Unity of Effort - A Story from the Fireline

On October 27, 2003, Santa Ana winds, with gusts of more than 50 mph, drove the Grand Prix Fire across the Los Angeles County line towards the communities of La Verne and Claremont. With most their fire resources assisting in San Bernardino County, Los Angeles County fire officials called the national Incident Management Team (IMT) at Grand Prix Fire to ask for help. 

Little Book With A Big Impact

Leading in the Wildland Fire Service, LWFS, the Yellow Book, the Leadership Bible. Whatever you call it, it sets the foundation for expectations and future progress throughout your leadership journey. As you progress through you career, take the time to read and reread Leading in the Wildland Fire Service. You might find that it means something different each time you read it depending on where you are in your leadership journey.

IGNITE: Good Leadership

 

Leadership is the art of influencing people in order to achieve a result. The most essential element for success in the wildland fire service is good leadership. - Leading in the Wildland Fire Service, p. 1

[Photo: NWCG Leadership Committee]

Unity of Effort

Our leaders subscribe to unity of effort as a second key component our command philosophy. In a high-risk environment, mixed messages or countermanding directives add to the potential for friction, danger, and uncertainty. Many times at all levels of the wildland fire service, leaders find themselves in gray areas where jurisdictional lines blur and overlap. No matter the challenges at hand, fire leaders work together to find common ground and act in the best interests of those responding to the incident, the public, and our natural resources. 

Challenge #5 - 2021 WFLDP Campaign

[Photo: Dan Ng/NPS]

Challenge #5: Wildland fire leaders follow a defined set of values and principles.

• Journalize answers to the questions found below.

Duty – What does Duty mean to you?

• How do you know if you are proficient in your job, both technically and as a leader?
• What helps you make sound and timely decisions, especially in time compressed situations?
• How can you ensure that tasks are understood, supervised, accomplished?
• Can you think of someone you have helped develop, that has progressed?

Respect – What does Respect mean to you?

• What tools do you use to make sure you know your people and are looking out for their well-being?
• Is it easy or difficult for you to keep you people informed?
• How do you know if you are building a strong foundation for your team?
• Employ your people in accordance with their capabilities

Integrity – What does Integrity mean to you?

• Are you actively working to know yourself and seek improvement?
• Do you step up when needed? Are you willing to take responsibility for your actions and those of your team even during failure?
• Do you model what right looks like? Are you holding yourself to the same standards you expect of your people?

For Which We Are Accountable

(Credit: NWCG)

For Which We Are Accountable 

by e. L. Pelletier – January 27, 2021

“It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable." ~ Moliere (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin)¹

Much like watching funny videos on the internet, researching “leadership” can lead you down a rabbit hole that you may never find your way out of; at least, that is my hope for every person who aspires to be a great leader.

Command Based on Inent

Translating vision into clear leader’s intent is at the heart of our command philosophy. Describing the task, purpose, and end state is the prerequisite for empowering our people to exercise individual initiative and take appropriate risks and actions as the situation requires. 

This philosophy is based on the understanding that competent subordinate leaders who are at the scene of action understand the current situation better than does a senior commander some distance removed.

This does not imply, however, that our actions are not coordinated. Fire leaders continually work to achieve coordination and cooperation among all forces toward a commonly understood objective.

(Click here to download a copy of Leading in the Wildland Fire Service.)

Command Philosophy

Our philosophy of command supports the way we manage incidents. To generate effective decision making and to cope with the unpredictable nature of incidents, fire leaders decentralize command. That is, we empower subordinate leaders to make decisions based on their understanding of their leader’s vision for success.

(Click here to download a copy of Leading in the Wildland Fire Service.)

Our Foundation

The values (Duty, Respect, and Integrity) and principles are the foundation of the Wildland Fire Leadership Development Program (WFLDP) that was created as a response of the Tri Data study from the South Canyon fire. They were first seen as a part of the Report of the Leadership Task Group to the Training Working Team. On establishing values and principles, the report said (page 26 of the report):

A Look at Our Values & Principles

These are two presentations of wildland fire's values and principles. 

Which version appeals to you and why?

Does the word courage tie the values together or is there some other word that would make more sense? Is a word needed?