A Letter to Myself (and I didn't know it)

Social media in my circles is abuzz by shares of a LinkedIn article by Oleg Vishnepolsky discussing leadership and what it means to be a leader.  The cover of the article displays a Simon Sinek quote: "Leadership is not being in charge, it is about taking care of people in your charge."  The headline, another quote, "Great leaders don't set out to be a leader.  They set out to make the difference.  It is never about the role - always about the goal" (Lisa Haisha).  Vishnepolsky (2019) writes that "strong leaders measure success by the difference they made in other people's lives."

The concept of leadership has recently been weighing on me; the goal, not the role.  Every day I think to myself: Am I cut out for this? Am I effective? Am I what’s right for my organization? Am I what’s right for the people we serve (the internal customer)? Am I doing it right? And the most important question: How can I do better?

Every single day, I look for opportunities to learn and grow.  Every single day I look for ways I can be better for my organization and our workforce.  Every. Single. Day.  Leadership is not just about leading people.  It’s not just about getting the job done and making sure others do, too.  It is so much bigger than that.  So much bigger than me.  Leaders have the capacity to build their workforce into a beautiful architectural phenomenon or the potential to demolish it like a wrecking ball clinging to the lifting hook of a crane aimed right at them, ready to wreak havoc.  As leaders our responsibility is to build and beautify.  Our responsibility is to sustain and grow our workforce, to help mold them into future leaders.  To support them and guide them.  They are our legacy and our succession plan.  If we destroy them, we have no future and neither does EMS.

In my pursuit to answer the questions I ask myself daily, I have dedicated several hours to researching different leadership and followership styles, how to relate to people of various backgrounds and generations, how to speak to people, public speaking, business development, recruitment, retention, human resources practice, mental health in EMS and so much more.  I learned a lot, but the greatest lessons I learned only validated the results of my own introspection and clarified my beliefs about leadership.  After searching and reading for days, I realized I didn’t really have to look too far to find exactly what I needed.  In my phone I found a note consisting of a list of qualities I sought in a leader that I gave my old partner when she promoted to supervisor.  I was still a street medic but knew exactly my expectations of an EMS leader.  I read this letter to myself the other night to see if a younger, ambulance-riding me could provide insight or advice to the manager me about how to be a great leader for a great generation of EMTs and paramedics.

I wrote the list in 2015.  Now a manager, I was humbled reading the list knowing that I haven't lost sight today of what it meant to me back then to be a leader.  You see, when I accepted my first management position in EMS, I swore I would be the manager I always wanted to have.  It hasn’t been easy at all.  It has been filled with an almost never-ending emotional roller coaster ride (and no, still not afraid to admit it).  But I’m trying.  It's important to note that the managers I had happen also to be the reason I am where I am today as their legacy, so I must pay homage to them.  EMS was built on their backs; from their blood, sweat and tears.  Without them, I wouldn't have so many fantastic leadership styles from which I can draw upon – both positive and negative – to execute my leadership responsibilities effectively.

I wrote:

• Lead as you'd want to be led
• Get out of the office and see your employees working; help them...even if I don't see you on my calls, I will hear you on the radio busting your ass the way I am
• Run calls solo when we're at level zero - show crews you are part of the team
• Go to the hospital, sign PCRs for people waiting for extended periods of time or when several crews are delayed at one hospital, especially when at low levels or level zero
• Be held to the same standard as everyone else - protocol/clinical knowledge, uniform, language, behavior
• Know your employees - go through the staff list and note who you would absolutely want to be taking care of you or your loved ones.  Go through the staff list and note who you absolutely wouldn't want to take care of you or your loved ones.  For those you aren't sure about, run some calls with them and decide.  For those you don't want there [helping you or your family]...what is your reason with an example...then fix it either by remediation, training or coaching.  Continue to build your workforce.  Coach those who need coaching, cheer for those who need cheering.  Sit down with those who need a sit-down.  Know your employees.  Know their stories.  We all have stories.  Learn what makes them tick.  Learn what makes them who they are.  Learn them.  Know them.
• When a problem is reported to you, don't just pawn it off on the next person...make the problem stop there...be the solution, don't perpetuate the problem by ignoring it.
• Acknowledge good work from good employees who set the standard and go above and beyond, not just the ones who don't, but occasionally perform well.  Coach those employees, show them, lead them by example so they will become the employees who set the standard and go above and beyond.
• Make your presence known not just when someone messes up, but when they do good work, too.  It is much easier to respect a leader who reprimands you when you do bad if they are also a leader who says "good job" or "thank you" when they do good.  It shows you're fair.
• Show your employees you care, not just before survey time!
• SET THE STANDARD, don't be lazy.  Show your face...lead by example
• Spend a day (or more) in your employees' shoes.
• Remember, everyone is your favorite.  Everyone needs a mentor (even you).  Remember we are dealing with people, not numbers, not robots, not machines.  People.

The questions I have, though, can’t be answered strictly from some list I gave to my former partner.  I needed to understand why it was I felt that way, and why today I still feel that way.  Why only a few short years ago, was the culture of EMS such that I had different expectations of my leaders than they had of theirs.  I guess the question I have is: What makes me tick?  What makes me who I am as a leader?  Well, I’m a Millennial (as much as I hate to admit that), so I started my introspective journey there.

