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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Benjamin Martin
- Nov 20, 2021
- 8 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...
1,934 views0 comments
Benjamin Martin
- Apr 2, 2021
- 5 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...
377 views0 comments
Benjamin Martin
- Feb 22, 2021
- 5 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...
846 views0 comments
Benjamin Martin
- Sep 11, 2019
- 5 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...
476 views0 comments
Benjamin Martin
- Aug 29, 2019
- 4 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...
319 views0 comments
Benjamin Martin
- Jul 20, 2019
- 4 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...
1,149 views0 comments
Benjamin Martin
- May 7, 2019
- 3 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...
258 views0 comments
Benjamin Martin
- Apr 6, 2019
- 5 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...
197 views0 comments
Benjamin Martin
- Apr 5, 2019
- 7 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...
1,235 views0 comments
Benjamin Martin
- Mar 15, 2019
- 4 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...
81 views0 comments
Benjamin Martin
- Mar 13, 2019
- 6 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...
945 views0 comments
Benjamin Martin
- Mar 13, 2019
- 5 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...
11 views0 comments
Benjamin Martin
- Jan 11, 2019
- 4 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...
23 views0 comments
Benjamin Martin
- Dec 13, 2018
- 3 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...
57 views0 comments
Benjamin Martin
- Nov 13, 2018
- 4 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...
25 views0 comments
Benjamin Martin
- Aug 6, 2018
- 4 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,...
35 views0 comments
Benjamin Martin
- Jul 10, 2018
- 4 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...
42 views0 comments
Benjamin Martin
- Jun 17, 2018
- 8 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...
936 views0 comments
Benjamin Martin
- Feb 17, 2017
- 4 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...
33 views0 comments