Want to land your dream job?  Make more money?  Get promoted?  Play Ping-Pong!!

I was thinking the other day about ping pong.  You see, after our station in Des Moines was remodeled, we moved our pool table into the day room.  One of the crew built a topper for it so we could play ping pong.  Playing ping pong was an activity that I enjoyed as a youngster in my parent’s basement, when it was clean enough to find the table, so when we got a table at the station I didn’t hesitate for a moment to hop in and play.  And it didn’t take but only a moment for me to get schooled.  Not only in the art of ping pong, but also in the art of taking a ration of crap from my cohorts.  

There was a wide range of ping pong skill and ability on our shift.  There was me at one end of the scale, and Scott, Doug or Jed at the other end.  Keep in mind we usually had a crew of 4.  The games got fierce; volleys being exchanged both on the table and verbally.  

One day, through a series of unusual events and all of the planets aligning, I won a game.  Then another.  And yet another.  I would never say that I became a “force” at the table but I got to the point I could hold my own on a regular basis.  I believe it was during one of these victory celebrations that I realized Jed was “good at everything but losing.”  Or that might have been during a game of bump; a basketball shooting knock-out game.  

Why do you think I got better at ping pong?  Was it lessons?  Hours of YouTube viewing?  Mental imagery practice?  E....None of the Above.  I got better at ping pong because I played with people that were better than I.  Simple as that.  The truth was that everyone was better at ping pong than I....at the start.  

Maybe you want to get better at your job, a sport or hobby.  Perhaps you just want to experience personal growth, go for promotion or change jobs altogether.  I would suggest you surround yourself with people that are better than you in the discipline in which you wish to improve.  Keep in mind that when you play with people that are better than you, you end up losing.  A lot.  But taking this course of action will help you grow and the losses will help you remain humble.  

As you grow, when you get to the point where you feel like you are the best in your discipline, you have to do a couple things.  First, check yourself and honestly evaluate your abilities and if you still feel like you just killing it, the next thing you have to do is make yourself uncomfortable by stepping into a spot where you are again surrounded by people that are better than you.  And if you think you are the best in your special space just because you have finished in front of, or have been promoted ahead of, your peers, please humble yourself as there is always something more to learn even in the most unsuspecting places.  A wise man once shared a quote with me that went something like this; “One remains young as long as one continues to learn.”-Janet Erskine Stuart (Thanks Jeff B. ❤️)

 

The Bangor Ladder.  The largest ground ladder used in the fire service.  They range in length from 45 to 55 feet.  Because of their length and weight they have poles attached, tormentor poles, to enable the firefighting team to get the ladder from horizontal to vertical while maintaining control.  These large ladders are deployed using a team of 4-6 firefighters working in unison to succeed.  In my first organization we had a 45 foot Bangor ladder, weighing in at over 200 pounds, which was a real challenge to our minimal crew of 4....on a good day.  

Deploying this beast required training, practice, skill and most of all, unity.  Deploying this ladder required that the entire crew be crystal clear on the actions required by each team member, a member to call the commands to guide the evolution and every member to effectively carry out their assignment when called upon.  In short, all members had to work together, functioning as one.  Should one member fail to perform their duty, deviate from the plan or decide to act for themselves, the objective of getting this ladder up was sure to fail.  

What does the Bangor ladder have to do with anything?  In my last post, I spoke of the renewed sense of hope that I felt as I listened to the words spoken at the inauguration.  I also mentioned that another word that was used during the hearings on January 6th and at the inauguration was unity.  Unity.  Bring forth the Bangor ladder.  Not many things in the fire service require the skilled coordination of a group of people for a single task.  Lack of unity amongst the team spells failure, catastrophic failure, more assuredly than most other tasks on the fire ground.

Since January 20th, I have spent a lot of time thinking about unity, because it was a frequently used word.  I’ve been thinking what it means to the fire service, what it means to me, those around me and even our country.    

