When Passion Becomes Practice
Some of Us Have Different Paths but the Same Mission-All Dedicated to the Fire Service.
Ben May
“Allow Your Passion to Become Your Purpose, and it Will One Day Become Your Profession.”
-Gabrielle Bernstein
Passion and its Limits
Recently my wife and I discussed the limits of passion. Already, you may see how that conversation might have progressed when you see the term: limits. I’ve always had a bit of a problem with that word. Having been married for just over 50 years, you can see the difference-chasm-between us on the subject. See, passion has been the driver of my life since I can remember. And passion has no limits. Not so with my wife. She is the practical, logical part of the marriage, and thank God for that, or I would be living in the jungle eating berries and bamboo shoots. She had me watch one of those talks on Tic Toc. It was about how people gain passion for a particular discipline as they become very good at it. My view has always been that if you were passionate about something, then it gave you the power to excel in your chosen area of interest. Kind of a chicken or egg thing, I guess.
Our Passion for the Fire Service…
Before I could disagree with her, she said: “Of course, there is your passion for the fire service. I’ve never been able to figure that one out since we started dating when we were sixteen, and… you never were a real firefighter.” “Thanks hon… really appreciate the support.” I don’t know, but when I was flying to a worker on the backstep of Hillandale, MD engine 121 it seemed like I was a firefighter, and the heat searing my face at the front end of an inch and a half line entering the front room of a flame-filled house felt like I was fighting a fire. I certainly looked the part at one time in my life, short as it was. No, I have not been a career fighter, but, like many people, I still have a passion for the profession, and it has taken me places I could never have imagined. Have you ever seen the definition for passion? Passion can mean pain. Remember the passion of Christ? Sometimes it can be very painful, especially if we believe in our mission, and more important, ourselves.
Many of Us Have Been Passionate Since We Were ‘Tykes”
What my wife didn’t know was that I was passionate about the fire service before anything else I could remember, way back when I was six when my dad would take me to the main fire headquarters on California Street in Oklahoma City. There were about 36 stations in the OKC Metro area back then in 1956. When we finished visiting station 36, we started over at headquarters and did the “tour” again every single weekend. My bedroom blared day and night with a scanner announcing every fire alarm throughout the city. My jeans were rolled over my boots like turnouts beside my bed. I would pour over the ARCO test manuals-Fireman FD-trying to understand the terms friction loss and reverse hose lay before I knew what they meant.
Fast Forward…After 65 Years
I carry that passion to this day 65 years later. Recently, I was in an interview for a leadership position for a national fire protection organization. One of the interviewers said: “You are so passionate about fire protection. Do you think that your passion might interfere with organizational decisions and direction? My first reaction was one of “pride and ownership” of my love of the profession much like the title of the book of the same name by Chief Rick Lasky until I realized that he was serious and deserved an intelligent answer: “Um…no I don’t think so. Hasn’t happened so far. Didn’t happen when I was Fire Commissioner or in other leadership positions as a Board Director for CPSE. “Later, after I thought some more about it, I could understand exactly what he meant. I think controlled passion is the energy that can push us well beyond what we think might be seen by others as impossible. I experienced that as a leader with the Walt Disney Company. However, unbridled passion can even be dangerous or overbearing at the least if misguided or without any guidance at all.
Passion to Discipline to Practice
Now we come to that idea of discipline as in a professional discipline and disciplined passion. Having graduated from a prep school in Oklahoma City, my advisor was quick to let me know that while my passion for firefighting was commendable but…, “our graduates go to universities where they can learn to make significant contributions to society. Firefighting is a blue-collar job” I must have been misinformed. I thought saving lives and property at considerable personal risk was contributing to society. By the time I had a master’s degree in the Russian Language of all things, I was done with advisors-including everyone in my family-about what kind of profession I should pursue. I found-much to my surprise — that I had some sixth sense for sales and marketing. Honestly, the very thought of sales made me retch, but I had nothing to lose at the time, so I became very good at what came to me naturally. Hey, I needed a job. And, no, I did not become passionate about sales and marketing because I was good at it. In fact, I still had to study, learn, and work many hours to get good at it, just like anything else. Eventually, I did like the challenge and the results, especially if that discipline could help me contribute to the fire service, why not? But passionate about sales? No.
