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Linda Willing

Leading the Team

Linda Willing is a retired career fire officer and currently works with emergency services agencies and other organizations on issues of leadership development, decision-making and diversity management. She was an adjunct instructor and curriculum advisor with the National Fire Academy for over 20 years. Willing is the author of On the Line: Women Firefighters Tell Their Stories and was co-founder of Women in the Fire Service. Willing has a bachelor’s degree in American studies, a master’s degree in organization development and is a certified mediator. She is a member of the FireRescue1/Fire Chief Editorial Advisory Board. Connect with Willing via email.

LATEST ARTICLES
There are two types of coaching fire officers engage in, and both take unique skills to get the desired results from the coached firefighter
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Structured downtime will enhance firefighter performance; the key is that it be structured
There’s real science showing how to measure and improve emotional intelligence, and that it is a key to good leadership — especially in the fire service
Done wrong, the performance evaluation process can do more harm than good; and doing it right takes training
Training for the crucial job of documentation is often lacking; here are ways to make sure what you write is accurate and doesn’t come back to burn you
The shortcomings of a hastily planned military invasion holds lessons in planning for fire chiefs
Those little acts of kindness are both easy to do and easy to overlook, but make a huge difference to those having their worst day
Deeper problems, outside a yes-no decision, require a well-crafted plan to avoid the mental pitfalls that leave the best decisions undiscovered
Getting in the habit of missing what’s happening due to smartphone tunnel vision has negative carryover to the fireground