Former captain of Lake Boga Fire Brigade Michael Tempini and Wycheproof South Fire Brigade Captain Lynda Rumbold were paired as mentor and mentee through CFA’s Captains Peer Mentor Program (CPMP).
Although their brigade experiences were distinctly different, they quickly established common ground and have built a strong bond through the program.
Lynda
“I was put up for the CPMP team by the District 18 headquarters. When you’re asked to do something that’s not your everyday, it’s nice to know that they think of you that way.
I first met Mick before the program actually started. Lisa Clinch (Volunteer Sustainability Manager – North West Region) organised a get-together and gave us all the info about what was going to happen. We were at District 18 headquarters and just had a meet and greet in the office to get to know each other before the program started.
Mick and I got along from day one, and I think Lisa did a great job pairing us together. Mick has been a mentor a number of times. He’s been at it for a while, so it was great to glean information from him. The CPMP was an open, safe space for people to talk about what’s happening in their brigades.
I think the biggest difference for Mick and me is our brigades. Mick’s brigade (Lake Boga) is a really busy brigade, whereas at my little country brigade we basically put wet stuff on hot stuff and attend the occasional car accident. It’s not as intense as what Lake Boga has to deal with on a weekly or monthly basis. So hats off to him and the guys up on that highway.
One of the key things we discussed [through CPMP] was succession planning. It’s something we wanted to implement down here, so Mick went through how they developed their program. I went ahead and implemented it in our brigade which has been good. We’ve got a couple of new younger members so it’s about getting them up to speed using some hints I got from Mick.
The CPMP is a brilliant idea and a reinforcement of everything that we do in our volunteering with CFA. Quite often up here [District 18] I’m the only female captain in the room, but that doesn’t scare me. I have faith in what I can do and hopefully I can impart that to other people in the program. We’re all doing a good job and don’t doubt yourself.”
Mick
“I’ve had three different mentees during my time in the CPMP. I got a call from Gavin Wright (District 18 Assistant Chief Fire Officer) asking if I’d be interested in participating and ever since then I’ve been a pretty consistent part of the program. This time around, I was paired with Lynda, and the program was my first interaction with her.
Lynda is very experienced generally in life and so it’s probably been just a little bit more conversation about CFA and a little bit around succession planning in the brigade. I’ve learned quite a bit from Lynda too. She’s just a great human being. She has a lot of energy and is always helpful.
She took over the captain role from her husband and I think she’s really stepped into that leadership role. She is also a really good, calm operator. I don’t think she gets rattled by too much. She has gone to a few forums and is a great advocate for CFA and leadership.
Across the district, we cover a range of areas. Some brigades are pretty much urban brigades and others are extremely rural. There are different levels of responses, but there’s still a lot of common ground among them. Even though I’m a mentor, I’m always learning from different people. There’s lots of things that everyone goes through in CFA, but people come at a problem from different perspectives.
I think leadership is something that really does shape the future and you can see when people have a good understanding of it because things function well. Giving people the opportunity to be part of this program really helps with the future. It provides an understanding of the importance of looking after your teams, working together and being part of something bigger.”
| Submitted by |
News and Media |