This is the final post in the series addressing Dr. Tim Elmore’s acronym ALEG: Asking, Listening, Empathizing, and Guiding. If you have not read the previous three posts, I encourage you to do so as they are based on a conversation I had with a fire department officer. The lieutenant told me that one of his younger firefighters asked, “Why do I have to clean the toilets?” His response was, “Because I’m the lieutenant and I told you to.” That led to me having a short conversation with Dr. Elmore during a Maxwell Certified Leadership Team mentoring call where I learned about his acronym ALEG.
The final part of the acronym is ‘G’ for guiding or taking the time to mentor someone. Mentoring is a subject that I have written about over the last six years and addressed in the podcast my daughter and I co-host called Firehouse Talks with Jersey Rick, Igniting Leadership Excellence. Mentoring is not rocket science but it is one of those areas that can be overlooked when the company officer is frustrated or pressed for time.
However, applying ALEG to the question of “Why do I have to clean the toilets” will only take minutes and not hours. ALEG is an acronym that can be used in non-emergency situations to mentor and teach others. After all, that is part of being a company officer. In other words, a transformational leader and not the boss with a big stick.
If you would like to learn more about mentoring, visit my website at www.fireofficerleadershipacademy.com and go to the tab for blogs where I have written extensively about the subject.
