The Fire Service Pyramid of Success - Part 3 - IMS Alliance

Fire Service Leadership >>> 

By MARK EMERY 

The Fire Service 

Pyramid of Success 

Part 3 – 

The Character 

Level 

Last month, you were introduced to Level One, the five behavioral blocks that establish 

a solid foundation for personal and team leadership and for building your “Fire 

Station Pyramid of Success,” an adaptation of the original “Pyramid of Success” 

developed by legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden. 

The five behavioral blocks are: 

1. Industriousness (hard work) 

2. Enthusiasm 

3. Friendship 

4. Loyalty 

5. Cooperation 

This article will introduce you to Level Two, the 

character-level of your Fire Station Pyramid of Success: 

1. Self-control 

2. Alertness 

3. Initiative 

4. Intentness 

Live and lead 

according to the 

principles of the Fire 

Station Pyramid of 

Success, and others 

will follow. 

Mark Emery, EFO, is a shift battalion chief with the 

Woodinville, WA, Fire & Life Safety District. He is a 

graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive 

Fire Officer program and an NFA instructor specialist. 

Emery received a bachelor of arts degree from California 

State University at Long Beach and is a partner 

with Fire Command Seattle LLC in King County, WA. 

He may be contacted at fci@usa.com or access his 

website www.competentcommand.com. 

Self-Control 

As a fire officer, you must learn to control your emotions. 

Fire officers who become emotionally attached to incidents 

are dangerous; fire officers who cannot control their 

emotions in the fire station will create a house of turmoil. 

You cannot function mentally or physically unless your 

emotions are under control. It is for this reason that Coach Wooden never engaged in pregame 

pep talks that created “artificial emotional highs.” Rather than cresting a number of 

temporary peaks, Wooden preferred that his teams maintain a constant, slightly increasing 

level of achievement. 

“For every contrived (emotional) peak you create there is a subsequent valley,” Wooden 

said. “I do not like (emotional) valleys.” 

Self-control provides emotional stability. When you lose control of your emotions, 

when your self-discipline breaks down, 

judgment and common sense are compromised. 

When self-control has become an 

integral part of your leadership package, 

people will perceive you as one of those 

who thrive under pressure. 

Learn to stay cool and relaxed. Cool 

and relaxed will become contagious. In the 

fire station, cease the whining, complaining 

and excuse-making that keep you out 

of the present. Self-control will keep you in 

the present and prepare you for the future. 

(Have you ever noticed that when firefighters 

complain, it’s usually about somebody 

who is not there during the complaining? 

84 Firehouse ® www.Firehouse.com April 2008

They are not being industrious, they are not being loyal, they are 

not exhibiting self-control and thus they are not working to gain 

the self-satisfaction of becoming the best that they can become.) 

Focusing on the present will enable you to focus on future 

improvement, to have vision. Dwelling on the past and on others’ 

mistakes is toxic and prevents you from doing something positive 

for your fire station today and in the future. Strive to maintain 

self-control. Be a positive influence. You will never complete your 

Fire Station Pyramid of Success without self-control. 

Nowhere is self-control more important than during the evolution 

of an incident. It is easy to identify firefighters and fire officers 

who have lost their self-control and have become emotionally 

attached to an incident – before they arrive on-scene. It is simple: 

Look a speed-limit sign, then glance at the apparatus speedometer. 

If the posted speed limit is 40 mph and the apparatus is traveling 

60 mph, there is (60 minus 40) 20 mph of emotional attachment. 

Because this driver and fire officer have lost their self-control, they 

are endangering the public and themselves. If firefighters lose their 

self-control while responding, imagine what will happen once they 

arrive on-scene: no size-up, freelancing, no command presence, 

random acts of tactical violence, etc. 

A master craftsman fire officer ensures that everybody amps 

down and belts up before the rig rolls. Self-control, along with 

preparation before the alarm, is essential if you hope to sniff Level 

Four, the leadership-level of the Pyramid: Poise and Confidence. 

Poise and Confidence will be supported by Level Three of the 

Pyramid: Condition, Skill and Team Spirit. Level Three is supported 

by Level Two and Level Two is supported by Level One, the 

foundation. (I’m not an advocate of timed turnout drills. Turnout 

drills encourage emotional attachment rather than foster selfcontrol. 

This culture of frenzy is the primary reason fire apparatus 

speed through intersections with occupants unbelted.) 

Bottom line: When you lose control of your emotions, you 

lose your self-control. When you lose your self-control, corners 

get rounded and bad things can happen. Control the adrenaline 

rather than allow the adrenaline to control you. 

Indicate 149 on Reader Service Card 

Alertness 

“There is something going on around you at all times from 

which you can acquire knowledge. Too often, we get lost in our 

tunnel vision and we don’t see the things that are right in front of 

us for the taking – for the learning.” 

As a fire officer and leader, you must constantly be alert and 

aware, looking for ways to improve and add value. In the fire station, 

“stuff ” goes on around you all the time. As you strive to 

achieve and maintain your personal best, alertness will make the 

journey much easier and more interesting. By diligently monitoring 

your opportunity radar, you will be quick to spot flaws and 

weakness and be just as quick to correct, improve and change. 


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fire service leadership >>> 

“If you lose self-control, everything will fall. You 

cannot function physically or mentally or in any 

other way unless your emotions are under control.” 

—John Wooden 

Weak leaders are not alert; they have 

shut down their opportunity radar by burying 

their head in an endless tunnel of projects, 

paper and meetings. With head buried 

in an administrative bunker, you will 

miss opportunities to learn, improve and 

grow. You will miss golden opportunities 

for leadership. Don’t allow routine stuff 

to isolate you; it is impossible to lead in 

isolation. Occasionally, an isolated leader 

will pop up like an organizational sniper, 

squeeze-off a couple of quasi-leadership 

rounds and quickly retreat to the administrative 

bunker. Again, Coach Wooden: 

“Do not mistake activity for achievement.” 

