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Firefighter Management Styles

Decent Essays

In my personal experience with different Management Styles as a professional firefighter, this particular subject does shed some light on the “why” leaders act and “how” others react. Emotional Intelligence is a theory championed by Dr. Daniel Goleman in the early 90’s (Emotional Intelligence, 1995) which, in short is the ability to: Recognize, understand and manage our own emotions; and Recognize, understand and influence the emotions of others. In the professional world this has been used to promote the idea that a well-rounded leader should not only possess the education and intelligence commensurate with a leadership position but also the Emotional Intelligence that appears to garner the support of peers, superiors and subordinates …show more content…

This includes ranks which typically begin with “lieutenant” as the first true leadership rank followed by “captain”. These leaders, or officers, are typically well established within the operational structure of the fire service, in that they regularly work shoulder to shoulder with their subordinates. This bond often fosters the “brotherhood” mentality in which the wellbeing of your people requires a large degree of understanding of their emotions so that you can help them overcome obstacles; this is largely supported by the fact that many of the same experiences are shared by that leader. This is especially important when it comes to the often heavy training tempo. Motivating others to value the importance of repeated drills without coming off like a “do as I say” tyrant requires a specific type of leadership quality. Leaders that order people around without willing to get involved are often resented. It is my observation that a leader that asks of others and more importantly demonstrates a willingness to be involved; will tend to have more success in accomplishing a team oriented task. There is a place for pleasantries however, during a critical incident, the rigid structure of leader and subordinate leaves little room for one to question

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