Tag Archives: thought leadership

One thing that I do believe is that cases like this are to Fire and EMS leadership and management what the "a canary dying in a coal mine" meant to coal miners underground.

I once heard this at a leadership and management seminar I attended and it’s stuck with me all these years: Middle management is like the white frosting in an Oreo cookie. It’s the “glue” that holds everything together and it’s the “buffer” that keeps the two hard cookie layers apart.

Think there’s not a need for organizational risk management in Fire and EMS organizations? Take a look at some of the recent “ripped from the headlines” stories about firefighters and officers that have not done much to enhance the reputation and standing of our profession.

Reminds me of the story of what happens when you throw several lobsters into a lobster pot to cook. When one of the crustaceans tries to climb out of the pot, the other lobsters pull them back into the boiling water.

But in 2013, how many of our organizations are training their people from Day #1 to be their “face of customer service”? I’m not saying that the firefighting curriculum that constitutes the majority of entry level training is not pertinent, it is. I am saying that now, more than ever before, 24/7/365 organizations only have one chance to make a good impression…and in most cases we don’t get to choose who makes that customer contact.

I received the following comments in response to my recent piece, The Slow Death of the 24-Hour Tour? The comments, however, were posted by LinkedIn colleagues in response to my posting of the article on the Fire Engineering Group in LinkedIn.

The short "conversation thread" that follows is illustrative of how Fire & EMS leaders can become more connected—if we make the effort—and better positioned to inform, educate, and influence current and future Fire & EMS leaders. Until I hear otherwise, I'm "staking a claim" and calling this Thought Leadership Media, or TL Media for short.