“Leaders create teams that engage in healthy conflict: enabling a dynamic exchange of ideas, the voicing of diverse viewpoints, and, ultimately, innovative solutions. “ (Leading in the Wildland Fire Service)
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| (Photo credit: AFH Comics)\ |
Showing posts with label Conflict. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Conflict. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Respect the Thorn
Tuesday, November 10, 2020
Impact versus Intent - The "Thorn in My Side"
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Within the world of wildland fire, we talk a lot about intent. Today I want to talk about the impact our communications and actions have on others, regardless of our intent.
Thursday, November 29, 2018
IGNITE: Anger and You
"Anger is never without reason, but seldom with a good one." - Benjamin Franklin
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
DANG ANGER DANGER
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| (Photo credit: Brian Childs) |
For most, this leadership trait is associated with many other leaders in our lives from parents to presidents. We are conditioned into thinking that this is what a leader is and does. Let’s explore what anger is and the affect this leadership method has on the team itself.
Anger has a spectrum from annoyance and frustration to rage and violence. In one end of the spectrum it can be a normal and healthy release of emotion and at the other, a blow up of damaging proportions. Generally, all anger is a resistance and intolerance. This can mean it may be a catalyst for change either better or worse than the current circumstances. What I mean by that is whether it benefits a majority or the self by releasing the emotion. When at the beginning end of the spectrum (frustration), voicing the intolerance can bring awareness to WHAT needs to change in order for a return to smooth sailing. When it occurs at the other end of anger’s spectrum (violence, rage), it loses its positive influence since what it does physiologically to self, others and overall atmosphere, is shut down that momentum of progress until there’s acknowledgement that it got out of control.
An overtly angry leader can think more optimistically, which sounds beneficial, but not in a way that promotes safety. Assignments can seem less risky and dangerous. Progress seems more likely to succeed even when faced with obstacles and incidents seem less likely. This method leads one to be more likely to make risky decisions, and make more optimistic risk assessments. This tendency allows that deadly “can do” attitude since the thought is that they can just force their subordinates to conform and make it happen regardless of the reality that it isn’t achievable for a multitude of reasons they’re unwilling to look at. Excessive anger carries with it a deception to self and others that puts everyone at undue risk. Over time, surviving the risks leads them to believe that it was all due to their skill of driving the crew. This is a common delusion of luck taking the place of skill.
Although it has some success in manipulating a desired outcome, it usually breeds contempt and disdain since it uses force. This is a one-way means of “top down” leadership and doesn’t open a pathway for receiving needed feedback from subordinates. The team is left feeling as though ruled by tyranny rather than having any ‘team’ atmosphere where everyone’s strengths or feedback have an opportunity to contribute to the whole. That can be effective, but only temporarily. Eventually crewmembers will become worn down and spiteful which will infect the whole and cause overall mutiny. The Leader will inadvertently create an atmosphere where no one is inspired to hold that position and always view that Leader as ultimately dysfunctional outside of any given duty. The ongoing result being that the leader is the only reliant source and thus a crutch. I feel that it is unrealistic and a weakness to only rely on one leader to constantly be the source of decisions, tactics and micro-managing.
Overly angry leaders deflect more than they take responsibility. They are more likely to demonstrate a bias or blame since they tend to rely more on stereotypes or singular assumptions, and pay less attention to details and more attention to the surface and therefore making snap judgements. This sort of focalized tunnel-vision often excludes critical information or details get ignored that expose that their behaviors are somewhat exaggerated.
They tend to anticipate future causes for them to be angrier building an overall pessimistic break down around them as if nothing is going to satisfy nor go ‘right’ according to them. All future actions seem to throw fuel to their fire of rage. That anger begetting further anger in that atmosphere. Even when accolades are deserved or partially given, the focus remains on what could’ve been more to their preference.
So with every complaint there must be a solution otherwise it’s just needless whining. Ideally, any Highly Reliable Organization functions with success by being a team or Leader of Leaders. In the circumstantial absence of the Leader, another can stand in as acting Leader with equal trust and respect from subordinates.
How do we accomplish this? Balance.
