Meet Booz Allen Consultant and Volunteer Firefighter Mike Ishler

Title: Associate

Joined Booz Allen: 2004

What type of work do you do at Booz Allen Hamilton?

I support the U.S. Army Joint Munitions Command. My primary responsibilities include analysis, training, and technical support of  an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system being implemented to replace a 40+-year-old legacy COBOL system.

Tell us about the organization for which you volunteer and why you chose to support it.

I volunteer with the Clarks Summit Fire Company, a 100% volunteer fire protection, rescue, and basic life support EMS organization that serves 9,000+ citizens of several boroughs and townships in and around Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. We also provide mutual aid support to our surrounding communities’ fire and EMS organizations, and additional services such as fire prevention education and flooded basement pumping. I’ve been volunteering there for four years and am a fire lieutenant and chairman of the fire prevention committee.

What type of volunteer services do you provide to the organization?

As a fire lieutenant, I’m responsible for the fire truck and its crew of fire fighters during an emergency. As chairman of the fire prevention committee, I’m responsible for public fire safety education and presentations and tours of our facility. Between my work at Booz Allen and my volunteer activities, I have very little free time. But it’s more than worth it—I’m making a difference in the lives of others when I fight fires, rescue those who have been in an accident, or respond to a medical emergency.

How has Booz Allen supported your volunteer commitment?

My Booz Allen work requires that I travel about 50% of the time, but I have a degree of latitude in scheduling business travel, so I try to balance my schedule so I can be in town for certain volunteer events such as a special training session or local school presentation during Fire Prevention Week in October. I try to keep my professional and volunteer lives separate but, when necessary, I use my vacation time when my volunteer activities conflict with business hours.

How are you able to leverage your skill set as a Booz Allen consultant to assist this organization?

Seemingly “normal” things that are generally accepted in business, such a fulfilling a deliverable on the date it’s expected, aren’t always the norm in a volunteer organization. But Booz Allen and our clients expect us to maintain high standards in our products and services, and I maintain those same high standards in my volunteer work as well. I also apply the training skills and insights I learned at Booz Allen to the fire prevention presentations and public tours I provide as part of my volunteer activities.

Has your volunteer experience helped you with your professional development?

There is a high return rate on the time you invest as a volunteer. My volunteer experience has helped strengthen the team building and leadership skills that I use at Booz Allen. At the same time, I rarely work side-by-side with my Booz Allen team members and often “fly solo” at client sites, so being a part of the fire company helps me maintain my interpersonal skills.

What have you learned about yourself as a result of your volunteer experience?

I’ve learned that you’re never too old to be successful at something new. Most of my fellow fire fighters have been part of the fire company since they were in their late teens, while I joined in my mid-30s. Being older affords me a more experienced, cerebral approach to problems. Instead of just running headfirst at an issue, I can approach it the same way I approach Booz Allen projects—logically and methodically.

What is the primary message you’d like your Booz Allen colleagues to know about your volunteer commitment?

While volunteer fire fighting may not be an activity that many white-collar professionals would consider, it’s very doable if you make the commitment. Volunteer fire companies all across the country are always looking for any help they can get, whether it’s in the form of being a first responder or helping out with administrative or other support activities that don’t require donning personal protection equipment and entering into life-threatening environments. So I encourage everyone to give your local emergency services a hand, or at least make sure to “pull to the right when you see the red lights”!

profile posted February 18, 2009