This is the third in a series of articles building on my experiences as a volunteer firefighter nearly 30 years ago. Over time, I’ve seen how the fire service systematically builds critical skills like resilience – skills that are just as valuable in today’s corporate world. Though centuries old, these core firefighter traits are essential for anyone who wants to stand out in an AI-driven era.

Why Emotional Intelligence and Resilience Matter

Emotional intelligence (EI or EQ) is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions, as well as recognizing the emotions of others. It encompasses self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. In the fire service, these elements are crucial for handling high-stress situations and making quick, effective decisions. It is a core set of skills to help deal with victims, bystanders, press, fellow responders, and other agencies. Similarly, in the business world, EI helps leaders manage stress, communicate effectively, and inspire their teams.

Resilience, shown in research to be closely linked to EI, is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. It enables individuals and teams to bounce back from setbacks and adapt to new challenges. As AI continues to transform jobs and even entire industries, resilience becomes a key differentiator for personal and organizational success.

Drawing on the Power of Purpose-Driven Work

Firefighting is inherently stressful and dangerous, so why do people do it? It’s certainly not for the pay, as nearly 2/3 of all the firefighters in the U.S. are volunteer (https://NFPA.org). Yet firefighters continue to show up, driven by a strong sense of duty to help others. Firefighters know their work has a direct, meaningful impact on their communities, which keeps them engaged even in the face of adversity and limited economic incentives.

It turns out that intrinsic motivation enhances both performance AND resilience for other industries as well (https://hbr.org/2023/03/understand-the-power-of-intrinsic-motivation). This is why it is important to be able to connect the mission of an organization with the personal motivations of individual employees. Give them reasons to care beyond the potential for a bonus!

Progressive Training and Development for Stressful Situations

Firefighters undergo rigorous training to prepare for the physical and emotional demands of the job. This training starts with small, manageable steps and gradually builds into more complex scenarios. By the time they face real emergencies, firefighters have developed the confidence and skills to handle high-pressure situations.

Similarly, companies that invest in building a culture of continuous learning see profit growth three times greater than their competitors, as they move from “training programs” to organizational capability development. (Bersin, 2012) These companies encourage employees to take on stretch assignments, cross-functional projects, and leadership roles, offering a steady progression in their skill development. This learning-by-doing approach is one of the most effective ways for employees to gain new skills and apply them in real-time. It helps build resilience and a path to manage stress.

Building Resilience in the Face of Tragedy

Early in my firefighting career, I faced something that tested my emotional resilience beyond the limits of my training. We responded to a call for a fire in a travel trailer and soon determined there was an occupant who did not survive. Placing that lifeless body into a bag was one of the hardest things I had ever done up to that point in my life.

This was the first fire fatality for our department. Each of us experienced a wide range of emotions and questions. Sadness of course but also regret (“Could we have gotten there sooner?”) and even anger (“Why didn’t they have a working smoke detector?”). And then there were the images, sounds, and smells that would forever be in our memory.

Our fire chief recognized the emotional toll that this would take and arranged for a professional to lead us through a Critical Incident Stress Debriefing session. This helped me and my fellow firefighters process our emotions and realize that what we were feeling was normal. It gave us a path forward, a crucial step in building our resilience and ability to handle future challenges. It was not the last fire death I would experience, and it helped prepare me for even worse situations.

I hope you don’t have to face anything like this. The never-ending stress of work and home life is enough to push many people to their limits. I want you to know that it is OK to ask for help. Most companies offer “Employee Assistance Plans” (EAP) that can provide information and referrals at no charge. There are federal, state, and local organizations that offer free options if they are not available to you through your employer or insurance company. Don’t wait until it becomes a crisis.

Building EI and resilience in your team

Use the example set by the fire service as an inspiration to develop a systemic approach in your organization. Start with ways to foster a purpose-driven culture, helping employees align their own motivation with the mission of your company. This will give them an intrinsic reason to keep going when work isn’t easy. Build their resilience with a broad development plan, including cross-functional assignments and exposure to senior leaders. Perhaps the most important thing is setting the standard to support healthy emotional responses within your team. Taking breaks, staying away from e-mails on vacation, and having ways to access mental health resources are all key. Just like a firefighter, you must take care of yourself FIRST before you can ever help someone else.

About the author, Chris Whaley

For over 20 years I worked in corporate roles in knowledge engineering, business transformation, organizational effectiveness, and human resources before starting my HR and project management consulting practice https://EscapeToExpand.com. But before all that, when starting my master’s degree in industrial engineering, I began a nearly decade-long affiliation with my local volunteer fire department. During that time, I progressed being a firefighter, safety officer, emergency medical first responder, rescue diver, and eventually assistant chief and board of director’s member. In retrospect, I see how the fire service organizational system instilled key leadership skills in myself and others. And these are the same skills that are most needed in today’s AI-driven business world.