By no means do I intend to color anger as something that we avoid and even worse suppress. Much like fear, it can serve its purpose if acknowledged and processed by seeking its source in order to come to a healthy solution. It arises for good reason and that is to get our attention toward an issue in need of being added into our scope. Increasing our awareness will transform it to something positive and the emotion won’t arise in vain. It will demonstrate to the team that an effective leader has to be willing to be open in discussing difficult topics in order to build the team. I ask that we first examine if it is merely an issue within ourselves, or actually something externally in our environment or personnel that needs to be addressed, or both. Before we allow our anger to color our view of everything, answer it one situation at a time and move forward without projecting into our future. I ask us to consider what other methods are there? To swing the pendulum to the other extreme of “soft people-pleaser” wouldn’t necessarily achieve the goal since people will eventually manipulate that to their own selfish desires. What’s needed is a balance of both ends: Allowing ALL that arises in our shift, our tour, our season and individual personnel to be in our scope as well as standing firm on what’s best for the team by steering into a goal-oriented team that doesn’t mask over issues that inevitably build into larger issues.
Whenever you sense that there is anger arising in your team, engage with the hearts of your subordinates. Acknowledge the flame in the heart each individual that applies to a career in service work: compassion. Anger will occur. We cannot expect it to be absent when we are challenged in so many emotional and physical ways. Nobody is a victim to the career they ultimately chose, but it is our duty as leaders to alleviate the stresses of our work environment simply by showing empathy. Whenever you sense that anger is arising within you, take inventory of You. Delegate some of the responsibility by fostering the roles that your subordinates are hungry for. Allow some failures knowing that it is how we learn lasting lessons. Even though moments may seem daunting, address what comes up with openness for something good to come of it. We owe it them, ourselves, and the community we serve. Know that our individual emotional state is an active choice and not something that happens to us. Decide what emotion best fits the situation without ignoring what doesn’t fit into our ideal equation for success.
“In the end, it doesn’t matter how well we have performed or what we have accomplished—a life without heart is not worth living.” ― John Eldredge
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Sincerely,
Brian Childs
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Brian Childs began his career in 2002 with Utah DNR/FFSL. In 2011, he moved to Oregon where he works for a regional contract company as crew boss for one of four T2s. All thoughts and opinions above are those of the author and do not constitute the opinion of this site or the U.S. government.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
IGNITE: Where Do You Stand?
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.IGNITE the Spark for Leadership. LIKE and SHARE throughout your networks. #fireleadership #fireminis
http://www.fireleadership.gov/
Friday, February 27, 2015
The Road Isn't Easy
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| (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
If you have read the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, you know the journey to the Emerald City was less than perfect. From watching the movie, I had a vision of the yellow brick road as neatly paved and easy to travel. However, nothing could be further from the truth. In the book, the road was worn, covered with trees, and blocked by rivers, beasts and other barriers. Dorothy and her friends found difficulty traveling down its winding path. I have my own troubled path with the yellow brick road.
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| (Yellow brick road from the "Return to Oz"; photo credit Captive Wildwoman blog) |
Friday, October 24, 2014
Goombahs
by Jay C Stalnacker
Growing up living on the other side of the tracks, I often ventured across for a slap of reality as just a few miles away there sat an entire city of epic poverty, unemployment and crime. I believed the world was no bigger than a few square miles of rusted steel mills and ugly “company houses” surrounded by middle class subdivisions. It was a place where the mafia and crooked unions destroyed an entire community and left wounds that would never heal. It was so bad that for a few years Youngstown, Ohio was known as the “murder capitol of America.” The unrelenting crime and unscrupulous leadership of our community eventually left generations of immigrants with nothing more than empty rusting steel mills and cracked brick row houses.
By the time I was old enough to understand what a “Youngstown tuneup” was, most of the crime families had been arrested or moved operation to another city, leaving only a wake of destruction. Looking back, as young boys there were really only a few types of heroes we had to admire: professional boxers, football players and crime bosses. Goombah’s like “mo man” Harris and “Charlie the Crab” and legends like Franco Harris and Ray Boom Boom Mancini filled both our dreams and nightmares. Little did I know that both provided an unattainable or misplaced example of leadership, but it was all we had.
As I grew older I began to understand who the true heroes were. They were the common men and women who suffered through the intimidation, bribery and destruction of their community and then moved to the suburban neighborhoods to raise their children hoping that we would have a better future than they knew each of us would most likely face.
It’s a sad, overwhelming enlightenment watching an entire community self-implode. As wild-eyed teenagers we would climb to the roofs of the rusted buildings and walk the empty train tracks always wondering what happened and how it happened so quickly. I witnessed my grandfather fall from a proud paycheck earning crane operator in the steel mill to a humbled security guard at a community college making minimum wage. The union leaders had destroyed his future by embezzling his pension and sending jobs overseas with greedy demands. These leaders put their own needs and desires above many countless others and the end result would be generations of unemployment and poverty that still exist today.
