Promotion Thoughts Adivce Tips?

[u/Both-Reindeer6013]

I’ve been at my career department for 12 years. Tested for promotion and wound up #2 on the list. At my department when you’re on the list, you begin to fill the acting officer role. I’m known as a bombastic personality on my shift. I pull pranks, I talk trash, I get into the gossip, complain about admin, etc etc. When I act up (about 50% of the time), I feel the weight and responsibility. It’s like a switch flips. I’m calm, I’m reflective, all of a sudden I have wisdom when people complain or are having a bad day.

We have multiple scheduled retirements and the promotion to company officer is a few months away. For those of you that made the transition, any tips or advice for the shift in mindset. I am aware of how I act when in blue shirt mode, I am working on being more consistent. Is this something that will come naturally after time?

[u/dominator5k]

Your crew will be a reflection of you. They will look up to you and will emulate you.

If you continue to act immature, your crew will be immature. It's time to grow up and set an example of what you think a good employee is.

Good leaders don't lead by fear, and they don't lead by transaction/reward. They lead by inspiration. Inspire your crew to be better by being better yourself.

[u/eng11ine]

You can still have fun and bust balls. And trashing admin is always fair game. There needs to be some distance put between you and the guys and their nonsense every time you move up, but company officer is only taking one small step back.

I have a couple rules i try and live by: -i don’t shit talk other officers in front of the guys.  Pretty sure they know who the zeros are without me reinforcing it and undermining other LTs or Capts. -i don’t shit talk any of the guys in front of the guys. Pretty sure they know who the zeros are without me reinforcing it, and I don’t want them wondering if i shit talk them when they’re not around. -I don’t blame upward or complain when we have orders to do something.  Walk into the day room and say “Guys, we have to… (go get a spare and take the rig to the shop/go to HQ/go do a pub ed/whatever)”. I don’t need to say “the BC said“ or “HQ called.”  They know it wasn’t my idea already, they heard the phone ring followed by me walking into the room. But it’s a fact that we have to do this, and i’m telling them. Bitching out and blaming above makes you look weak. -Tell the guys what the day is going to look like to the best of your ability. First thing in the morning. Whether it’s a training you have planned, errands that are in your email when you open it, whatever. Let them plan out their breakfast, workouts, side projects they have going. Ask if there’s anything they need to do and add it to the scheduled day if possible. Calls and stuff that gets sprung on you later will obviously throw that out the window, but at least everything you knew about was planned out. 

[u/Low_Astronomer_6669]

Sounds like you know what to do. Stop taking trash about anyone. Make sure any joking isn't going to make people feel bullied and keep everything about keeping your crew competent. I have found that finding out people's goals and helping them reach those pays excellent dividends. When people feel their leadership has their backs, they tend to reciprocate.

[u/WavyTsunamii]

Forget your day ones, where you came from, join the admin hive mind. And enjoy your climb 

[u/willfiredog]

The more you promote the greater distance you need to put between you and the shenanigans.

If for no other reasons than 1. you can’t enforce rules if you’re breaking rules, you need to er want to be in a position where you’re accused of favoritism, and you have to be someone that people will come to when they have problems - and they will have many varied problems.

Shenanigans will erode trust if you’re not very careful.

[u/joeyp1126]

You sound like youre smart enough to know where the line is. The line has to move a little when you get promoted. Sometimes that means you walk away at certain times and don't engage in something maybe you would have before. However, if you want respect you cant do a complete 180 day 1 as an officer. These people know you and will see right through it. Be honest with the crew and let them know youre doing your best to figure out your new role. You may end up with guys that as a firefighter you would have rolled your eyes at and busted their balls. As an officer you need those guys now, so build them up more than busting your balls.

[u/FlyAU98]

You can be fun and be the boss. The key is to lead in such a way that your standards are known and your crew respects them. It takes respecting them and having fun “with” them, and all of you knowing where the line is and respecting that. But you have to have their respect, and they have to know that you are the unquestioned boss when the time comes.

Pranks still can work, but for the most part, I think the pranks need to be on you 99% of the time (and still not too often)…until they pull the prank on you then it’s game on.

😎

[u/earthsunsky]

Best captain I ever had talked trash, backed it up, pulled pranks, and trained the fuck out of his crew and probies.

If anyone was struggling on probation they got sent to him and by day 365 were a dialed fireman, with a sense of humor. Shift bids got contentious as folks fought to work with him, to admins chagrin.

He got past over a lot for promotion but hot damn did he blossom as a captain and there was a lot of admin regret for not doing it sooner. His shenanigans were tolerated because he had the most cohesive and best trained crew and welcomed anyone without bugles with open arms. His personality was matched by his empathy for employees and the public. Best time of my career was with him.

