HARRY R. CARTER, Ph.D., MIFireE

Last Saturday I had an experience that can only be described as a monumental episode in my life. One day after delivering the Keynote Address to the Ohio State Firefighter’s Association, I was privileged to share the stage with one of my favorite people in the whole world: Alan Brunacini, Chief of the Phoenix, Arizona Fire Department.

We had been asked by the education committee of the association to discuss matters of importance to the fire service, and to take questions from the assembled throng. Let me tell you folks, anytime that a boy from suburban (and urban) New Jersey can trade comments with one of his heroes, and mentors, it is a career day. The program began with the moderator, W. Parker Browne alternately asking us a series of questions.

Chief Brunacini and I passed the microphone back and forth many times as we discussed the problems inherent in being a good leader, a good follower and a caring human being in the fire service. Many of the comments, and a great deal of the discussion that we generated, centered around what Chief Brunacini referred to as the "dumb boss" problems that far too many of us face.

Since a number of you in my reading audience may be bosses, I will take pains to share some of the things that Chief Brunacini and I identified as dumb boss behaviors. Maybe you can identify a shortcoming in your work-related life that can be overcome by thoughtful reflection, in-service education, and a change in attitude.

Chief Brunacini spoke generally of the need to teach dumb bosses how to be smart. I have taken the liberty of taking his comments one step further. I have decided to divide them into a range of boss styles, so that we can begin to think of how we can work more closely with each type. I say work with them, because in many cases these people will not change, absent a bolt from above like Saul received on the road to Jerusalem.

• The "one-way street" boss
• The "Chicken Little" boss
• The "I am always in command" boss
• The "you can never trust the people" boss
• The "micro manager" boss
• The "block –headed" boss
• The "lone wolf" boss

As I move through my discussion of each type, there may be bits of overlap between the various types. However, there is enough of a difference to allow us to focus on the distinct nature of each.

Perhaps the saddest, most pathetic type of boss is the one-way street type. Apparently they were very deprived as children and now wish to receive as much as they can from life, usually at the expense of others. I can recall a fire official that wanted one of every new thing that came into town. Although the apparatus was in many cases in poor shape, this guy insisted on having both an unmarked city car and a marked city vehicle. There was a full set of the latest turnout gear in each. Well, you might ask, he surely must have loved going to fires. Sadly this was not the case. You usually only saw him when it was absolutely necessary for him to make an appearance. What was even sadder was the fact that he kept getting new vehicles while the suppression chief had to make do with aging units.

At the other end of the extreme lies the humorous picture portrayed by the chicken-little boss running around headquarters creating havoc at every turn. These people can be found reacting to the crisis de jour created by their total lack of planning expertise. They run from meeting to meeting creating more confusion as the day goes on. Every question brought by a subordinate is a new crisis in the making. These poor souls are so caught up in wasted motion that progress, where it occurs, is purely an accident of life. Their legacy is chaos.

The I-am-always-in-command boss feels the need to have everyone kiss his (or her) ring on a daily basis. The Emperors of Rome sitting on their thrones had about the same approach to dealing with their subjects. Picture, if you will, the emperor sitting in his box at the coliseum. As the combatants in the arena are fighting each other to the death, one will fall before the other. The victorious combatant would then turn toward the box before making the final death thrust into the chest of his opponent. As they looked up at the box, the Emperor would make the thumbs up sign to spare the loser, or the thumbs down to indicate death. This is the same basic manner that guides the I-am-always-in-command boss. These are the real dummies that think that they received their white shirt and gold badge from God himself. No one is worthy to have a thought, unless it is deemed meritorious by the boss. You have to outlive these people.

As a person who has great faith in humankind, I continue to be amazed by the number of bosses who fall into the you-can-never-trust-the-people classification. These are the people who graduated from the Theory X correspondence school of leadership. To these bosses, the troops are just a bunch of lazy swine who must be whipped if the are to work effectively. These are the bosses who have a rule for everything. Thinking is forbidden, and all must swear allegiance to the Gospel According to the Boss.

I truly detest the boss who is a micro-manager. I have it on good authority that these are the people who were potty-trained at the age of two months, and have consequently devoted themselves to a life long pursuit of being anal-retentive. Every idea that you have can be made just a bit better by their tweaking. If you are in the bathroom too long, they’ll be the ones to yell in and ask if you washed your hands when you got done. In short, they want to control every aspect of your life and career. Being in their presence is a very stifling experience. I can recall a particular boss who really hated to go to fires. Rather than respond with the troops and share in their efforts, he would sit in his home on the far side of town canceling requests for mutual aid and additional alarms. I think that guy was born potty-trained.

The block-headed boss is probably the easiest to get along with. You will talk with them, they will nod their heads, and then proceed to immediately forget what you just told them. I say easiest to get along with because as quickly as they forget what you say to them, they also ignore what you are doing with equal ease. I can recall a boss who loved to call for a 2-1/2" line to be stretched for inside operations, even on the smallest of fires. He would yell for the big line and conveniently disappear into the smoke hazy. We would then stretch the necessary attack hand line and get the job done more quickly and easily. Our chief knew this and never complained, because we got the job done.

I have found the lone-wolf type of boss to be the toughest to work with. They basically do not like people, but they love to give orders. And since you need people to give orders to, they tolerate (barely) people in their presence.

Chief Brunacini suggested that far too many of our problems came from dumb bosses. I want to help my friend Chief Brunacini bring some sort of order out of the chaos that is running amuck in the fire service. Now that I have shared my view of the various types of dumb bosses that are out there among us, let me suggest a few subjects for a new type of school. I propose to call it the Dumb Boss Retraining School.

Given the propensity of many bosses for feeling that the problems lie everywhere in the whole, wide world, except within their own heads and psyche, I would envision a very low initial student population. However, I shall push on none-the-less.

Here is a list of proposed courses:

• People Are Really Good - 101
• Basic Techniques In How To Be Nice - 101
• How To Trust People - 101
• Being a Servant Of The People - 101

I would hope that you notice that there are absolutely no technical classes in this school. I have observed that our technical problems pale in comparison to the havoc that is wreaked in those cases where there is an absence of people skills. If you think about it, once a boss has learned that he/she really loves people, and that those people can work wonders when supported and loved, they will rush to improve technical training. What better way to take care of people than to insure that they are properly trained or cared for?

There is only one Chief Alan Brunacini. He can only be in so many places in a given year. Therefore only a few can be blessed to learn at the right hand of the master. I have been so blessed and now wish to promise him that I shall do all within my power to help Chief Brunacini get out the word.

Dumb bosses of the world watch out. We are on to you and will work to either bring you around or bring you down.

The commentary in this column does not necessarily reflect those of Firehouse.Com, Firehouse Magazine, their employees or parent company Cygnus Business Media. Harry R. Carter, Ph.D., MIFireE, is an internationally known municipal fire protection consultant and contributing editor to Firehouse Magazine. He recently retired as a Battalion Commander with the Newark, New Jersey Fire Department. His commentary appears regularly on Firehouse.Com. For more commentary and information, visit Carter's web site at www.harrycarter.com Harry has published several books available for online ordering, including Firefighting Strategy and Tactics and Management in the Fire Service