I truly believe that in the beginning the “families” had the right idea but unfortunately the wrong intentions. They wanted to protect the immigrant workers from the steel tycoons and for a while everyone was prosperous. But eventually their greed, selfishness and ignorance turned a good idea into something terrible.
Like these goombahs who almost destroyed a culture of people, how often do we see leaders take the selfish approach as they look for any opportunity to gain more power and control at all cost. They fail to recognize their short-term gain will only result in long-term failure. It’s so very easy have a good intention turn into a disaster because the leader is really focused on his goals and not those of the larger purpose.
Often in public safety we see egos, attitudes and insecurities destroy an organization or compromise the success of a mission. It’s no different in the private corporate world or even on the sidelines of a children’s soccer game. Great leaders somehow see through the immediate gain and recognition then inspire us to follow them past the attainable and towards the unforeseeable future. As Jim finished his sermon today he talked about Jesus the warrior returning home to gather his army to celebrate victory. But he also reminded us that until that day we will be endlessly tempted with money, sex and other worldly distractions that someday just will not mean anything.
It’s hard to look into the unknown future and then back at your current struggles maintaining hope and faith. My experiences as incident commander or operations chief on emergency incidents constantly remind me of this. Many times you have to look ahead and past the obvious which is very difficult when chaos, death and destruction stare you in the eyes. During the flooding, I had to make difficult decisions that would stop rescue operations because of the danger to the rescuers. Losing rescuers would only create more chaos and trying to find the fine balance of saving innocent lives versus losing rescuers' lives was a constant struggle. Many in our profession walk in thinking they want to be a hero, but when the choice of sacrificing their life for another’s is presented it's not so simple. Often they get tunnel vision and lose understanding of the bigger picture ultimately causing more harm than good. More often they freeze in place unable to make the choice before it’s too late. These decisions haunt you as a leader; and only through understanding that there is a larger goal, can you come out the other end in one piece.
It’s much like raising children and disciplining them for something they don’t understand fully but yet you know it’s best. There is no easy answer and no simple explanation. We as leaders must have character and wisdom, and our followers must have courage and humbleness. I think a lot about how better to close this gap with Aspen, Kim, my staff, friends and family. How do I both lead with wisdom and follow with courage? I find what works best is to ask the right questions at the right time. How did we get here? What are we trying to do? What do we want it to look like when we are done? Great leaders constantly ask these three questions to continually evaluate their end state and verify their objectives. Next time you have a tough conversation with your child, a subordinate or spouse try to slow down and ask yourself these questions. I’m sure you can look back as you read this and think of an instance you should have paused and answered these questions before you moved forward. Thinking about these questions first, your conversations will flow seamlessly and confidently as a leader who has vision for something greater.
Spend some time slowing down, remember to ask yourself what it should and can look like when you're done, and I’m sure the result will be greater than your wildest dreams.
Jay C Stalnacker
Growing up living on the other side of the tracks, I often ventured across for a slap of reality as just a few miles away there sat an entire city of epic poverty, unemployment and crime. I believed the world was no bigger than a few square miles of rusted steel mills and ugly “company houses” surrounded by middle class subdivisions. It was a place where the mafia and crooked unions destroyed an entire community and left wounds that would never heal. It was so bad that for a few years Youngstown, Ohio was known as the “murder capitol of America.” The unrelenting crime and unscrupulous leadership of our community eventually left generations of immigrants with nothing more than empty rusting steel mills and cracked brick row houses.
By the time I was old enough to understand what a “Youngstown tuneup” was, most of the crime families had been arrested or moved operation to another city, leaving only a wake of destruction. Looking back, as young boys there were really only a few types of heroes we had to admire: professional boxers, football players and crime bosses. Goombah’s like “mo man” Harris and “Charlie the Crab” and legends like Franco Harris and Ray Boom Boom Mancini filled both our dreams and nightmares. Little did I know that both provided an unattainable or misplaced example of leadership, but it was all we had.
As I grew older I began to understand who the true heroes were. They were the common men and women who suffered through the intimidation, bribery and destruction of their community and then moved to the suburban neighborhoods to raise their children hoping that we would have a better future than they knew each of us would most likely face.
It’s a sad, overwhelming enlightenment watching an entire community self-implode. As wild-eyed teenagers we would climb to the roofs of the rusted buildings and walk the empty train tracks always wondering what happened and how it happened so quickly. I witnessed my grandfather fall from a proud paycheck earning crane operator in the steel mill to a humbled security guard at a community college making minimum wage. The union leaders had destroyed his future by embezzling his pension and sending jobs overseas with greedy demands. These leaders put their own needs and desires above many countless others and the end result would be generations of unemployment and poverty that still exist today.