“Fire Service Marketing Management”
Sometime after I graduated from rookie school in Montgomery County, MD, I had the good fortune to meet Chief Warren Isman, initially heading up the Public Service Training Academy and the foremost authority in the country on Hazardous Materials, as well as Chief of Fairfax County, VA. FD before his untimely death. “Ben, our citizens don’t really know what we do, and people don’t support things financially or politically that they don’t understand. If you can use your marketing expertise to tell the people what we do, you will be contributing an invaluable service to the profession, just as important as being a fire officer. “I thought about this and how I might create a discipline based on Chief Isman’s guidance when I was taking a research course in Fire Science at Montgomery County Maryland Community College. I called it: Fire Service Marketing Management. I presented the concept to Harvey Eisner, Jeff Barrington, and Pete Matthews at Firehouse Magazine. They gave me a platform to write and speak about it as a Contributing Editor to Firehouse. After a few more years of working on this idea, presenting it at a few conferences and fire departments around the country, I found myself appointed Fire Commissioner in the suburbs of Seattle. I thought I had died and gone to heaven, but now I had to learn how to be a leader in the profession I loved, as tough as that leadership job was, and it was as hard as hell. Soon after that, Disney hired me and let me go unbridled with my passion for fire protection if I could create attractions using multi-million-dollar funding in alliances with the Disney brand. Once these alliances took off, Disney allowed me to give lectures at the US Fire Academy, consult with IFSTA and other fire service organizations from CPSE to Vision 20/20, as well as any number of fire departments across the country, contributing my discipline and expertise to their strategic and communications plans.
One Word Can Validate a Life’s Passion
On the day I retired from Disney at a surprise retirement party-which included my wife and two adult children- Mike Wajda, the Deputy Chief of Orange County Fire and Rescue (the county jurisdiction surrounding Walt Disney World Resort) appeared, much to my astonishment, with an award. “Ben, we present this special award to you for your work in the creation of our strategic plan at a very difficult and challenging time in the history of the department. Your personal contribution probably saved more citizens’ lives than all 1,100 firefighters combined.” I was gob-smacked, as I remembered my wife’s comment:” you never were a real firefighter.” Then I heard my adult son’s familiar voice say just one word in a room so silent you could hear a pin drop: “whoa.” Validation from my son was more than enough. I do not know what prompted Chief Wajda’s decision to present this award at that particular time. While Mike was responsible for bringing me on board to work with the officer team to create the strategic plan, he did not have to take the time and effort to come to my retirement and present that award. It’s not about the award of course. It’s really about the kind of man, leader and friend Mike is. What Mike did for me could never, ever be repaid. What Mike gave to me was one of the most priceless gifts of my life: Mike, a respected Chief Fire Officer and known leader, validated my passion and small contribution to the fire service when nobody, especially in my family, even took the time to acknowledge it or care. Sadly, that was a fact until Mike gave me one of the greatest gifts of my life. Mike Wajda represents all that is good about the fire service. Chief Mike Wajda, in my opinion, is one of many who take the oath to deliver the service so aptly described by the author, Kurt Vonnegut: “I can think of no stirring symbol of man’s humanity to man than a fire engine.” And Mike would be the first to tell you that he is just one of many. Mike is the commensurate servant leader. He is one of the few leaders who has his ego in check. This kind of leader is unique. As the leadership guru Simon Sinek says: “true leadership is not just about being in charge but taking care of those in your charge.” This is Mike Wajda.
What Can We Learn from Passion to Practice for New Firefighters?
Recently I was asked in a podcast what I would say to firefighters about passion for the profession, especially considering less fire calls. We’ve heard that phrase: “this is not what I signed up for.” My response is: “Really?! What did you sign up for? You took an oath. The oath determines what you will do, and most important, who you will be as a firefighter or officer. When you take that oath, you have just signed on to be a leader to protect everyone in your community. That means protecting every person, business, institution, and organization 24/7 whatever it takes. As the fire service culture changes, firefighters will learn to be proud in the afterglow of knowing that their educational initiatives in a school, or through any number of Community Risk Reduction initiatives, stopped a fire from happening the same way they feel after a successful knockdown. We don’t enter this profession by accident. Many of us made that decision around the same time as I did, and we all contribute in our own unique way. In the end it is that passion for the fire service that drives us to any place where that passion, talent and discipline may lead, even to the dark, painful places.
What about you?
