Episode 071 - Sizing Up The Size-Up

Size Up Illustration.jpg

We all should be doing a size-up as we approach any scene. And if you’ve got other units responding with you, someone is ultimately going to be required to give some of what you’re seeing and thinking over the radio. So how important is the size-up? How good are you at giving them? How important are the words you choose to describe what you’re seeing to everyone else that’s still enroute? And what’s the most important thing to say about a building on fire?

Episode 070 - We Get A Lawyer with Lance LoRusso

Lance LoRusso_S.jpg

In this episode, we sit down with Attorney Lance LoRusso to discuss the dangers of something almost all firefighters engage in: social media. And you can’t talk about social media without talking about the legal ramifications of firefighters taking pictures and video on scene. Even if you don’t post the pictures, you might be surprised where those pictures can get you.

We also tackle the very prickly topic of the limits of free speech, and answer the question, “When are you speaking for yourself and when are you speaking as a representative of the department?” And that’s something all of us should know, because it’s something that can get all of us in trouble.

Episode 069 - The Boots on the Ground

51982121_1756592447773989_1060776047877816320_o.jpg

There is a central concept that runs throughout Pete Blaber’s The Mission, The Men, and Me: that you should always listen to the boots on the ground. We really like that idea. Colin Powell said something similar when he described his “bias was toward the guys in the field.” But we also recognize some wiggle room within the concept, which prompted us to send out a survey to see where our listeners were on this idea.

In this episode, we talk about those survey results, where we think that wiggle room leaves us, the 1986 “boots on the ground movie” Aliens, and what happens when the left boot doesn’t match the right.

Episode 068 - Flippin' Firefighters with Todd Edwards Part 2

IMG_1573.jpg

This episode is the second part to our conversation with Todd Edwards. We pick back up where we left off last time: with Todd’s view on how to approach the problem of underperforming firefighters in your station. Granted, if you’re good at rehabilitating firefighters, you usually get sent more “projects,” and as Todd explains, it can begin to seem like Groundhog Day. On top of that, you’re not going to succeed every time. We discuss the nature of success and how many times you might fail for every time you succeed.

Todd then goes on to tell us about his latest endeavor making better firefighters. His class “Breaking Barriers” is training for responders on how to interact with people who have special needs. You may be asking, “So a bad-ass firefighter isn’t teaching tactics? Instead he’s teaching how to be more understanding and sensitive?” You bet your ass he is, and it’s pretty remarkable.

If you’re interested in more information about the class after listening to the episode, Todd can be reached at toddedwards6@yahoo.com.

Episode 067 - Flippin' Firefighters with Todd Edwards Part 1

IMG_1690.JPG

The illusion of a perfect fire is a tempting one, but it’s also just that: an illusion. In the first part of our discussion with Todd Edwards, we talk about the “perfect fire,” the nature of evaluating our performance at every fire, and Todd’s approach that there are at least three things on every fire that we did well. And when we turn our attention to those things we didn’t do well, Todd explains that we should always start with “Why?”

We also talk to Todd about his desire to pass along realistic leadership to the fire service, and what Todd defines as The Leadership Stack Effect. Then we turn our attention to Todd’s ideas about firefighters who aren’t that engaged.

Episode 066 - The Bandwagon with Payton Owens

18489481_10155342569399158_1907417770263471627_o 2.JPG

Payton Owens came to the fire service, left, grew an impressive beard, and then came back again. When he left the department, he had some pretty serious stuff going on in his personal life, but he freely admits: he had become pretty disgruntled with the job.

Payton got gruntled and came back. His reasons for returning and his perspective are a large part of this episode, but we also discuss “easy decisions” and what part trust plays in decisions that don’t go your way. We pressure Payton to admit that he’s an informal leader and debate what kind of impact the informal leader has on those around them. When he admits a mistake he made managing the gym he owned, the discussion reveals how running a gym and a fire department aren’t that different at times.

Episode 064 - Outtakes: Command NOT Control in Knots

IMG_1633.jpg

This quick discussion was born out of an article called “Command NOT Control” by Eric Saylors. Not all of us had read the article, and Shane and Pabel (who did read it) aren’t sure if they agree with it or not. Just when the discussion might be getting going, our appointed time to interview Chris Wessels sneaks up on us, and he’s calling in. We might have to pick this topic up again in the future.

Episode 063 - Talking Shop with Chief Chris Wessels

IMG_1710.jpg

When we sat down to talk with Chief Chris Wessels, we had a specific topic in mind that we thought we would cover. But what happens so often with the best conversations happened here; the conversation itself led us to places where we didn’t think we were going to go. In this episode, we speak with Chief Wessels about respect inside the firehouse, millennials, mental health, what to do when you don’t get promoted, and a whole lot more. We certainly enjoyed ourselves, and some of what Chris said really got us thinking. We think it might have the same effect on you.