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

4 steps to being a better leader

Knowing what you want, rewarding good work, setting expectations and building relationships will improve your leadership abilities

January 08, 2013 10:36 AM

Linda Willing

Effective leadership: Balancing accountability and authority

Like the relationship between freedom and responsibility; effective accountability needs empowerment

November 27, 2012 06:54 AM

Linda Willing

2 professionalism pitfalls company officers must avoid

Avoidance and acceptance are not reasons for an officer to allow bad behavior to take place

November 05, 2012 04:17 AM

Linda Willing

Fire Service Culture

3 keys to changing fire service culture

Change is not easy, but possible if the right steps are taken and consistently implemented

October 10, 2012 05:42 AM

Linda Willing

How to identify problems early

An officer cannot afford to be the last to know about members’ problems as they tend to grow if left unaddressed

September 05, 2012 06:12 AM

Linda Willing

Fireground communication: The price of silence

Not creating a culture where everyone is encouraged to share observations has deadly consequences on the fireground

August 08, 2012 04:42 AM

Linda Willing

3 decision-making tools to keep your crew alive

Using all three of these decision-making models gives fire officers the best chance of making the right life-and-death decisions

July 05, 2012 05:47 AM

Linda Willing

Existing beliefs: Dangerous at fireground and firehouse

Thinking you know what will happen exposes you to flawed size up of fire situations and people

June 06, 2012 05:28 AM

Linda Willing

Fireground leadership must make sense

To lead effectively is to communicate effectively, long before a situation goes critical

May 14, 2012 09:10 AM

Linda Willing

Facts first when managing firefighters

An effective fire department leader must keep fact and conjecture separate when dealing with firefighters

April 25, 2012 07:27 AM

Linda Willing