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Moving into a leadership role can be an exhilarating and proud moment; it can also be a daunting one. No matter whether you’re paid or volunteer, working for a department large or small, all new leaders face similar career development opportunities and administrative challenges. To be a successful new leader, you will need to identify the support systems, processes and tools to maximize the opportunities and clear the hurdles.

FireRescue1’s Fire Leader Playbook is one such tool to increase your effectiveness as a new leader, helping enhance your leadership KSAs, develop trust among your crewmembers, and build your confidence. The Playbook offers a wealth of resources, as you grow into your position of authority and move beyond basic management and supervision skills to lead and inspire with integrity and passion.

What you do, how you act and the relationships you build now matter down the road, so get out of your comfort zone, put in the work and enjoy the ride
LEADERSHIP IN FOCUS
As much as the fire department is a fraternity, the firehouse is not a frat house
Chief Caughey argues that different generations aren’t better or worse, just different
Some problems, like those involving improperly fitting gear and equipment, must be remedied from the top down
The wrong leadership choice can destabilize an organization, while the right one can position it for sustained success
Ego-driven culture that fosters the normalization of deviance leads to a level of dysfunction that can undermine a department for decades
While safety and training serve as the linchpins of operational efficacy, problems persist around recruitment and retention, succession planning and the sense of family once so central to fire service culture
Effective recruitment will look different for each agency, but the basics are the same and critical to get right
Leaders underscore the importance of organizational mindsets like mission-driven culture and personal traits like humility, among several other critical factors
A good leader accepts that they may not have created the problem, but they are responsible for fixing it
Leaders must instill in firefighters early that recruitment is a part of their identity