Powell on After Action Reviews

“The goal of an AAR is to get everyone around a table to review the battle, learn what went wrong, learn what went right, and work out how to train to do better.” – Colin Powell

(Photo credit: The New York Times)

The Powell Perspective

Powell brought the concept of after action reviews to the public stage during a “Face the Nation” interview in 2009.

“On Sunday, Mr. Powell called for an “after-action review” by Republicans of why the party had fared so poorly in the November elections, and what the party needed to do going forward. “After a battle or after a training exercise, you bring all of the leaders in,” he said. “And you say, ‘What’s going right? What’s going wrong? What did we do right or wrong? And how do we move forward?’ ” (The New York Times, May 2009)

In “It Worked for Me,” Colin Powell goes into depth on AARs. Here are some of his thoughts:

• AARs are used to review, not grade.
• AARs are done for improvement, not for the unit’s success or failure in the mission.
• Subordinate leaders are expected to share the AAR results with every subordinate in the unit.
• The system works because it is a training process, not an evaluation process.
• The process checks egos at the door.
• AARs require honest participation and a focus on learning.
• Leadership and personnel problems revealed by AARs normally get fixed privately.

After Action Reviews (AARs) – The WF Perspective

Fire leaders walk the talk of the learning organization by scheduling routine debriefings to evaluate performance and apply the lessons learned. AARs maximize learning from every operation, training event, or task; they represent a powerful tool for team and organization learning.

AARs allow people to share honest opinions and learn from each other. Fire leaders make sure that debriefings focus on what instead of who; we use them to improve weaknesses and to sustain strengths.”

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Source: It Worked for Me - In Life and Leadership. Colin Powell with Tony Koltz. May 2012. HarperCollins Publishers.

How Far Would You Go?

(Photo credit: FanPop.com)



The sports world has been rocked by the continued release of information revolving the the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case at Penn State. The journey of discovery has been like peeling an onion--the further you peel, the stronger the story gets; the more you cry.

On July 12, 2012, Freeh Sporkin & Sullivan, LLP released their 267-page report: "Report of the Special Investigative Counsel Regarding the Actions of the Pennsylvania State University Related to the Child Sexual Abuse Committed by Gerald A. Sandusky." What seemed to have been a tightly held secret has developed into one where many knew of the abuse--from janitors to the coaching staff and top-level Penn State leaders.

As horrific and extensive in nature as the Penn State scandal may be, I believe every organization should take a moment to ponder this historic leadership failure. What can your organization learn from the findings and  recommendations found within the Freeh Report?

In closing, I ask wildland fire leaders to ponder and/or discuss the following questions:

• How far would you go to cover up something or someone or to protect your job or the organization?
• Despite your position in the organization, do you have the leadership fortitude to do what's right and expose a wrong--even if it means losing your job?
• As a senior leader in a crisis situation, do you have what it takes to expose a wrong doing that has occurred under your command?

Be sure to check out leadership expert John Baldoni's response in "What Leaders Can Learn from What Penn State Did Wrong" on the Forbes blog.

Never Settle for Average - Our Chairman, Chris Wilcox

Chris Wilcox, NWCG Leadership Subcommittee Chairman and USFWS National Fire Operations Program Leader, discusses his career beginning with the Forest Service as a crew member on a Model 70 Engine. He discusses his affinity towards the outdoors as the reason for pursuing a career in wildland fire. Chris talks about the mentors that guided him throughout his career, and how he learned to be a better fire manager through those experiences.

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Thanks to the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center for this contribution.

FDNY's Commitment to Everyone Goes Home

Thanks to our partners at Fire Department of New York (FDNY) and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) for the latest video: Still Working...So Everyone Goes Home. There is a lot we can learn from the  efforts FDYN has made since 9/11. Watch the video to see how your unit might benchmark their efforts.



Things to Ponder:

• Do you have dedicated programs for health and wellness, training, and safety?
• What are you doing to innovate and improve fireground operations with technological advancements?
• What training initiatiaves have you implemented to ensure that "Everyone Goes Home"?
• Have you established a health and wellness program?
• Are you constanstly trying to improve?
• Do you view training as a managerial or personal concern?

Leadership side notes: Deputy Assistant Chief Robert Maynes is a member of the L-580 Steering Committee. We appreciate Bob's continued support of leadership development. and care for his people.

(FDNY at the Gettysburg Staff Ride. Photo  credit: OMNA International LLC)

(A special thanks to Leadership Subcommittee member Brian Fennessy for the lead on this story!)

