Owning the Job

Check out this list of 10 books on leadership that every firefighter should read. What would you add to the list?

Focusing on past failures is regret. Learning from those failures is knowledge. Not making the same mistakes twice is experience. Helping others so they won't make the same mistakes is leadership.

So many firefighters begin their fire service careers thinking they know everything and end their careers with not sharing everything they know.

Somewhere along the line, I developed an affection for the fire service....for everything it had to offer. The ups and downs, the good firefighters and the bad firefighters, the good leaders and the GREAT leaders. I studied the fire service. I read articles, went to training events, and immersed myself in the craft. Then things began to change...

For all of you topical leaders...I have a few questions. Can I still get Salty on fires? Can we still have pride in making a good push on a fire? Can we still risk A Lot to Save A LOT? Can we still be firefighters? Make sure the delivery of your message offers the chance for firefighters to buy in and not to simply be put off by your "All or Nothing" attitude.

I have compiled a list of "Must Read" books as told to me by my readers. I asked what the best fire service books were and got over 50 books mentioned in over 80 comments over at The Fire Critic Facebook Page. Sure, there may be some that were left out, but I think this is a pretty decent list! I have not read many of these...I didn't even know about many of them before today. I have included links to Amazon, so you can get more information and/or purchase them at decent prices. Feel free to add your favorites in the comments if they don't appear here. There are 54 books listed below. Many of the authors have more books on and off this list.

One of the first thing many firehouses and fire departments do is get challenge coins made.

I guess I wasn’t quite the proud firefighter I thought I was by letting perception limit my opportunities. I now wonder if I will ever be able to look back. - Brian Brush 2011 on FSW

The previous post about correcting morale issues at the Company Level, I do believe that we have some work we can do to make things better. Yet there are plenty of ways in which Administrations everywhere could improve morale.

Probably the biggest thing you can do is have a positive attitude...which is also one of the hardest when morale is low.