“What are you going to do at 3:00 in the morning when you get that call with people hanging out of windows with an active fire?”   We’ve all heard or said that in regards to our training and preparation at some point in our career. It’s safe to say that it can be […]

  This podcast addresses only three components of setting expectations for your members. It is really one of the most important things you need to do as a newly promoted officer, or if you are trying to gain control of a division, shift or crew. If they don’t know what’s expected, it’s impossible for you […]

      In the last few weeks I posted about being aggressive. In that post I mentioned that we, our department, will search without a hose line.  This seemed to raise some eyebrows and concern about what I said. This podcast addresses what I mean by that and some ways to search without the […]

Get registered for this upcoming, FREE and live webinar!!     Please register for Types of Training Formats: Which best fits your department? on Jul 27, 2016 2:00 PM CDT at: Click HERE to REGISTER This webinar will address the challenge that departments face in creating a training program. We will discuss different formats that […]

First, let me say that this post has nothing to do with the debate about interior versus exterior, so if you’re trolling for something like that, just move along. No, this is one post in a string of future posts that will address some situations I’ve recently seen regarding aggressiveness and the lack of on […]

          Please register for Creating Company Drills: A Four Step Process on Jun 29, 2016 2:00 PM CDT at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4698983218660889858 This FREE webinar will focus on the creation and implementation of company drills. One of the most important tasks that company officers must be proficient in is drilling and training their […]

      This class is one I’ve been asked about since rolling out the Company Officer Development Program we’ve been doing for almost two years with great success. The Battalion Chief version is the same format but it is six weeks instead of five and it focuses on issues OFF of the fire ground. […]

As a young firefighter at my first career job, I had a captain that made us take a can on just about every type of alarm.  Fire alarm–take the can.  Odor of smoke–take the can.  The list goes on and it became a habit for us to grab the can.  During my time there (it’s […]

This episode discusses the harm and challenges associated with speaking out of turn and partaking in the gossip that can be so ever prevalent. Take the high road, don’t participate and get all of the facts before speaking about something or someone. It can be harmful to the person being talked about and to your […]

Here is a video of a recent FREE webinar about five common mistakes that new fire officers tend make. These are by no means exclusive, but from my experience are committed by many new officers. -Don’t try to change the world -Don’t have an authority complex -Don’t micromanage -Don’t be a quitter -Don’t avoid discipline […]