Every fire department has them – the whiners, the ones who cry over everything, the complainers, the dissenters. They are the firefighters or officers who are never satisfied no matter the circumstances. They are doom and gloom. And they are absolutely fundamental to every organization.
I am in no way suggesting that the hard-chargers, the firefighters who are constantly grinding and pushing forward, should take a 180-degree turn to an attitude of constant dissent. Not at all. Rather, I am stating that the existence of the dissenters, the ones in back, pulling the other direction, can actually help the department achieve excellence. Let me explain.
New school meets old school
When I was a newly promoted company officer, I quickly witnessed this dichotomy in my firehouse. I supervised two senior firefighters – mentors of mine who had more than 20 years of experience each and had definitely earned their reputations and titles. These two guys were great operators, great paramedics and would do anything you asked of them – and nothing more. They simply did not want to partake in the “new way of doing things” that I was bringing to the table, something they had seen time and time again given their tenure. I also had two new firefighters. They were hard-chargers who wanted to be involved in lots of projects. Both were fitness gurus, knowledgeable in their firemanship tradecraft and growing in excellence.
This led to a dilemma: How do I maximize the potential of each firefighter under my charge? This question led me to realize the importance of dissention within the group.
As I took charge of my company, I laid out my expectations and asked for their goals regarding their growth within the company and organization.
I had a meeting with my two junior firefighters where I explained that I was there to help them in every possible way, that I would have their backs when it came to critical decision-making, and that they should feel empowered to invest deeply in the fire service.
I also had a meeting with my two senior firefighters and explained the same things, with one small caveat. I told them that at some point in the future, I would have a grandiose plan to fix something that likely didn’t need fixing, and that I needed them to dissent. I explained that we could not have blind allegiance, and given their experience, I needed to hear when I had a bad idea. I went further and told them I wouldn’t take their dissention personally. Yes, I was the officer and sometimes they just had to follow orders. But on noncritical decisions, I wanted different viewpoints so we could grow together. It worked amazingly.
10-80-10
Fast-forward to my new role as the training chief, where I see dissention on a larger scale. I refer to the firefighters who are always complaining as the vocal minority. I’ve been told that in any organization, roughly 10% of employees will go along with whatever you say just because they like you. We could take 20% pay cuts, reduce staffing and get rid of benefits, and they would shrug and say, “Well, that makes sense.”
On the other hand, 10% of employees will fight any and all changes. They could receive 20% pay raises, unlimited time off, no mandatory overtime and a bar of gold, and they would complain that they have to carry the gold bar. This is the vocal minority.
The other 80% of firefighters are split: 40% for change and growth, 40% against. The constant struggle for many administrators, chief officers and company officers is how to get buy-in from the change-resistant 40%. And remember, the vocal minority is actively campaigning against you to get the other 40% to their side, too.
Despite the overwhelming frustration of this ongoing invisible battle, when the vocal minority speaks, they hold incredible influence. To combat this, you must remain above reproach and ensure that what you are selling, teaching or implementing has been well-vetted.
This is where dissention comes in. When you have trusted peers who can look objectively at your ideas and plans and point out the flaws and issues for your correction, you can be truly unstoppable. Then, when the vocal minority brings up a “flaw” in your plan, you can respond comfortably and casually knowing that it has already been discovered and accounted for.
The vocal minority typically thrives on emotion over facts because they are often passionate about their positions regarding the fire service. In my experience, they do believe in the fire service and growth – they just want to do it their way. The vocal minority may have institutional knowledge, or they may be completely wrong. In either case, it is important to listen to them. If we shut them down or silence them, we’re likely to fuel the vocal minority and allow them to win over our 40% supporters.
Rather, if we listen intently, answer honestly, remain humble, and clearly articulate our positions and ideas, we gain their 40% and reduce the vocal minority’s credibility. It is a game of politics and strategy: chess rather than checkers. This game may affect the future of your organization or lead to a policy change or shift in how we’ve done things. But if you’re a hard-charger who wants to make the fire service better, you need everyone to be on board – or at least a big enough majority to silence the haters.
The helpful roadblock
The vocal minority is a headache-inducing, blood pressure-raising force that will always exist. Their purpose is to be a roadblock, and that roadblock forces you to pause, consider your positions, ensure they are fully vetted and fact-checked and then determine how to navigate the blockage. It takes hard conversations, patience, grace and trust – a trust that will likely never be reciprocated. But over time, the minority grows smaller, the majority grows bigger, and growth occurs. Officers must embrace dissention, for we cannot have blind robots running the fire department. Instead, we must hear the opinions of others, consider their positions relative to ours, stay true to our values and beliefs, avoid condoning constant negativity, and work to make the vocal minority a quiet whisper while we push forward toward greatness. Hard-chargers always have a target on their backs because they are in the front of the pack. Keep going.
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