Eric J. Russell

Servant Leadership for Building the Community of Responders

This final chapter brings together the philosophy of servant leadership as a way for building the community of responders. Emergency services leadership is accountable for this community. A leader must be keenly aware of the vulnerabilities that exist that threaten the responder. The profession is a noble one, one of a desire to serve strangers in their time of need. Though the responder is a highly trained and skilled operator, they still remain human. The community of responders has to be the place where servant leaders meet the needs of followers so that they can realize a long and rewarding career.

Becoming an Emergency Services Leader for Greater Good

This chapter presents the concept of the emergency services leader being one who is a steward for the greater good. The steward is one willing to cultivate the organization, being a champion for its people and progress. They see the organization as a system, understanding that the system has to work in order for the organization to be successful. The steward works for the greater good by being in service to something bigger than self. They make meaning out of building a positive community of responders. They subscribe to the idea the followers have to be mentored so that one-day they are ready to be servant leaders themselves.

Servant Leadership and the Emergency Services

This chapter presents a brief history of the philosophy of servant leadership. It begins by delineating upon its identified characteristics, constructs, and attributes along with its place within the emergency services. Robert K. Greenleaf first penned the modern concept of servant leadership philosophy in 1970. Since that time, the philosophy has spread throughout organizations. Today, there are thousands of books, articles, and research projects, not to mention consulting and coaching centers that teach the philosophy. In addition, universities throughout the world have adopted the philosophy in their management and leadership programs. Recently, empirical works involving servant leadership within the emergency services have emerged and this chapter spotlights them as a way of creating a foundation for understanding its place in the professions.

A Servant Visionary for the Emergency Services

This chapter introduces the visionary responsibility of the emergency services leader. A leader’s vision becomes the map organizations follow in order to navigate a path towards success. The servant leader holds vision as a virtue. The characteristics that form the servant leader strengthen this visionary ability. Yet, vision is only the first step. To bring that vision to fruition followers have to be the ones that work towards its reality. The visionary leader is the leader that dreams, they are keenly aware of the world, they can conceptualize ideas, they have the foresight to see what does not yet exist. The servant leader is one who can persuade others to want to take the visionary journey and willingly make it in their own.

In Command of Guardians

This chapter introduces the philosophy of servant leadership to those responsible for a community of emergency responders. This introduction spotlights the potential that servant leadership can have for improving the lives of guardians. It begins by offering a pathway for self-reflection regarding the emergency services leader’s desire to serve—a desire which brought them to the career field years before. It defines the community of responders as a quasi-family-like paramilitary world in which responders live and operate. Serving this community, as well as on-scene command-and-control, are the greatest responsibilities facing the emergency services leader. The career of a first responder is one of noble sacrifice and service; servant leadership is offered as a way to honor that service.

Bureaucracy Within the Emergency Services

This chapter introduces one of the biggest contributors to negativity and toxic work environments within the community of responders: bureaucracy. The bureaucracy has been found to be a dizzying maze-like experience for emergency services responders to navigate. In addition, bureaucracy has been identified as one of the greatest contributors to responder’s stress and burnout. This chapter begins with identifying what bureaucracy is, and then moves on to discuss the problems of bureaucracy within the emergency services. At its core, bureaucracy is void of the human experience and relationships. It stands on its own as a structure of policies, procedures, and rules that over time can become more important than the guardians they’re supposed to be serving.

The Responder’s Servant Listener

This chapter discusses the successful emergency services leader as one that strives to become a servant listener. According to Dr. Larry Spears, the servant leader is one who is a great listener. Servant leadership begins with listening, hearing what is being said and what’s not being said. Listening is so much more than simply hearing. It involves being open to knowledge, it’s about not being afraid of the truth. The servant listener as a willing listener that desires an organizational structure built upon open dialogue. It is being a leader that listens empathetically to followers. Listening is a skill that takes practice, one that defines a leader’s credibility.

The Responder’s Empathetic Healer

This chapter discusses the role of the emergency services leader as being an empathetic healer to the community of respondents. The empathetic healer is one who willingly binds the wounds of his or her followers. The leader’s empathy allows them to see their people as people, to not miss the human. The empathetic healer humbly approaches followers, he or she is keenly aware of their needs, desires to know their pain, and sees their role as one that brings the guardians back to the fight. Empathy is a leader’s humility; it’s their ability to set aside rank and position in moments when it’s more important to stand beside one’s followers, not above.

Serving the Responders Growth

This chapter discusses one of the greatest responsibilities of the emergency services leader, the growth of their followers. It’s ground in a willingness to want to see followers change and grow, so that one day, they can also assume leadership roles. The servant leader serves the needs of their followers in a way that positively impacts their mental, physical, and emotional health. These three areas work together. The successful leader realizes that neither stands alone. The healthy follower becomes less vulnerable, realizing posttraumatic growth. The emergency services leader that commits to the growth of their followers does so with an understanding that such growth reduces vulnerabilities associated with traumatic experiences and protects them from burnout.

The Call to Serve–The Call to Lead

This chapter brings to life calling and what it means to be an emergency services responder. It looks at certain areas that become part of the leader’s calling, as well as the benefit to the leader from serving their followers. An individual is called to a career in emergency services. The profession, being one of personal sacrifice, places the individual in harm’s way, and transcends the notion of being simply a job. Being an emergency responder becomes the identity of the individuals that perform the work. That calling to serve brought the leaders to the career field. That same calling is the leader’s call to lead. In addition, this chapter offers a pathway for emergency services leaders to look inward at their own calling and use it to become stronger leaders for the community of responders.