FIRE A111 Counseling

This week for our Fire Officer class we were instructed to read a passage from our textbook and an article called “Counseling: Listen, Don’t Judge”. The common themes of both these passages were techniques of disciplining through counseling. 

The idea of disciplining through counseling is for you to sit down with your supervisor in private and talk about what you did wrong and the consequences that could come. Another part of the counseling is to determine the corrective measures that need to happen. In the article “Counseling: Listen, Don’t Judge” they talked about a fire officer’s role of being a counselor for when one your firefighters are having trouble at home or with someone else in the department. This role of the counselor was to be a person they can talk to in confidence. You are not necessarily supposed to give advice because you don’t know the entire situation instead mostly be there to listen to them. 

The main point of counseling is to be able to sit down and discuss a matter in private and resolve an issue without having to go to drastic measures in terminating someone or making it a scene for everyone to see.

Blog #3

This week in my FIRE A111 Fire Admin class we were assigned to read "Developing a Plan for Self-Evaluation" by Harry, R Carter, "Leadership Do's and Don'ts" by Mica Calfee, and "Is Your Leadership Bicycle Broken" by Jeff Simpson. All of these articles were very insightful and helpful on my path to becoming a better leader.

To learn more about who we are, we were encouraged to take a couple personality tests. The first test was produced by Carl Jung and Isabel Briggs Myers. For this test it asked you a series of questions about how you feel on certain subjects, for example: "As a rule, you proceed only when you have a clear and detailed plan" (Jung Typology Test). To answer these questions you simply chose if you strongly agreed, agreed, uncertain, disagree, or strongly disagreed. Most of my answers were to agree and disagree with a few uncertain's, I only chose strongly agree for one out of the sixty four questions. After taking the test my answers were calculated and the result was that I am 3% Extravert, 3% Intuitive, 6% Feeling, and 6% Judging. In the description of my type it said that I am a global learner, I see the bigger picture, and help others before helping myself, but may take on too many burdens that I can handle. The second test was an emotional test, it had the same format as the Jung/Myers test. The results from this test said that I had high emotional intelligence, meaning that I am able to work well under pressure. 

Even though it's still hard to understand how they can calculate who you are by such basic questions, I feel better about becoming a leader some day after taking those two tests. They gave me a better understanding on what I need to work on.

Before I become a good leader I need to work on is delegation, I always want to be in there doing the work. A good leader is one who can stand back and let others do the work so he/she can focus on the entire picture and see problems before the arise

Blog #2

I remember reading Maslow's article and taking his personality test in my psychology class, so reading a familiar article was refreshing. Both times reading the articles they really got me thinking about who I really am, and where I am going in life. I had a little trouble taking the quick test, but I found the videos amusing and enjoyable. I personally found that I liked Maslow's theory more, mostly because it was easier to follow over Herzbergs. I believe that self-actualization can take a long time to achieve and some might not ever get there, but I think that's alright. A quote that I always think of is, “Focus on the journey not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it” by Greg Anderson. I believe that everyone should strive for self-actualization but they shouldn't fixate on it.

Blog #1

The article "Pride and Ownership" by Rick Lasky was a very uplifting and good reminder of what firefighting is all about. Throughout the entire article he ingrained the question, "why did you get into it?" This question really got to me, because unlike most firefighters I didn't have any family members in the fire service. The reason I joined the fire department was because my friend’s house caught on fire when I was younger and I watched as the firefighters ran inside and put the fire out. From that day on I dreamt of one day being that guy to save someone’s house.

When I first joined the department I had no idea what I was getting into, but everyone at the department embraced me and answered all my questions. When taking a class it was taught by people in the department and they didn’t just read words on the PowerPoint they made an effort to teach us all the secrets they had learned along the way.

When the tone goes out whether it is to lend a helping hand to put an old lady back in her chair or if it is a house fire with victims still inside, our reaction is the same. Every time I put my gear on the truck I think about all the men and women before me who put their turnouts in the same spot and it makes me proud to be a part of something so awesome.

The reason why I joined the fire department has changed from being a hero to now being part of an incredible family.