Don't Overestimate Your Leadership Ability
So let's talk about...the opportunity of leadership. When I finally earned the chance to become a lieutenant, I couldn't wait to come to...
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Building a Better Leader:
Empathy Improves Engagement
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Avoid Leading Under the Inuence of Emotions
Does Higher Education Really Fit Into the Fire Service's Mission?
Quieting a Heart At War:
Some Days I Hate This Job
Rethinking Leadership:
Are you people smart?
Benjamin Martin
Nov 20, 20218 min
Your Passion Is Not The Problem: Confronting the Den of the Complacent
I hate to admit it, but sometimes I'm jealous of complacent people in the fire service. As infuriating as it is to watch their inflated...
2,4070
Benjamin Martin
Apr 2, 20215 min
Rethinking Leadership: Finding Your Voice in Difficult Moments
When we join the fire service, one of our primary responsibilities is to take care of the resources given to us by our organization and...
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Benjamin Martin
Feb 22, 20215 min
How to Fix a Stupid Rookie: Rethinking our expectations of company officers
As I drove the fire department SUV up to a brush fire scene, not far down the utility access road, I noticed the first arriving engine...
9690
Benjamin Martin
Sep 11, 20195 min
Triumphs and Failures: An honest take on a leader's journey
#LeadersWanted My phone rings, and when I look down, I see that it's the fire chief calling. I know exactly why since the rumor mill had...
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Benjamin Martin
Aug 29, 20194 min
We Reap What Leader's Take the Time to Sow
#LeadersWanted The other day I had a chance to take a transfer to a neighboring station and found our battalion chief standing by the...
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Benjamin Martin
Jul 20, 20194 min
The Enemy is the Stuff Trying to Kill Us: Not Other Firefighters
#LeadersWanted Imagine a fire service where two people could disagree passionately on things, and one person stands out because of the...
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Benjamin Martin
May 7, 20193 min
Cowardice from the Cheap Seats
#LeadersWanted I was standing in the parking lot of our training center shooting the breeze with a few guys when one of them said, "Hey...
3090
Benjamin Martin
Apr 6, 20195 min
Confronting the Loudest Voice in the Room: How to Silence Critics
#LeadersWanted Early in the morning a single vehicle went over the interstate guardrail into a steel traffic pole. I arrived as the first...
3180
Benjamin Martin
Apr 5, 20197 min
Do You Know Your Job? The Dangers of "That's Good Enough"
#LeadersWanted So let's talk about...knowing your job. I opened the rear compartment of the truck and grabbed a 24 foot ground ladder. I...
1,3370
Benjamin Martin
Mar 15, 20194 min
I Don't Trust You: A Leader's Nightmare
#LeadersWanted I hate to admit it, but unfortunately, as a leader I know what the words I don’t trust you sound like. I had spent...
1310
Benjamin Martin
Mar 13, 20196 min
Artificial Experience: Shortcutting Today's Fire Service
#LeadersWanted “What happens when you can’t just Google the answer?” I remember very vividly the Mayday! Firefighter Down portion of my...
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Benjamin Martin
Mar 13, 20195 min
The Potential of Having Problems
#LeadersWanted I recently got the chance to spend a whopping nine days in a row with my family in Florida and the Bahamas. For me, this...
210
Benjamin Martin
Jan 11, 20194 min
Is your leadership distracted by accolades?
#LeadersWanted "Let the accolades come in their own time as a result of your work, not as the reason why you work." I recently received a...
740
Benjamin Martin
Dec 13, 20183 min
The Abuse of Power
#LeadersWanted Power. Far too often people overestimate what they could do if only they had rank or position in their department. They...
1860
Benjamin Martin
Nov 13, 20184 min
Do you really care about Brotherhood?
#LeadersWanted While teaching the latest batch of probationary firefighters during a relay pumping scenario, I started to use the terms...
410
Benjamin Martin
Aug 6, 20184 min
The Importance of Rooting for Underdogs
#LeadersWanted When you are into this job it's pretty obvious. My Facebook is flooded by videos and pictures by these kinds of folks,...
1430
Benjamin Martin
Jul 10, 20184 min
Complacent and Actively Disengaged: What can be done about correcting poor attitudes?
#LeadersWanted Have you ever had a conversation with someone whose outlook or attitude about the fire service is so crappy you either...
650
Benjamin Martin
Jun 17, 20188 min
Micromanaging Isn't Leading
#LeadersWanted There is no greater disservice as a leader to our teams than to micromanage them. It baffles my mind that micromanaging...
1,1300
Benjamin Martin
Feb 17, 20174 min
Letting Go of Ego and Learning From Failure
#LeadersWanted Almost five years ago I had the opportunity to attend the life-changing training experience offered by the Nozzle Forward...
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