FireLink

Some of the older guys never come out of the old school. Keep in mind that he was probably fighting fires when we were still little kids. The "because we always did it this way" attitude does not fit today's fire service. I've been guilty of it myself, been proven wrong, and had to eat crow, this is not as easy for some as it is for others, but EVERYONE benefits.

The bad thing is that his head is the one ultimately on the chopping block if the $^*@ hits the fan, and he would benefit most from delegating some responsibilities to capable people. At the same time this ultimate responsibility is a rationale for micro-managing everything.

If there are some older members around, who have years of trust built with him try to get them on board. Be very careful not give the impression that you're trying to start a coup, no fire department has room for power struggles. ( unless blatant safety issues are at hand, and even then be careful )

Start with some smaller things, and let him see that his delegates are capable of accomplishing assigned tasks, and it will get easier for him to let some of the stuff be handled by his subs. Try to avoid letting him micro-manage, if you assign someone a job, trust them to do it right. Keep the department moving forward, I firmly believe a fire department is like an airplane, when it stops moving forward, it's going to go down.

as with anything, communication is the key. Open, honest talks will go a long way toward solving any problem.

captain50 says ...

Some of the older guys never come out of the old school. Keep in mind that he was probably fighting fires when we were still little kids. The "because we always did it this way" attitude does not fit today's fire service. I've been guilty of it myself, been proven wrong, and had to eat crow, this is not as easy for some as it is for others, but EVERYONE benefits.

The bad thing is that his head is the one ultimately on the chopping block if the $^*@ hits the fan, and he would benefit most from delegating some responsibilities to capable people. At the same time this ultimate responsibility is a rationale for micro-managing everything.

If there are some older members around, who have years of trust built with him try to get them on board. Be very careful not give the impression that you're trying to start a coup, no fire department has room for power struggles. ( unless blatant safety issues are at hand, and even then be careful )

Start with some smaller things, and let him see that his delegates are capable of accomplishing assigned tasks, and it will get easier for him to let some of the stuff be handled by his subs. Try to avoid letting him micro-manage, if you assign someone a job, trust them to do it right. Keep the department moving forward, I firmly believe a fire department is like an airplane, when it stops moving forward, it's going to go down.

as with anything, communication is the key. Open, honest talks will go a long way toward solving any problem.

Well said!