guilford.com/add/miller11_old/pers_val.pdf?t=1

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Nick Terrell is a career federal wildland firefighter. Following a career altering injury, he left his position on a handcrew for a wildland fire support position. The career change has allowed him to pursue a master’s degree at Boise State University studying Conflict Management and Leadership. He still maintains operational fire qualifications and is a diligent student of fire.