My first “HARD” lesson · Lineman Bull$hit

My first “HARD” lesson

I’m gonna say this one time because this is supposed to be a place where we cut the bullshit. So I am about to throw a HUGE bullshit flag because nothing changes unless we are willing to be honest, honest with our industry and honest with ourselves.

Hell this may just be another lesson I learn to just shut my big mouth and go along to get along.

My first hard lesson came just recently, and it wasn’t a risk or hazard that most would think of our recognize. It’s a risk that is hiding beneath the surface of this trade - it is the risk of not passing along knowledge.

I have always known the physical and mental dangers of this trade, Im good with danger and risk management. I had always been comfortable with the uncomfortable.

I have just completed my apprenticeship making me one of the many “new generation” JLs you all speak of. Even I can see the lack of effort put into the “new generation” of journeyman lineman.

But I’m going to ask - whose fault is it really.

What I am about to say is not said because of the fact that I spent years learning this new trade I am currently committed to. It is said because I spent years dedicating myself to something larger than myself before. I am quite certain that I will challenge a lot of egos here (yes believe it or not I still see a lot of egos on this site) and I will ruffle a lot of feathers and challenge the status quo with what I am about to say, but I bears saying it anyway.

I am a retired Army Ranger who spent 24 years training, practicing, learning, and quite frankly failing to become a consummate professional of my craft. I know what it means to survive in a profession where the margin of error is slim and cost of failure is high. Success comes from humbling yourself to a process that takes years for some and decades for others, there is no one clear path and having a student mindset is key. I know what it takes to become a true professional of your craft and trade.

The one thing I hear over and over again is constant complaining, bitching, and moaning about this “new generation” of lineman and linewomen. I hear many of the same comments and concerns and see many of the same pitfalls I’ve seen before for many years in the Army.

There has been one thing missing in all the training and education I have received so far. One thing and one thing only. I have looked everywhere for, asked for it, done my best to seek it out. Sadly it is in very short supply. MENTORSHIP.

We could have a second conversation about the lack of leadership in the trade but what is needed more than anything is real, honest mentorship.

I hear and see allot of lineman pointing out who won’t make it. They would rather show everyone that they know more than everyone else. They would rather talk about how it was harder back in their day, and complain about the lack of knowledge and slippage of standards but seldom (and it’s a big seldom) do they show everyone what right looks like. What would happen if instead of saying “you don’t have what it takes” you say “let me show you what it takes”. If there is truly a “standard” then the standard will weed out who doesn’t belong here. Believe me - I just retired from the largest standards based organization in the world. And if a persons meets the standard then they meet the standard. Your approval is not needed. “I could talk standardization all day long”.

If this trade is “protected” to the point of never passing along lessons learned, hard truths, and practical knowledge than it is us who are watering down the trade and dooming it to failure. It is us who are creating a culture of lineman who know less and less. When we turn away those who are willing and able to learn we turn away the next generation of standard bearers. The old will do what the old always do……retire and tell war stories of “back when it was hard” I’ve heard it all before. The suits will do what they always do ….. throw around buzz phrases, worry about bottom lines and corporate spread sheets. That’s their job. However if you haven’t done your due diligence to pass along your knowledge, show right from wrong and usher in the next generation than you are the one to blame, and you have no right to complain about how we now have to go about learning this trade. Ask yourself a hard question, are you teaching and growing the next generation or just bitching about how they are now forced to gain knowledge and skills.

I for one have achieved a title that now it seems to mean very little to this trade. And I achieved it honestly through hard work and study. Passing test both knowledge tests and physical tests.

I have always known it takes more than a four year apprenticeship to become a qualified and competent lineman. I have always known that becoming a JL is simply the first of many steps. When I earned my Ranger Tab it was the same way. It simply means you’re committed to the process, you’re ready to take this seriously, and you’re willing to learn and be a professional. But if we continue hide knowledge refuse to mentor the next generation than this trade will always be one made of blood and failure.

Raise the bar for yourself and you raise the bar for the next generation. Teach, mentor, lead by example and pass along the hard lessons, knowledge, and skills.

Now it’s up to previous generation to do their job and raise, mentor, and guide the next generation.

So my hardest lesson is that, sadly, from my current optic, this is a trade where you MUST seek out, root out, and search for knowledge. The “old school” mentors who are willing to teach and develop are either gone or hiding (at least I haven’t seen them) I have had to pick up skills knowledge and experience from different people, schools, books, websites, and just plane experience as I go along. I did it the hard way, without a mentor, and I still feel as though there’s more I don’t know than do know. It is a HORRIBLE way to learn, picking it up as you go along, but it is what it is. I am willing to do what is necessary to learn. If you want to be a well rounded and knowledgeable lineman in today’s environment you must be willing to develop yourself, never stop learning, and seek out new opportunities to learn and grow. Search for knowledge, humble yourself to a life of learning, and desperately do your best to sort through the egos and bullshit to learn what is truth and what is just another guy trying to have a dick measuring contest with you.

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