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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.

LATET ARTICLES
The largest problem in the coming year is how departments deal with young firefighters
Exhibiting kindness is a sign of strength and confidence in who you are; it is an inspiration to those you lead and your peers
Intrinsic motivation is what drives firefighters toward excellence rather than mediocrity
Police have long embraced having everything they do on the job recorded by either the department or civilians; fire officers need to adopt their mentality
Peers play a tremendous role in ethical decisions, and one voice can sway a group — for good or bad
Following disciplinary protocols in a fair way does not make you a jerk; it makes you a credible leader
The reality of women firefighters is that they become pregnant; treating them right is best for everyone on the department
A firefighter’s job is to mitigate damage and never make something worse than it already is
Just because the crew has decades on the department doesn’t make them above being led; in fact, it’s quite the opposite
Good evaluations are hard to do, even for the best-trained; avoiding some basic pitfalls will make the evaluations more productive