Leadership Development—YOU have a Job to Do

part 1

Leadership Development—YOU have a Job to Do

Current leaders in the fire service are alarmed.

In his book “Fire Service Leadership,” Mitchell R. Waite uses the phrase “leadership vacuum” to describe the absence of leadership development in the fire service. Waite is not alone in his anxiety. Many leaders from fire departments across the country are increasingly concerned about the future leaders of the fire service. Anthony Kastros has called it a leadership pandemic. Chase Sergeant highlighted the failure to develop future leaders as one of the main reasons fire service organizations fail.

This is the first of a three part series that will explore leadership development in the fire service. In this first segment we will examine leadership according to the experts and look at some of the countless definitions available on leadership. We will glance into the characteristics, qualities, and traits various experts in the field believe are needed to be a leader.

In the second segment of the series we will explore the leadership industry and some options available to address the “leadership vacuum” within the fire service.

In the final segment I will go on a bit of a rant about what I believe is a simple and often overlooked and under appreciated aspect of leadership development.

Lets get started.

What is leadership?

You would think that in the year 2014 pinning down a simple definition for a single word would be a relatively simple task. But, you would be wrong. Way back in 1974, Stogdill wrote: “there are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept.” Barbara Kellerman has noted that there are over 1500 definitions for leadership and over forty separate leadership theories. Take a look at a few ideas on leadership below:

“Leadership is the lifting of a man’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a man’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a man’s personality beyond its normal limitations.” — Peter Drucker

“The process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation, while operating to accomplish the mission and improve the organization.” — U.S. Army FM 6–22

“Leadership should be defined in terms of the ability to build and maintain a group that performs well relative to its competition.” — Hagan and Kaiser

“Leadership is the art of mobilizing others to want to struggle for shared aspirations.” — Kouzes and Posner

“Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.” — Northouse

“Leadership is a process of interaction between persons who are participating in goal oriented group activities.” — Stodill and Shartle

“Leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives.” — Yukl

“Leadership. The process of influencing others to accomplish the mission by providing purpose, direction, and motivation.” — U.S. Army, AR 600- 100, General Gordon R. Sullivan

What makes a good leader?

Experts also have diverse thoughts on what characteristics, qualities, and traits a leader should possess that serves to further cloud the already murky concept of leadership. For example, John Maxwell list 21 qualities in his book 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership:

John Kotter, a professor of leadership at Harvard University, list eight traits in his book Leader to leader:

Need to learn leadership skills?

Leadership is… (Insert your favorite definition — you have plenty to choose from.) Although defining leadership may not be as simple as we thought, it does not take away from the fact that we all know that leadership is important.

In the next segment of this series we will look at a few options available for those willing individuals who are thirsty to learn the skills needed to lead effectively. We will continue on our journey and explore the leadership industry and some options available to address the “leadership vacuum” within the fire service.