What Fire Department Company Officers Can Do to Nurture Critical Thinking and Initiative from Firefighters

A five-year-old who I love dearly as an adopted niece came to visit. After she left with her mom, I saw three rocks from my yard sitting on the counter. To me, they all looked the same—dusty, ordinary, nothing that would wow me in any capacity. In fact, I moved quite a few wheelbarrows of these very rocks, only to have a sore back afterward.

To the child, each one was different, special, and worth holding, examining and keeping. At one point, I caught myself thinking what many fire service leaders have said on the fireground, in the station or during training: “Let’s go. That’s not important. We don’t have time for this.” However, I paused, because at that moment, I realized something: Leadership in the fire service often breaks down in the same place. When we move so fast that we miss what others are trying to show us, we miss what’s special in the moment, what can be life-changing and what really matters to our people.

The instinct to control

The fire service is built on discipline, structure and command. That isn’t a weakness; it’s what keeps people alive. However, there’s a difference between command in chaos and control in culture. Too often, the habits that we need on the fireground bleed into how we lead people every day. We begin to dictate instead of develop, correct instead of coach, expect compliance instead of build commitment. We say things such as, “That’s not how we do it here” and “Just follow the SOP” and “That’s how we have always done it.” Although that might get the job done in the moment, it comes at a cost.

When leaders rely only on control, they create firefighters who wait to be told, avoid speaking up and/or do the minimum that’s required. Over time, something even more dangerous happens: Firefighters stop thinking, they might care less, and they feel less valued.

Empowerment begins with noticing

Back to the five-year-old and the rocks: A different kind of leader doesn’t rush the child along. The leader pauses and asks, “What do you like about that one?” “What makes it different?” “What makes you different, unique and special?”

In the fire service, empowerment starts the same way: with noticing—the firefighter who sees something others missed on a walk-through, the probationary member who asks a question that others are afraid to ask, the crewmember who has a different idea during training.

To a controlling leader, those moments feel like distractions. To an empowering leader, they are opportunities. Every firefighter brings something to the table: a perspective, a strength, a question, a potential solution, passion. To a controlling leader, it might look like just another rock. To an empowering leader, it matters.

Ownership is built, not ordered

You can order compliance. You can’t order ownership. Ownership is built when people are trusted to think, contribute and grow. Firefighters who constantly are told exactly what to do will perform tasks and follow orders, but firefighters who are asked, “What do you see? What would you do? What do you need from me?” begin to think critically, take initiative, and share their passions and own outcomes.

On the fireground, that difference is everything. When conditions change—and they always do—you don’t need people who wait for orders; you need people who can think, adapt and act.

Relationships build the crew

Fire service culture is built in the firehouse, not just on scene. The five-year-old keeps picking up rocks because the child feels safe. The child isn’t worried about being wrong, judged or corrected. The same principle applies to your crew. If your firefighters feel judged, they stay quiet. If they feel dismissed, they disengage. If they feel controlled, they comply but don’t commit. When they feel respected, heard, valued and cared for (like a special rock), they bring more of themselves to the job. In this profession, trust is everything. People don’t follow leaders just because of rank. They follow leaders because of relationships.

Growth requires space

In training, we often say that we want firefighters to grow, but growth requires something that many leaders struggle to give: space. Space to try, to make mistakes, to ask questions, to learn and to fail in a good way because we are trying new things. If you rush children, they stop exploring. If you over-direct your crewmembers, they stop thinking. That doesn’t mean lowering standards; it means changing how you develop people. Instead of asking, “Did they do it exactly right?” ask, “What did they learn?” and “How can we make them better next time?” The goal isn’t just perfect performance today; it’s building better firefighters for tomorrow.

Every rock isn’t useful now

In the fire service, we rightfully value efficiency and results, but not everything valuable shows up as immediate performance. Sometimes, it looks like a question that slows down training, an idea that doesn’t quite work yet or firefighters who still are finding their confidence. It’s easy to dismiss those moments, but those “rocks” often become better decision-makers, stronger leaders, safer in a dangerous profession and self-aware of others.

Empowering leaders don’t just focus on what works now; they invest in what will matter later.

Your role as a leader

On the fireground, you must command, but in the station, in training and in daily leadership, your role shifts. You aren’t there to pick up every rock for your crew; you’re there to guide, coach, challenge and develop others. The moment that you carry everything, your people stop learning how to carry anything.

The challenge

One day, that five-year-old will stop picking up rocks, not because of the lost ability to see what’s special but because someone might have taught that it didn’t matter. The same thing happens in the fire service. Firefighters stop speaking up, asking questions and taking initiative and start complaining more, not because they lack potential but because leadership, over time, taught them that their voice doesn’t matter.

When a firefighter brings you something—a question, an idea, a different way of doing things—pause before you correct it. Ask “What do you see that I don’t?” “Why does that matter to you?”

Great fire service leaders understand something simple but powerful: Every rock matters, every rock is special, every rock is unique, and every rock makes a difference to someone. Think and feel like five-year-olds who are leading with their heart, their head and their hands to hold the most special rocks in the world.