Fire Officer Leadership Academy Blog
The Fire Officer Leadership Academy blog is a resource for fire officers committed to continuous growth. Here you’ll find practical insights on leadership, communication, career development, and character-based decision-making—drawn from real-world fire service experience and written to support officers at every stage of their leadership journey.
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Me? Promote? No Way! Part 2
In last week’s blog, I discussed a conversation that I had with two captains from the same fire department, but the conversations were two years apart. I asked both if they were interested in becoming a battalion chief and both emphatically said no. What is the underlying reason for this? For starters, a January 2022…
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Me? Promote? No Way! Part 1
In December of 2024, I was in another state teaching incident command, rapid decision making, and haz mat response tactics to a large group of firefighters and environmental health workers. Within the class there were four captains from three different fire departments. During one of my conversations with a captain from a large, regional department,…
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Flying Into 2025
This week we celebrate the New Year of 2025. Are you reflecting on 2024 before flying into 2025? Why should you even bother to take the time to mull over the year? To grow we need to reflect on where we have been, what we have experienced, and what we have learned from those experiences.…
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The Rising New Year
I took the above photo during a half-day fishing trip that departed from Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. The sun was rising, the fishing poles were ready, and the lines were not tangled up. In less than a month, 2025 will be the rising new year. What will the next twelve months look like for each…
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Leadership in a Bottle
The product label reads, Liquid Leadership: Guaranteed to Fix All Your Leadership Needs! Do you desire more responsibility on the job or a promotion to the next level in your organization? But you are not sure that your leadership skills measure up and you do not know how to fix the problem. Well…I have the…
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Do You Have Endurance?
The Marine Corps leadership traits define endurance as, “The mental and physical stamina measured by the ability to withstand pain, fatigue, stress, and hardship.”1 Think about the following scenarios: These scenarios and others demand both mental and physical stamina to successfully perform the various tasks that confront firefighters. Leaders set the example of endurance. Are…
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Are You Walking Through the Smoke of Career Development?
In the photo above, firefighters are walking through smoke. The smoke is acrid, it stings the eyes and makes them water. Prolonged exposure may produce a headache from the carbon monoxide contained in the smoke. Visibility becomes difficult and more so when the smoke becomes thicker. There are times when career development may feel like…
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Don’t Wait to Say…
This week, Thanksgiving is on November 28th. Who and for what are you thankful? Although Christmas 2021 has passed, the memories have not. Two weeks prior, my mother-in-law became gravely ill and the Sunday afternoon before December 25th an ambulance transported her to the hospital. Given the draconian and illegal Covid restrictions, my wife could…
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Building Trust
My November 7th blog asked the question, are you trustworthy? I wrote about Yvonne “Missy” Woods, a former employee of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) who simply put, destroyed the trust people and the organization had in her. Steven Covey said, “Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective…
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Serving Our Nation
November 10th and November 11th. What is their significance to the United States? November 10th, 1775 The United States Marine Corps was formed 249 years ago on November 10, 1775, at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The original building no longer exists but a plaque marks the location where Tun Tavern once stood. Much has…