Stay alert as you strive to achieve personal 

and professional excellence. Alertness 

is about looking for opportunities to make 

your small corner of the universe a better 

place. You must be engaged with your 

crew in order to diagnose what they need 

and want they want. Likewise, your players 

need to know what your expectations are. 

Write them down, post them conspicuously. 

Coach Wooden’s rules and expectations 

were documented and crystal clear. 

By coupling alertness with self-control, 

you can focus on opportunities and 

solutions that will produce desired outcomes. 

As a leader, it is critical to respond 

to setbacks and problems by quickly redirecting 

your focus to desired outcomes. A 

simple yet powerful question to ask when 

confronted with a problem is: “What is the 

true, desired outcome?” This question can 

be the catalyst for transforming problems 

into solutions – both in the fire station and 

on the fireground. Problem solving begins 

with clearly and objectively identifying the 

problem. 

Initiative 

Coach Wooden defines initiative as: 

“Having the courage to make decisions and 

take action when action is needed.” As a 

leader, you must not be afraid to fail. You 

are not perfect and you are going to fail at 

times. Liberate yourself from perfection, 

once you don’t have to be perfect and you 

know you’re going to make mistakes, do so 

with gusto. If you are afraid of failure – or 

afraid of looking bad – you will never discover 

what you are capable of achieving. 

There is no failure worse than failure 

to act; failure to act is a byproduct of lack 

of self-control, lack of alertness and lack of 

initiative. Fear of failure or mistakes is often 

what prevents smart, talented people from 

taking action and achieving the self-satisfaction 

of becoming the best they can. Quitting 

is often the result of a weak foundation 

and lack of character. Quitting is the easy 

road, particularly when there is someone 

else to use as an excuse for your retreat. 

Be downright scared of not being prepared 

to the best of your ability. You have 

vanquished fear when you have a strong 

desire to be your best. Learn from failure 

and mistakes; never miss an opportunity 

to learn. Focusing on elaborate excuses and 

rooting out and focusing on who is to blame 

will bring nothing of lasting value. Unfortunately, 

such an atmosphere will foster fear 

of failure, lack of action and fault finding – 

at the expense of learning, growth and improvement. 

(Raise your hand if you want 

to be the next person raked over the coals 

when you’re not present?) In my experience 

firefighters criticize inaction harsher 

than they criticize mistakes. 

Being a fire officer is about being 

what I call a “heroic leader.” You become 

a heroic leader when you throw every 

ounce of your heart and soul into making 

a positive difference for someone 

else. Initiative, along with a solid Pyramid 

foundation, is the key to leading heroically. 

A heroic leader has the courage 

to act alone and to make decisions. 

One of the most valuable ways to 

exercise your initiative is to acknowledge 

and recognize initiative in others. Instead 

of feeling taken for granted, your firefighters 

must know they are truly important, 

appreciated and a valued member of the 

team. I agree with Coach Wooden that the 

team that makes the most mistakes usually 

wins. Being overly cautious and tentative 

will produce inaction. Hesitate and before 

you know it you’re down by 20 points. 

Intentness 

Coach Wooden’s definition of intentness 

is simple yet powerful: Intentness is 

the ability to resist temptation and stay the 

course, to concentrate on your objective 

with determination and resolve. Impatience 

is wanting too much too soon. Intentness 

doesn’t involve wanting something, intentness 

involves doing something. 

“When you lose control of your emotions, when 

your self-discipline breaks down, your judgment 

and common sense suffer. How can you perform 

at your best when you are using poor judgment?” 


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fire service leadership 

Your professional excellence journey 

will take time – a long time. I’ll admit it 

sounds corny, but it’s true, success is a 

journey not a destination. It took Coach 

Wooden 14 years to develop the Pyramid 

of Success. It was another 15 years before 

UCLA won the first of its 10 national 

championships. Wooden’s patient 29-year 

journey produced the greatest NCAA 

“Ability will get you to 

the top, character will 

keep you there.” 


basketball record in history. (UCLA 

won its first NCAA championship with 

a team that had no player taller than 

6-foot-5! Before the season started, 

sports journalists and basketball “experts” 

dismissed UCLA as a championship 

contender; they believed that no 

team of such short stature could possibly 

win an NCAA championship.) 

After winning their first national 

championship, Wooden’s UCLA teams 

compiled the most amazing run of championship 

performances in NCAA history. 

The “Wizard of Westwood” was the model 

of intentness. 

Once you have determined your vision 

and established goals for yourself, 

your crew and for your fire station, stay the 

course. There will be setbacks. You may 

have to change your methods. You may 

have to go around, under or over. You may 

have to return to the drawing board and 

start over. Adapt and adjust; don’t fight it. 

Do what you’ve got to do, but you do not 

quit. Just remember not to project fault on 

other people – instead focus on learning, 

adapting, and moving forward. 

Coach Wooden told his players: “Be 

persistent. Be determined. Be tenacious. 

Be completely determined to reach your 

goal.” My friend, that is intentness. 

F. E. A. R. 

Familiarization. Education. Application. 

Repeat. 

My personal model for implementing 

this level of the Pyramid is the acronym 

F.E.A.R.: 

• Familiarization examples include 

pre-plan familiarization tours (access 

problems, fire load problems, evacuation 

and exposure challenges, etc.), ensuring 


April 2008 www.Firehouse.com Firehouse ® 87

fire service leadership

The Fire Service Pyramid of Success - Part 3 - IMS Alliance

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