LEADERSHIP ANOSMIA

Leadership Anosmia

When I read, almost daily, about failed leadership in the Fire Service I have to wonder how the troubled leaders came to be and how they expected to be successful with no apparent understanding of principled leadership. How do the failed leaders who make the headlines exist with such an obvious lack of leadership instinct, leadership senses, positive leadership abilities, planning skills, some ability to organize, to team build, to assess, assess again, to motivate, to inspire and to lead a group forward from a position of character. I think these failed leaders have leadership anosmia.

Leaders with anosmia seem to lack not only a sense of smell but also vision and a lack of conscious. They seem never to concern themselves with the damage they accomplish to the fire service through their failed positions, their lack of heart, fire service pride and their inability to recognize their leadership funk. I don’t like leadership anosmia for the damage it does to the fire service that I love and have been privileged to belong to for over forty of the best years of my life.

Anosmia Leaders can’t understand the team, appreciate the team or celebrate the victories of the team. They can’t smell or taste the flavors of team success, team morale or team pride. If the anosmia leader chooses to surround themselves with others with anosmia, they end up like a family of skunks snuggled up cozy together in their den, exchanging niceties with each other but unable to sense the overall reason that they never have company come over. 

If you wish to be a leader, spend more time with Emanuel Freid and less Sigmund Freud. Leaders assess themselves, study the successes of others, and bring those successes to life on their team. The fire service is about networking, building relationships, sharing and caring and there is no excuse for not taking advantage of these opportunities for the betterment of the fire service and your fire department team.

There is no shame in making leadership adjustments, a leadership YOU turn and it simply requires the use of your senses and the ability to remember where you came from, where you are and where you want to be. There are few secrets in the Fire Department and pretending that everyone except you has anosmia won’t change that.

The senses and instincts of a true leader are what cause the team to improve and achieve great things. Great leaders surround themselves with people of insight, instinct and who have sharp senses, including common sense, all focused on the improvement and success of the team.

Are you suffering as a Fire Service leader with great beginnings but a poor finish record? Do you like what you hear from your team or do you hear them at all? Can you see the morale of your team? Does the scent of your leadership create a desire in others to follow or to run away? Do you enjoy the taste of success or failure? Are you touched by the warmth of the people you are supposed to care about or is your handshake just a necessary formality to you? Are they greeting you or meeting you? Do they have a family, do you really care about their family or is your asking about their family just another hollow gesture? Does your press officer or your public information officer have an easy job chronicling the constant successes of the team or is their time spent trying to mask the scent of failure from leadership anosmia?

As a leader, it is our responsibility to use the mirror for team analysis instead of personal admiration.

Failure must have an ending, success must not.

Young people in the fire service must develop their senses and avoid those who have not. Follow your nose, that’s why it was placed out front.

Is your fire service team advancing or retreating and declining? Who are you expecting to fix it?

Try the truth, it’s easier to memorize.

Thanks for reading and sharing.

Have a great day – it’s a GREAT day for it.