It’s a great day! How long has it been since you’ve heard that? Now days, we most likely don’t hear it much. But if you’re a firefighter, that’s exactly what you should be saying every day you arrive at the fire house.

We are so blessed to be able to do what we do and we should

Crew 1st Culture Podcast Episode 85 is a challenge to all of us tough guys and gals who “fight what you fear”. From the outside, courage is a term that our citizens use regularly to describe those in the fire service. But are we truly embodying courage or are we imposters that hide behind a thin veil of strength and bravery but are truly crippled by fear on the inside where it counts. To gain your purpose in life

At the heart of my message and basically everything I do with leadership is the statement that it's vital to put our people first. It is no accident that I ended up with the title of Crew 1st Culture. People want to feel valued and supported, that is basic human nature. So why is it so hard for some of us to remember that when it comes to leading?

I have been under “management” that has made me feel completely unsupported and worthless, that’s a hard combination to

Good leaders are so annoying! They are difficult to control, and they don’t fall in line. They’re too busy standing out and have no time to fit in. Good leaders just don’t behave. They’re always messing with tradition, destroying boundaries, and asking questions that you don’t know the answer to.

These are not my words, they are from Miles Monroe

The “wolves” that hide behind the veil of rank and authority are really just sheep in wolves’ clothing. A common mistake that people (I refuse to call them leaders) like that make is to pick on those below them that are laid back and quiet because they don’t think they will fight back. They mistake that laid back and quiet style for weakness and get off on what looks to be an easy target to assert their perceived dominance on.

The mistake is made when that sheep pretending to be something they aren’t picks a fight with a lion who

I am unapologetically proud of my crew and the culture that we are creating together. In a time that it seems totally acceptable to just be present at the firehouse and check all the boxes when they are required; it feels good to be apart of a crew that wants to do more, be more, and give more.

Crew pride does not just magically manifest itself when you show up at the firehouse, it requires effort. Most of all it requires

Building your Reputation in the fire service starts from day 1. From day 1 we are being watched and categorized. Reputation can be a fragile thing, even if you spend decades building a solid reputation you can quickly chip away at it or even destroy it by ill advised actions. On the other side of that coin for those that have got off on the wrong foot and created a bad reputation for themselves, that can change too. It’s a long hard road but you can rebuild a negative reputation.

Honesty and humility are however are required for this flip. We have to be honest about

A pretty simple and straight forward statement but so very powerful at the same time. Sometimes I just don’t get life, maybe nobody does I don’t know. Who can understand how someone who has everything going their way and seem to be winning at life can feel like they’re losing; yet at the same time there are others who have experienced what seems to be the worst that life can throw at them and still look like they’re winning?

There are so many incredible people out there to look up to because they’ve overcome unimaginable things and did

As I sat listening to the Easter message last week a verse that was quoted struck something inside of me. The verse was Romans 3:23 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. A very simple and straight forward verse but so very true. We all sin, we all struggle, we all fall.

What struck me though was all the other applications that this verse had in our lives. What more specific areas

The closed door - possibly one of life’s most disappointing and crushing metaphors. But why is that? Is it founded on facts as in when a door closes on you that’s it, end of story? Or is it founded on lies that we’ve been told over and over and have begun to believe them?

In our profession we should know better than to believe that when a door is shut that that’s the end of the line, that just means we get to pull out the tools and

I was reminded this last weekend of a lesson that I’ve learned over the past year. We can’t control the amount of time that we get to spend with others but we can control the impact that we have on their lives while they’re here. Even short time periods can be opportunities to impact people’s lives.

This was proven to me last Friday when I met Corey Thompson who is on the Bearer’s of the Oath cadre. I shared a conversation with

I stole this from a post that my wife shared on Facebook yesterday. It’s funny how no matter what you’re going through as long as you keep your head up and eyes open you’ll see or hear exactly what you need to hear.

This speaks directly to a very sad and difficult situation that my family is faced with right now and those words

Reboot, reset, restart, whatever you want to call it; I need one. Like my new friend Andy Starnes said - No one can “steal” your joy, you make a choice to give it away freely. And I have definitely given mine away for some reason.

It’s been a very eventful last couple of months at work and home and I’ve allowed some