TVLL 007: The Peter Principle

TVLL 007: The Peter Principle

Video (8:40): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZDdxYBaFsw

I am fortunate to have not one but two careers where leadership development is valued. Indeed, it is my passion. I have learned a lot from each but from very different perspectives.

As we examine the Peter Principle in this post, I offer my perspective on two different promotion systems. I am both a firefighter/paramedic and an Air Force Reservist. I am fairly junior in Fire/EMS and more senior in the Air Force enlisted ranks. These competing perspectives keep me grounded and offer insights that might be lost if I did not co-exist in each of these worlds.

In Fire/EMS, one can spend their entire career at a level they choose. Want to drive fire trucks for 25 years? Awesome, be the best driver/operator out there. Want to be a Fire Chief some day? Awesome, you’ve got some work to do. There are choices here. There are opportunities to carve out your niche or promote. You can plant your flag and declare this is where I will establish my base of experience or start my developmental journey to the top.

In contrast, the military (more so active duty than the National Guard or Reserve) has an up-or-out style promotion system. Standards set high-year-tenure dates for enlisted members and officers are looked at for retention after 2-3 promotion cycles if they were not selected for advancement. If you are an excellent technician or company officer, you might not be allowed to keep “turning wrenches” for the entirety of your career. At some point, you’ll be asked to promote past that level and “fly a desk”. What if your passions and skills align at the tactical level and not the operational or strategic levels? What does this mean for the organization? Are highly skilled technical experts or subordinate leaders being lost to policies that do not value their skill sets for the balance of their careers?

Both systems offer incremental/developmental education/training to help those wanting to promote. Neither system eliminates complications relating to the Peter Principle and there are exceptions to every rule. Nonetheless, it is interesting to compare these two systems. Understandably, there may not be a right or wrong answer.

What are the similarities or differences in your promotion system? What priorities are set by your promotion system? How can you ensure you are promoting the right people to the right positions? How can you ensure you aren’t promoting them past their last level of competence? More than technical/tactical performance, does your organization consider leadership as a competency that is factored into your promotion system?