As a station Captain, as a Battalion Chief and again as the Operations Chief, I tried to create unity amongst those whom I worked with and supervised.  Additionally, I tried to get those that I supervised to also work to create unity amongst the member of their team and between the shifts.  I tried to create an atmosphere where no shift was put down, where all people and their different perspectives were accepted and appreciated.  What were the steps that I used to attempt to create unity?  Here are a few:

• Stay focused on the mission/objective: This helps to take your emotions, feelings, opinion out of the conversation.  
• Share the vision:  Ideally, the whole team creates the vision.  If not, make sure to share it so everyone knows what the vision is and WHY it is good for them. 
• Share the values:  Share your values so others understand your perspective and have them share their so you are aware.  Part of empathy.
• Listen to others:  Listen to understand, not to respond.  Part of empathy.
• Value others:  Valuing others helps you grow, helps them grow and they will appreciate having input.
• Give away authority:  Allow others to make decision whenever possible.  Let them make mistakes and coach them to the right spot if they miss the mark.  Allow them to create the path.  You might learn something from it. 
• Recognize:  Constantly recognize the team’s input/impact.  Praise them as much as possible, face to face and in public, without being phony.  
• Appreciate:  Truly appreciate what others are doing and the impact it has on the success of the group.  
• Compromise:  Subvert some of your personal agenda that doesn’t directly support the overall organizational mission/objective.
• Be the first:  Take the first step, extend an olive branch, show the way. 

 

What do you do to create unity?  

Hope.  A four letter word.   

I’ve been trying to get back to writing for quite some time because I find it therapeutic. However, I have been challenged over the last X number of months as I have watched as our country torn into warring factions; Black Lives Matter vs blue lives matter, republican vs democrat, pandemic vs hoax, vaccine vs anti-vaxxers.  Social media has been full of hateful words, lies and weird conspiracy theories.  I have watched as friends dissolved age old relationships, siblings got nasty with each other and the relationship amongst our country’s leadership project a horrible example.  

I wanted to write but felt there wasn’t any point in doing it. I felt like I had a little to contribute.  I didn’t have answers and I certainly didn’t want to contribute to the anxiety by sharing my opinion.  Moreover, I couldn’t get my thoughts straight in my head as there were so many. Reflection became a painful effort.

I spent time reflecting on how my wife and I raised our children and how I raised young firefighters.  At work and home, I believe I was careful to instill the values of people first, compassion, empathy, humility, understanding, acceptance, and tolerance. Additionally, at work I tried to teach brotherhood/sisterhood, service before self, unity and professionalism. As I have watched the actions of our leader ship across the country, I began to  wonder if my efforts were misguided or pointless.

I was traveling on January 6 with no access to news so I arrived home with no idea of the events that had taken place at our nations capital. By the time I tuned into the news, our Congress had reconvened and our representatives were making speeches condemning the actions of the group of insurrectionists. At the time, I didn’t realize that this was part of the testifying process contesting the election. I listened to the words carefully and felt a sense of hope that our country would become reunited and that the disparaging behavior that was, would soon come to an end.

 As I watched the presidential inauguration, I felt an additional renewed sense of hope.  As I listened to the speakers, I continually heard a message of unity, tolerance, and acceptance. The words of Amanda Gorman in her eloquent poem illustrated our struggles, our objectives and our goals. Her words were a challenge to each and everyone of us to push ourselves to do right, not just for us but for our country and our children’s future.  Her words were a call to action, an action that will be hard, that will require sacrifice of us all.  

Over the last few days I have seen some headline news about some of our states representatives and their aberrant behavior. The way they treat each other, the words that they choose and they hate that they spread is personally disheartening. I have seen the behavior of our country’s “leadership“ translate to people I know in my personal life. The casual manner with which our leadership refers to others with whom they disagree in derogatory terms has rippled into our personal lives. My hope is starting to fade.  

Hope is why I am writing.  Hope.  I believe hope is one of the things that inspires us to....act, push ourselves, to try.  In my life, when I have felt no hope, I have felt a sense of emptiness, a lack of purpose, a sense of drive.  I am hoping that I can “get back on the bus” as we try to turn the page as not only a nation, but also as a society.  I am realizing that patience accompanies hope.  It won’t happen quickly.

If you are still reading, I thank you.  I thank you for stretching yourself to the point to see another’s perspective.  I thank you for sharing my words with the hope that your words are encouraging, supporting and open minded and without hate.

In the past, a number of people have indicated they appreciate that I share my thoughts and perspectives.  I am going to attempt to write a couple things over the next couple weeks.  I want to write again, to share my thoughts again.  Perhaps, I can share something with you and you can share something with me that helps us both.  I hope.