The “it” factor. What is “it” anyways?
The “it” factor is a term often used to explain that person who has that special something that catches the attention of their coworkers. In the fire service, it’s the firefighter who is the go-to on big calls and in training. When they speak, others listen. They are often the person who we consult on a range of topics, from department issues to implementing new strategies and tactics. They are rarely in poor spirits and are often highly motivated to advance the department.
Can you create “it” from nothing?
When someone first mentioned the “it” factor to me, I knew what they meant because I had noticed in a few of my coworkers; I had just never given it much thought. I just considered it good genetics or some luck-of-the-draw or God-given talent. But as my career has progressed, I have come to believe that it is neither genes nor luck. It is built – and built by others who possess “it.”
I have heard so many people say, “You can’t learn leadership from a book” or “leadership cannot be taught.” But I personally have seen this debunked time and time again. Good leaders make good leaders. Of course, this is no doubt a two-way street. The student must be willing to learn, and once they have learned, they must be willing to act.
The role of perseverance
So, the question remains: What is “it”? Or rather, how do I get “it” for myself? I believe that the answer is simple to understand and harder to achieve: perseverance.
Even those with the intangible “it” factor get down. Low morale and complacency don’t just affect the weak. The difference is that those who possess the “special sauce” persevere through the hard times. They are able to take that long hard look in the mirror and say, for example, “You know what? I have been lazy the last three shifts.” They can step it up when they know they have unintentionally dialed it down.
Human nature is funny. Often the only thing limiting us is, well, us. We often complain about the performance of others. We complain that they aren’t pulling their weight. The question I ask is, “What have you done for them?” The response is usually something to the effect of how they have tried to get them to train or how they have tried to motivate. And more often than not, if you dig only a little, you can find out that they are highly exaggerating those efforts. This is where you find the line in the sand. It is in these moments that so many who want to claim that they have “it” show that they in fact do not. Having “it” doesn’t stop with you. It bleeds from your soul into others. And any good leader should know that one of the most crucial times in reaching our people is when they are in a funk of low morale and complacency.
Showing up is the easy part. Putting on your gear and doing tower climbs on air is the easy part. Taking the time to lead when it is uncomfortable, having those difficult conversations and breaking through proverbial barriers of stagnant motivation – that’s the hard part.
We are in a time when members will slap stickers all over their helmets, water jugs and laptops, and they get deemed the “it” member. But when we get that employee or member who is stuck in a rut and having a tough time, their leaders too often fail miserably to lead them out of it, too often resorting to critique and ridicule.
The “it” firefighter cannot focus so much on what another department is doing that they miss the mark in their own. They can’t – WE can’t – spend so much time fantasizing about how FDNY does this or Chicago does that that we completely miss out on developing and building our own successful regime of go-to firefighters.
Every organization that has a history of being bad-asses started out as a bunch of folks with fire trucks. It didn’t happen overnight. It didn’t happen in a year. And it damn sure did not happen by as a result of passionate firefighters leaving to go to other, bigger departments. They stayed. They built up their departments and they made them what they are.
Don’t get me wrong. This is nothing against those who have moved on from smaller organizations to pursue other opportunities; that is not what I am saying. What I am saying is, don’t let poor attitude and a chip on your shoulder be the motivator that drives you out of a place when you could have been the one to make it great.
Make the decision to have “it”
Leadership is hard. Management is hard. And they’re even harder when you’re lazy and self-centered. Compassion goes farther than judgment and gossip. Your bosses may not have “it,” and that’s OK. You can have “it” and do a lot more than you realize.
A long time ago, the fire service was about brotherhood, accountability and, again, perseverance. We need to get back to that. And it is your turn to get us there. Others can recognize the “it” member, but it is up to you to actually live it and be it.
One day you will, God-willing, give a speech at your retirement party. Make sure you have something worth saying because 30 years of complaining does not make as good a story as one about 30 years of making bad-ass firefighters. Make the decision today have “it” and go forward. When you want change, be the change. Together we can make the “it” factor not so rare.