Powell ‘s Perspective on the Hot Topics

(Photo Source: The Grio)

Students of leadership continually debate the between leadership and management and whether leaders are born or made. Here is what Powell has to say:

Do I look for good managers or good leaders?

“Good managers are good leaders and good leaders are good managers. But great leaders have a special touch that separates them from managers. Good management gets 100 percent of a team’s designed capability. Great leaders seek a higher ground. They take their followers to 110, 120, 150 percent of what anyone thought was possible. Great leaders do not just motivate followers; they inspire them. The followers are turned on by their leaders.

Superior leaders also tend to be superior managers. They are rare gems. Always be looking for the potential to give you 150 percent.”

Born versus Made

Powell has this to say: “I believe that leaders must be born with a natural connection and affinity to others, which then must be encouraged and developed by parents and teachers and molded by training, experience, and mentoring. You can learn to be a better leader. And you can also waste your natural talents by ceasing to learn and grow.”  (excerpt from It Worked for Me).

Here is what Leading in the Wildland Fire Service (p. 60) says:

Our perspective is that leaders are made, not born.

The distribution of innate leadership traits in the wildland fire workforce is similar to the normal Bell

Curve distribution for any set of traits in any population. A small percentage of people are natural leaders, possessing the character and traits that compel others to follow them. Another small percentage have character flaws or issues that would prevent them from ever becoming effective leaders.

Most people—the vast majority—do not come to the job as natural leaders, yet they have the ability to become very effective leaders by working to develop their leadership skills.

The wildland fire service cannot be successful depending on that small percentage of natural leaders. As a result, we accept the responsibility of making ourselves the best leaders that we can be, continuously embracing opportunities to learn the art of leadership through formal training, field experience, and self-development. The best leaders are life-long students of leadership.

Additional Reference

Be sure to listen to Timothy Sendelbach’s interview, Company Officer Leadership Essentials, with Los Angeles County Fire Department Deputy Chief Mike Metro on the topic which can be found on the Firefighter Nation website.

Happy 4th of July

Due to an active fire season, many of our wildland firefighters will be celebrating the 4th of July on the fireline. Take a moment to remember them commitment and to reflect upon our independence and the sacrifices that those before us gave for our freedom as well as those who serving now who ensure that we may pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
 

"Leaders are Readers" - A New Addition to the Professional Reading Program

Once again our fire leaders at North Zone Fire (Black Hills National Forest), provide an innovative idea to supplement the Wildland Fire Leadership Development Program. This time, Brandon Selk, Fire Prevention Captain, Northern Hills Ranger District, shares a Professional Reading Program (PRP) feature he calls
"Leaders are Readers."

Here is what Brandon had to say about the program:

“Leaders are Readers” is a way for students of leadership to preview a book, article, or right-up. “The Leaders are Readers” template provides a brief summary of what a reader thought of the reading material. Beyond a summary for potential readers, the document becomes a reflection tool for readers to remember what they read, put it to paper, and access at a later date. Too often a read is quickly forgotten. What we do at North Zone Fire is fill out and print off the template and keep it with the reading material.

This best practices idea is showcased in the Fireline Leadership Reading Room within MyFireCommunity. Be sure to download the template and share your reviews with other students of fire. Be sure to upload your reviews in the Fireline Leadership Reading Room so "Leaders are Readers" students across the nation can be a part of the discussion, too!

Great job for sharing this tool with the wildland fire service, Brandon!

If you have an idea to share about this program or any other within the WFLDP, contact Pam McDonald at (208) 387-5318 or pmcdonal@blm.gov.

Texas Forest Service Receives the Pulaski Award

(From left are Associate Director Mark Stanford, Planning and Preparedness Department Head Cynthia Foster, Incident Response Department Head Paul Hannemann, Chief Law Enforcement Officer Les Rogers and Mitigation and Prevention Department Head Bruce Woods)

TEXAS FOREST SERVICE HONORED FOR OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS TO WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING

June 21, 2012 – COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas Forest Service was presented last week with the Pulaski Award, a national honor for outstanding service in wildland firefighting.
The award, commending the agency for its response during the 2011 wildfire season, is presented annually by the National Interagency Fire Center. It was announced at the Southern Group of State Foresters annual conference in Louisville, Ky.

The coveted 30-inch bronze statue is named after U.S. Forest Service Ranger Ed Pulaski, who led a crew to safety during the Great Fire of 1910. First presented in 1998, this is the first time the Pulaski Award has come to Texas. It will stay with Texas Forest Service for one year then will be shipped to the next recipient.