I truly believe that in the beginning the “families” had the right idea but unfortunately the wrong intentions. They wanted to protect the immigrant workers from the steel tycoons and for a while everyone was prosperous. But eventually their greed, selfishness and ignorance turned a good idea into something terrible.
Like these goombahs who almost destroyed a culture of people, how often do we see leaders take the selfish approach as they look for any opportunity to gain more power and control at all cost. They fail to recognize their short-term gain will only result in long-term failure. It’s so very easy have a good intention turn into a disaster because the leader is really focused on his goals and not those of the larger purpose.
Often in public safety we see egos, attitudes and insecurities destroy an organization or compromise the success of a mission. It’s no different in the private corporate world or even on the sidelines of a children’s soccer game. Great leaders somehow see through the immediate gain and recognition then inspire us to follow them past the attainable and towards the unforeseeable future. As Jim finished his sermon today he talked about Jesus the warrior returning home to gather his army to celebrate victory. But he also reminded us that until that day we will be endlessly tempted with money, sex and other worldly distractions that someday just will not mean anything.
It’s hard to look into the unknown future and then back at your current struggles maintaining hope and faith. My experiences as incident commander or operations chief on emergency incidents constantly remind me of this. Many times you have to look ahead and past the obvious which is very difficult when chaos, death and destruction stare you in the eyes. During the flooding, I had to make difficult decisions that would stop rescue operations because of the danger to the rescuers. Losing rescuers would only create more chaos and trying to find the fine balance of saving innocent lives versus losing rescuers' lives was a constant struggle. Many in our profession walk in thinking they want to be a hero, but when the choice of sacrificing their life for another’s is presented it's not so simple. Often they get tunnel vision and lose understanding of the bigger picture ultimately causing more harm than good. More often they freeze in place unable to make the choice before it’s too late. These decisions haunt you as a leader; and only through understanding that there is a larger goal, can you come out the other end in one piece.
It’s much like raising children and disciplining them for something they don’t understand fully but yet you know it’s best. There is no easy answer and no simple explanation. We as leaders must have character and wisdom, and our followers must have courage and humbleness. I think a lot about how better to close this gap with Aspen, Kim, my staff, friends and family. How do I both lead with wisdom and follow with courage? I find what works best is to ask the right questions at the right time. How did we get here? What are we trying to do? What do we want it to look like when we are done? Great leaders constantly ask these three questions to continually evaluate their end state and verify their objectives. Next time you have a tough conversation with your child, a subordinate or spouse try to slow down and ask yourself these questions. I’m sure you can look back as you read this and think of an instance you should have paused and answered these questions before you moved forward. Thinking about these questions first, your conversations will flow seamlessly and confidently as a leader who has vision for something greater.
Spend some time slowing down, remember to ask yourself what it should and can look like when you're done, and I’m sure the result will be greater than your wildest dreams.
Jay C Stalnacker
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Jay Stalnacker is a regular blog contributor. Jay Stalnacker is the Fire Management Officer for the Boulder County Sheriff's Office. You can read more from Jay on his blog "The North Star Foundation." All expressions are those of the author.
Monday, August 5, 2013
Convergence on Hillary Step
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| (Photo credit: USAF7Summits.com) |
I recently wrote a blog on listening inspired by a presentation from mountain climber Roger Snyder. In May 2013, Roger became one of highly-determined individuals that can legitimately claim he conquered the summit of Mount Everest. Roger's experience of the gridlock on Hillary Step inspired this blog.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Conflict and the Team
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| Source: Teacher's College Columbia University |
Throughout the expedition, Shackleton did everything within his power to keep crew morale high and crew members engaged in healthy, day-to-day routines. However, there were members of the crew, including Thomas Orde-Lees, who were unruly and in constant conflict with other team members.
What value is there in conflict?
Healthy Conflict (Taken from Leading in the Wildand Fire Service, page 53)
Leaders create teams that engage in healthy conflict: enabling a dynamic exchange of ideas, the voicing of diverse viewpoints, and, ultimately, innovative solutions.
To enable healthy conflict to flourish, we focus on the what not the who. By concentrating on what should be done or considered instead of who is right, we help team members resolve issues more quickly and keep everyone's focus where it needs to be--on the team and its mission.
Additional Resources
- Conflict Can be Good
- Effectively Managing Team Conflict by Global Knowledge
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