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Leadership One-Liners  
Curtis Birt
Battalion Chief, Training | Fire 
City of Pearland (TX)

If you are like me, the way we remember a fun time, a great movie, significant event in our lives is by a saying or one-liner. One-Liners have been used by advertisers to create slogans or catch phrases that are meant to get your attention and to get you to remember something or a product forever. We all remember, even from our childhood, memorable one-liners, or slogans that when a topic comes up in a discussion, we all recite the one-liners in unison.

When my brothers and I are together, we talk in one-liners - from the movies we watched over and over, or the things our parents or family would say about us, as we did what boys do. Over the years I have used one-liners from books, courses, or mentors to remember important leadership points to live by, to help keep myself on the right track, or to start conversations or challenge others thinking when the opportunity arises.

 “Stay in your lane” – You have enough to do taking care of your folks and carrying out the mission. It is in our DNA to help in everything we can, and we want to help everyone with every project or job, but you can only do so much before your neck starts getting stretched thin or your mission and more importantly our troops start to suffer.

“Sweat the small stuff” – If we do not “Sweat the Small Stuff” we cannot tackle the big stuff. And we live dealing with the big stuff. You can always tell a good fire company with good leadership by how they handle the small stuff. Next time you go into a fire house look at their hand tools and hose loads. If their tools are clean, taped up, tuned and ready to go you have a company ready to work. If their hose loads are straight, neat and perfectly loaded then you have a company that is ready for battle with good leadership and the mission as the priority. A neat and clean hose bed pulls clean and neat. And clean tools work better and show company pride. As a leader we must communicate the importance of “Sweating the small stuff” and hold that expectation for the success of the mission.

“Plant the seed early” – It is frustrating in our business when we have a task or project we need to do or there is something we need we think is urgent or time sensitive only to find no one else in the city or even in your own department can be convinced of the urgency you feel. Anytime you have an idea or something that you know needs to get done, talk about it or bring up in conversations at every opportunity you get, way before the ideas or item is needed or worse you are in panic mode. We in the fire service tend to use the panic button or the “lives will be lost if you do not” phrase to cover up for the fact we did not plan correctly or did not recognize a problem was coming down the pipe. The more you look ahead and start talking about a need or project you think is important and start “planting the seed”, the more that when it comes time for your issue to be addressed the more people in the decision process have been hearing about it to the point of thinking it was always that way or we have talked about it so long we just need to get it off our plates.

 
“Do not let them rule your day” – What do I mean by that? Many times, in this business we see members of companies or departments get sidetracked or have their day, or sometimes worse careers, ruined by the actions or attitudes of those around them. It seems that certain members of a department rule the attitude or rhythm of the department and how their day goes so goes the shift or department. It is our job as leaders to remember that our attitude influences those around us; we must control the triggers that cause us to create an environment that allows our bad days or attitudes to be passed to others. If one of your leaders or bosses has a difficult day or is having a bad attitude it is your job to not let it “Rule your Day” or those under you. Remove them from the environment or take your boss to the side, away from your folks, and allow them to vent. We all have bad days, and we are going to have to deal with bad people or situations and things are not always going to work out how we want, but as a leader we must remember that we cannot let our bad day, situation, or bosses create a difficult day for our people. You must understand that your bad attitude lasts longer with others than it does with you.

 “They can’t take away your birthday” – Failing or missing the mark is part of growing and learning. As a leader, we must allow our troops to fail, controllably, and do things wrong to help them grow and learn. By failure people learn what I call “Life Lessons”.  Life Lessons are experiences we have had happen that no matter what happens in our lives we will remember them and not do them again or do them differently. Kind of the “don’t touch that hot pan”.  Most life lessons are formed for failure, embarrassment, or challenges. Helping our members work through failures, mistakes and challenges is part of being a leader. The best leaders are the one that are there for you when you fail and help you learn how to be better and let you know that it is all right to make mistakes and that they are not going to “Take away their Birthday” but you are there to help them grow and learn and to use those challenges to grow.

“Lonely at the top” – That is a saying you have heard all the time from every chief or leader in this business or any other. And I must tell you, get used to it. The higher you promote and the more trumpets you wear on our collar the lonelier it gets and the more you are less of the crew and more one of “THEM”.  This has both bad and good wrapped up in it and you must recognize this happens, accept it, and learn to work with it as an advantage. If you came up the ranks then you were one of the them and you still may have close friends and alliances, but use them wisely, do not put them or you in a bad spot.

“We have always done it that way” – Whenever I hear this phrase the first word out of my mouth is why. I hear this term a lot when visiting or working with other departments. If your department uses this term and no one knows why, figure it out. If you cannot, more than likely it is time to reevaluate what you are doing and make sure it is the best way to do whatever the subject is. Everyone on your job should have a good idea why you do things. If not, it is up to you and other department leaders and mentors to educate the department into the why’s and how’s. Give the members the lengthy discussions that were had to set up a certain operation or the call or situation we had that got us to buy something for the rigs or Fire House. This teaches others not only the history of the department, but also what went into making your department and your reputation. At the end of the lesson if you cannot explain why something is, make sure it is not time to find a better way.

Great movies, great times and great leaders are remembered by their One-Liners. There is not a day that goes by that we do not see a quote or saying from someone to give a key point or thought. Using one-liners to help you remember those important traits or attitudes you need as a leader and to instill those thoughts in the minds of those you lead or mentor. Create and use the Leadership One-Liners you need to lead your company or department to achieve remarkable things and stop those sayings that do more harm than good.