Articles
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Wait....Are We the Problem? - Fire Engineering
I often find myself wondering why the fire service isn’t better off than it is. Like any good firefighter, I begin to formulate plans that will fix all its problems. Even better, I will often recruit one or two additional firefighters to be involved in the problem-solving process—a time-tested technique for quickly pinpointing those who are to blame.
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The Art of Changing and Protecting Culture - Fire Engineering
Over the past couple of years (and as I write this), I have become very intrigued with the term “culture” as it relates to the working environment. This is a term that, until now, I have never really heard much about, especially in the context of leadership. Now that I have, I have become infatuated by the ideal of culture in the workplace. Every chance I get, I want to soak up as much about it as I can. I want to create a culture that produces great leaders, a culture that others who aren’t even on my team want to be a part of.
Creating and protecting this culture that I care so much about is not an easy job, and it does not happen without effort. I tell my team members that this type of culture I want to create is so important to me that I will fight to protect it. And, in fact, it is something I have had to do fairly often. To create a work environment that is better than anything anyone else has created, you must work harder and do things that no other leader has done……
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Where Is The Why?
One of the most frustrating things that anyone in middle management can be faced with is to be given a mission, policy, task, etc. that they don’t believe in but then must convince their team to believe in and carry it out. As middle management, when we’re faced….
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Who Can I Blame?
Where has taking personal responsibility in the fire service gone?
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The Death of the American Firehouse
When does bigger, better, and nicer become a bad thing?
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Successful Complacency
Don’t let success become the beginning of failure.
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Rhythm and Flow
The benefits of training that aren’t being talked about.
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Ownership vs. The Virtual Tour
Can there be a sense of ownership without personalization?
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Are Good Leaders Now Being Viewed as Rebellious?
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
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The Senior Firefighter
The most valuable tool an officer will ever have.
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DAIR-ing Leadership
Leading through Duty - Attitude - Integrity - Respect
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The Alpha Wolf
The Alpha Wolf - Iconic Symbol for Leadership and Status Or Just Another Social Media Lie?
Documents and Training Aids
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Firefighter Rescue Survey
TO RAISE AWARENESS AND DEMONSTRATE THE VALUE OF FIREFIGHTING RESCUE REPORTING FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF CIVILIAN OUTCOMES AND FIREGROUND OPERATIONS.
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C1C File Share
This is my Google Doc Drive that I have placed everything I have recieved in preperation for creating my crew’s handbook. It also includes all of the documents that I use in our Crew Handbook.
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My Crew Vision, Mission, & Expectations
This is the updated document of my crew vision & mission.
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Red 3 Playbook
This is the playbook of riding assignments that we on my crew. This has been a tremendously helpful tool for us and especially myself as a station officer. This obviously won’t work for everyone but at the very least will serve as a starting point to help you create one of your own.
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Our Recruit FF Task Book
Our new recruit firefighter task book.
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Weekly Training Schedule
This is a schedule that we use to assist us with daily training. It isn’t something that we stick to strictly but that serves as a tool to help us stay on track if we don’t have anything in mind some days. Take this idea and either use it as is or use it as a templet to create your own.