In an International Journal of Human Resources Studies article, Chou (2012) discusses the various leadership styles that have been studied throughout history, the various followership styles studied throughout history, and then links them to today’s culture in which Millennials nearly dominate the workforce and play a crucial role in the development and future of the workplace.  Chou (2012) extrapolates from previous research how Millennials function both in the roles of leadership and followership.

He suggests that Millennials are more likely to function as participative leaders because Millennials prefer to lead by encouraging collaborative discussion, to ask for input on substantial decisions, and to promote open dialogue regardless of rank (Chou, 2012).  Essentially, participative leaders engage their employees to improve outcomes, encourage involvement and ensure a team-based approach to meeting goals.  As for Millennial’s followership style, Chou (2012) indicates that Millennials likely fall into the exemplary category because they are innovative, independent thinkers who desire open and continuous communication with their leadership and aren’t afraid to ask questions or challenge authority.

As the culture in today’s world evolves and as societal expectations change with the growing number of Millennials in the workplace, so too, the EMS workplace needs to evolve.  And there we have it.  EMS is a culture rich in the belief of “suck it up, buttercup” and “do as I say because I’m the [insert title or rank here]”.  But today's frontline staff have been raised to question – to ask why, to propose their own, researched solutions to problems, to be a part of the team and the discussion.  We, I should say, were raised to want to collaborate, to have strong opinions, to question authority when appropriate – and not to be afraid to have or ask questions.  We are also documented as the most educated generation thus far, and we expect to be recognized for the dedication we have in our academic and intellectual growth.  So too, we seek acceptance by our leadership for the theoretical approach we take in our efforts to enhance EMS.  No, we may not have 20 years of riding an ambulance to shape our views, but we have 20 years of school to guide our analytical thought processes.  As Brack and Kelly (2012) point out, we did not have to walk to the library, browse through index cards and search shelves upon shelves to learn what we know; rather, we gathered the information with a few taps on our touchscreen phones, read the material on a bathroom break and collated in our minds several theories and approaches to whatever it is we seek to change.

All that to say: Millennials want to be engaged.  They need to be engaged.  They thrive on engagement.  But if we don’t engage them, or we fail in our efforts to engage them, where does that leave us?  Well, as noted above, if we as leaders fail to engage those who desire to be engaged, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to guess that they (we) will become disengaged.  We will feel dejected and become disenchanted with our organization and the meaningful work we seek.  And if we become disenchanted, what does that do for the future of EMS as the generation gap continues to grow between today’s leaders and tomorrow’s?

Even worse, however, if we reject the efforts of our Millennial workforce to enrich EMS, we will push them away – both physically and emotionally – and our existence will suffer.  Our productivity will suffer.  Our workforce, already 10 times more likely than the national average to contemplate suicide and 13 times more likely than the national average to die by suicide, will be placed at even greater risk and will suffer (Abbot, Barber and Burke, 2015).  And not because they are weak, lack resourcefulness or resilience, but because WE took from them the resources, resilience and strength they brought with them.  We neglected to use what they brought to the table.  We shut them down.  We failed to tap the talent that exists in our younger team members.  They will disengage.  They will leave us.  They will leave EMS.  And with them, our future will disappear.  The next generation of EMS leadership: gone.  Gone.  Just like that. 

And then what? And then we’ve destroyed our own legacy by being too bull-headed to listen to the youth.  Frankly, I think Whitney Houston said it best in her 1985 award-winning remake of The Greatest Love of All: “I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way.”  The youth of EMS are our future, they desire to be heard and taught.  And if we do that, if we let them be our future, they will lead the way.

So, what does it mean to be a leader in EMS today – the goal and the role?  It means we lead by example.  We give our troops what they need.  We communicate openly, honestly and frequently with them.  We motivate them.  We guide them.  We help them grow and develop them into leaders.  We collaborate with them and respect their thoughts, feelings and opinions.  We swallow our pride and realize our feelings are not theirs nor their problem.  We treat them with humanity and compassion.  We help our people.  We support them.  We inspire them.  We engage them.  We make a difference in their lives.  We care about them.  Vishnepolsky (2019) writes “If we don’t care about people, we don’t deserve to be leaders.”  And at the end of the day, our job is to recognize that our workforce is comprised of our people; that’s right, people.  Not numbers, not metrics.  People.  People who will break if we are not careful and release the wrecking ball atop the crane.  Or people we can build into a beautiful, futuristic architectural EMS structure.

Citations:

Abbott, C., Barber, E., & Burke, B. (2015). What's Killing Our Medics? (Ambulance Service Manager Program) https://static1.squarespace.com/static/555d1154e4b09b430c18fd39/t/5599d2b2e4b0c805c287aa3a/1436144306212/What%27s+Killing+Our+Medics+Final.pdf. Accessed on 11/27/2019.

Brack, J., & Kelly, K. (2012). Maximizing millennials in the workplace. UNC executive development, 22(1), 2-14.

Chou, S. Y. (2012). Millennials in the workplace: A conceptual analysis of millennials' leadership and followership styles. International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 2(2).

Vishnepolsky, O. (2019). Untitled (LinkedIn). https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/kindness-best-strategy-life-business-oleg-vishnepolsky.  Accessed 11/22/2019.