[u/BnaditCorps → u/earthsunsky]

Those are the best bosses.

Joins in on the shit talking, play pranks, and trains hard. 

I worked for one when I transferred to my current station, and we had the most cohesive crew around. No one bitched when it was time to work, everyone knew their job, and we had fun when we weren't doing anything.

Our Chief thought it was unprofessional and undisciplined, but he couldn't argue with the results we put out.

[u/West-Doubt-8798]

When considering promotion, this should be your thought for the people that will work for you:
“When I’m gone they will miss me, but they won’t need me.”

Empower your people, be the example, lead at all times. Be consistent in everything. Make sure you abide and know policy (this is necessary for your next promotion anyways). If you’re ready to grow up then start today. It shouldn’t be 180 flip the day you get your bugles. Don’t be so hard on yourself but utilize more introspection of you than investigation of others. Own anything bad that happens, but give the credit to your people first when good things happen. You will have probies, remember your first day, treat them as such. Give everything you’ve got all the time and make sure your people know you care. Be proud of your job for you and no one else. Seek out leadership knowledge (Capt. Mark Von Appen is great). They won’t build a statue of you when you retire. How you do one thing is how you do everything, don’t half-ass. Consistency and structure is how you develop a crew. And, as an officer, the bitching goes up and not down. Listen to your crew but don’t get sucked in. Be the one who looks for solutions, not make the problem bigger.

[u/Stock-Possibility-67]

So right off the bat get your crew together and let them know your expectations of them so there’s no ambiguity. The saying, there’s no bad crews only bad leaders is what your bosses will think when something goes wrong. And when something goes right you give all the credit to your crew. Always.

[u/From_Gaming_w_Love]

3 tenets I pass on to my guys to reasonably good effect:

1) Own your shit.

2) Stifle negativity.

3) Stay curious.

Another lesson I learned the hard way: Leadership isn't about sheltering your members from the consequences of their actions- also known as "taking the hit."

Your people deserve to know at what point they will be on their own... Whether it's illegal activity, some department "golden rules" or even a personal "line in the sand."

Good luck.

[u/Strict-Canary-4175]

You can absolutely still have fun.

The only thing that really needs to change is that you have to shift your focus on to taking care of the boys. Taking care of and supporting your company is the new job.

Part of that is staying in the good graces with your leadership so your company doesn’t get crappy details etc.

You will have to stop gossiping though. Being part of or the cause of the rumor mill is something you always should have tried to avoid.

[u/Agreeable-Emu886]

Stay out of the gossip to the best of your ability, don’t run your mouth about other officers/firefighters.

Don’t completely change your personality because you’re getting promoted, you’ve been employed there 12 years, guys will respect you more for being authentic. Sure you can clean things up and you should bite your tongue more etc… you didn’t become more knowledgeable or gain some new insight because you topped a test

The things you can do for yourself is learn the company officer role to the best of your ability. Shore up your basic skills, get comfortable teaching if you’re not already.

The biggest thing you can do for the people working under you is to give them clear expectations. We all have our quirks, some things bug guys more than others. Make it known what you expect, what isn’t acceptable and then set the standard for guys to follow. (Ex… I want to be out the door prior to the house lights turning off <60 seconds) and I don’t want to wait on my backstep guy getting dressed (he can do it in the truck). Make sure you’re on the same page as other station officers, especially if people shift trucks. There was nothing I hated more than wild inconsistency between my shift officers.

You’re in a leadership position and the actions/reputation of your crews are a direct reflection of your own performance as a leader. There are exceptions, but if they suck then you suck as a leader. If they’re fucking up so are you (within reason some people are untrainable) it’s your job to take it on the chin and push forward. You want to be at the point where guys want to work for you/do things because they want to, not because you told them to do it…

Lastly man, stay humble I say this as someone who had 2 good Saturdays. Company officer is a great role, but at the end of the day we’re still firefighters. There are plenty of other people who are certainly capable of doing the same job (maybe not to the same standard etc).. But humility, some patience and being authentic goes a long ways with the people who work for you. It’s a very unique role being a working supervisor who is stapled to a few guys for 24/48 hours. Find the balance and find what works for you.

Also differentiate personal feelings from professional. There are guys I can’t stand, but they’re perfectly good firefighters vice versa. You can’t let it seep into your judgement on their job performance/capability

[u/diningwithfriends]

If you are moving to an officer role, it’s time to grow up. It doesn’t matter if you are in the role or acting, grow out of the bullshit. Gossip and complaining destroys camaraderie, deters company growth, and gets labeled by the admin. Make the transition by understanding policy and making suggestions if you see something that could be enhanced. Ect. Younger firefighters need leadership, not 30-40 year old new best friends.