Texas Forest Service Associate Director Mark Stanford said the recognition is an honor for the emergency responders who bravely served Texas during last year’s unprecedented wildfire season. More than 30,000 wildfires burned almost 4 million acres, destroying 2,946 homes across the state.   

The wildfires were suppressed with assistance from more than 16,000 emergency responders from all 50 states, along with 239 dozers, 954 engines and 246 aircraft. 

“We accept this award on behalf of all the local, state and interagency firefighters who participated in the 2011 wildfire season,” Stanford said. “They’re the ones who really earned this award.”

Gary Bowers, chairman of the National Interagency Fire Center Governing Board, wrote in a letter to Texas Forest Service that the agency demonstrated “exceptional work in interagency cooperation and coordination, safety of their firefighters and the public, the development of partnerships and group performance in fire management and suppression.” 

“It is our hope that collaboration efforts such as this will increasingly inspire and inform new cooperative efforts across the country,” Bowers wrote. “Congratulations on this award and the excellent work that it recognizes.”  

Contact:
April Saginor, Communications Specialist
979-458-6619, asaginor@tfs.tamu.edu  

(Reprinted with permission from Texas Forest Service - The Texas A&M University System)

Leadership Survey Participants Needed

Alexis Lewis is a doctoral student. The following survey is not funded by the NWCG Leadership Subcommittee; however, the LSC is aware of and endorses her research.

A few years ago, the NWCG Leadership Subcommittee (LSC) entertained a presentation by Alexis Lewis, doctoral candidate studying leadership qualities. Alexis is in need of data and has a short window for collection--prior to July 6. Past or current firefighters are asked to volunteer to complete a short survey.

The results of Alexis's study will be provided to the LSC in support of leadership development nationally.

Survey synopsis with the link:

We created this two-part leadership survey to see if there is a way to measure leadership in wildland fire based on some of the qualities that were described to us in previous studies by firefighters as being important. So we're hoping to get this out and see if we are on the right track with our measurements, or if we will need to get rid of certain items on the survey (as it is a little long right now, and redundant). The first part asks fire personnel to rate their "ideal" leader and the second asks them to then rate a memorable supervisor on the same qualities as the ideal. The remaining questions concern work enjoyment under the leader they have thought of, and a few demographics. We invite any past or current firefighter to fill out the survey, as the most important aspect is having people who understand fire and have an opinion of what good leadership looks like in fire.

Answers taken through the following link will be completely anonymous. Here's the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/wildfireleadership.

John Wooden's Leadership Example

(Source: Wikipedia)

Every once in a while I like to showcase one of the coaching professions greatest leaders, Coach John Wooden. Here are a few thoughts and poems he shared in the TED presentation "John Wooden on True Success."

No written word, no spoken plea.
Can teach our youth what they should be.

Nor all the books on all the shelves.

It’s what the teachers are themselves.

(Author Unknown)

Wooden's Definition of Success:

"Peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you are capable."

Reputation versus Character:

• Reputation: What you are perceived to be.
• Character: What you really are.
• Character is more important than reputation!

Wooden Family Rules to Live By:

• Never try to be better than someone else.
• Always learn from others.
• Never cease trying to be the best you can be that is under your control.
• If you get too engrossed, involved, and concerned with things over which you have no control, it will adversely affect the things with which you have control.Never be late.
• Don't use profanity.
• Never criticize a teammate.
• Don't whine.
• Don't complain.
• Don't make excuses.

The Road Ahead or the Road Behind (George J. Moriarty)

Sometimes I think the fates must grin as we denounce them and insist,
The only reason we can’t win is the fates themselves have missed.
Yet, there lives on the ancient claim – we win or lose within ourselves,
The shining trophies on our shelves can never win tomorrow’s game.
So you and I know deeper down there is a chance to win the crown,
But when we fail to give our best, we simply haven’t met the test
Of giving all and saving none until the game is really won.
Of showing what is meant by grit, of fighting on when others quit,
Of playing through not letting up, it’s bearing down that wins the cup.
Of taking it and taking more until we gain the winning score,
Of dreaming there’s a goal ahead, of hoping when our dreams are dead,
Of praying when our hopes have fled. Yet, losing, not afraid to fall,
If bravely we have given all, for who can ask more of a man
than giving all within his span, it seems to me, is not so far from – Victory.
And so the fates are seldom wrong, no matter how they twist and wind,
It’s you and I who make our fates, we open up or close the gates,
On the Road Ahead or the Road Behind.

Previous Blog Spotlights:

Be sure to check out our previous blog entries regarding "Coach."

• "John Wooden on True Success" - February 9, 2011
• "Wooden's Pyramid of Success" - August 23, 2010