Leadership & Command Magazine Articles

First 1 2 3 Last
  • Chief Concerns: It's
    Chief Concerns: It's "All Hands on Deck" When a Disaster Strikes

    The semi-regular occurrences of extreme weather have strained municipal resources to nearly a breaking point. No local government service has been burdened greater than the fire service. Not only do fire departments help the citizenry prepare, we...

    Article • January 24th, 2013

  • Command Post: Riding the Right-Front Seat: Ensuring Safety
    Command Post: Riding the Right-Front Seat: Ensuring Safety

    There are those in the fire service who make fun of people like me who teach the need for safety. To me, however, safety is perhaps the most important task that faces a right-front-seat leader every single day. The primary thought that must guide you...

    Article • January 23rd, 2013

  • Leadership Lessons: Empowerment Requires Responsibility
    Leadership Lessons: Empowerment Requires Responsibility

    I wrote an article several years ago on “The Power of Empowerment in Leadership” (Firehouse ® , October 2008) and I recently received a great email from a chief asking about potential backlash with entitlement attitudes. The chief shared that in...

    Article • January 16th, 2013

  • Some Thoughts for the New Fire Service Leader

    Winter in my world is often seen as the time of the new leader. In volunteer fire departments all acrossAmerica, January is the normal time for the new cast of leadership characters to step forward to be sworn in. It is, therefore, a time for all of us...

    Article • January 7th, 2013

  • 20 Tough Questions For the Fire Chief: Are You Prepared To Answer Them? Question 10:
    20 Tough Questions For the Fire Chief: Are You Prepared To Answer Them? Question 10:

    As we will explain from the start, the answer to this question may be more meaningful if it were restated and asked of the entity that is the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ): How does our AHJ treat the standards that are published by the NFPA...

    Article • January 3rd, 2013

  • What If the Fire Service Gets Out of EMS?
    What If the Fire Service Gets Out of EMS?

    Another fire chief and I were having a conversation about how much the fire service has an impact on EMS. He said that during a recent meeting with business leaders, he had mentioned that his fire department is one of the largest health providers in...

    Article • January 1st, 2013

  • Riding the Right-Front Seat: Basic Leadership Skills
    Riding the Right-Front Seat: Basic Leadership Skills

    I recently came across research on the basics of leading people in a volunteer environment that applies to every type of fire department. In an article titled “Thoughts on Leadership” (Professional Safety, September 2003), James Kendrick suggests...

    Article • January 1st, 2013

  • Know Your Crew, Part 5: Leading the
    Know Your Crew, Part 5: Leading the "Expressives"

    In August, I started a five-part series about knowing your crew and the four different social styles on your team, based on the Merrill/Reid Social Style Model. If you haven’t read the first four installments, be sure to start there so this column...

    Article • January 1st, 2013

  •
    "The Wrong People Are Here"

    I was presenting a leadership program in a suburb of Denver, CO, with my buddy Rick Lasky, retired chief of the Lewisville, TX, Fire Department, when a young firefighter came up to talk with us. He was enjoying the program and told us that the stories...

    Article • January 1st, 2013

  • 20 Tough Questions For the Fire Chief: Are You Prepared To Answer Them? Question 9
    20 Tough Questions For the Fire Chief: Are You Prepared To Answer Them? Question 9

    These questions get to the heart of the fire department’s efficiency. Set aside for a moment that it is extremely difficult to predict when an emergency will occur. On-duty staffing serves, in some respects, as an insurance policy for businesses...

    Article • January 1st, 2013

  • Power of the Badge: It is Time to Stop Feeling Helpless
    Power of the Badge: It is Time to Stop Feeling Helpless

    As with most emotions that occur in the fire service we can’t describe it, but we all know it because it seems to be with us every day when we turn on the television – helplessness. As firefighters we are action orientated with one purpose and one...

    Article • December 18th, 2012

  • Speak Up: Restoring the Flame at USFA

    Next year marks the 40th anniversary of the landmark report, America Burning. A must-read for fire service officials, America Burning brought together many of the brightest minds in the fire service to develop a report that captured the seriousness of...

    Article • December 1st, 2012

  • 20 Tough Questions For the Fire Chief: Are You Prepared To Answer Them? Question 8
    20 Tough Questions For the Fire Chief: Are You Prepared To Answer Them? Question 8

    The quick answer to this question is a resounding “NO.” You don’t need to respond to all “911” calls in an emergency fashion. The operative word in this question is “all.” The success or failure of fire service emergency and...

    Article • December 1st, 2012

  • I Ask You: Is Loyalty or Honesty More Important

    Honesty or loyalty…it’s a simple question, right? Or is it? Those three words have stirred up some enlightening conversations in my world as of late and I felt the need to share them with you. I have come to the conclusion that leadership is 95% a...

    Article • November 27th, 2012

  • Great Comfort Rarely Brings Great Growth
    Great Comfort Rarely Brings Great Growth

    Since the whole storm-response episode began on Oct. 29, I kept a log of ideas and events which I could be used as the basis for future planning and preparation for future disaster operations.

    Article • November 26th, 2012

First 1 2 3 Last

Forums