The Leadership Objectives And Needs Of The West Texas Fire

In 2009, The National Fire Protection Agency released its 46-page presentation on potential performance measures relating to the core functions of the fire service. This document is available online www.nfpa.org. The document acknowledges there are vast differences across the country and no two fire departments are alike. However, specific value set’s lie within every department that can be held to measurable standards for statistical data input, referencing, and documentation. Maintaining higher standards does come at a price. The fire service, in general, is a costly profession to operate. Unlike the police departments and ambulance companies where vehicle and equipment cost is less

Applying the correct abstractions and generalizations to problems is essential to my position within my department. As a station captain in the Waco Fire Department, on the department's safety committee, and equipment committee; I assist in solving many problems that arise in the department. Serving on the equipment committee, we are expected to find solutions for the various needs of the department. As a member of the safety committee, we must look at ways to improve safe operations for department personnel and civilians.

In addition, Burns et al., (as cited by Lavoie-Tremblay, et al., 2015) defined a transformational leader as “a leader who can extend and elevate the interests of staff, who can facilitate the commitment of staff to the mission and values of the organization, and who can lead staff to rise above their personal interests” (p. 582). Further, Broome (2013) identified transformational leaders as “proactive and hold core beliefs about the potential for development of both individuals they work with and their organization” (p. 327). Samad et al.(2015), connecting transformational leadership to servant leadership and authentic leadership reported, “transformational leadership is also congruent with regards to fostering higher levels of motivation among the followers’ and leaders’ ability to visualize the unforeseen” (pp.

Inherently the fire service operates in high-risk environments to facilitate the role of preserving life safety and property conservation. How these incidents are managed and safeguarded by our administration

The importance of accountability in the fire service is paramount. Whether it is being on time to school or handing my accountability tag to the officer at the front of a burning building, the imprint that the fire academy made on me with regards to accountability is prodigious. I do my best every day to be accountable for myself because I know that if I cannot hold myself accountable I cannot be a leader in the classroom, on the athletic field, or in my community. Although I have not been in the fire service for a long time, it is abundantly clear that helping my community and helping people are not always invigorating experiences. Even though the majority of calls are false alarms or routine incidents, it is importance that the community feels safe. Being a part of the fire department allows me to instill a sense of security in people because they know that even on the worst day of their life someone will be there to help them. Even on the worst day of someone’s life he or she can smile because of a simple action of either saving pictures or helping them cover valuable items when water is being sprayed into their home. I have learned that simple acts of kindness can completely change someone’s mood and I have implemented this

The incidents surrounding the Garland Fire Department (GFD) use of a mayday on September 8, 2013 is nothing new in the fire service. Although the situation did not result in a Line of Duty Death (LODD), it can be considered a “near-miss”. It is important in the fire service to understand the circumstances that took place on that day in order to ensure that we learn from them and ensure the safety of all firefighters going forward.

The transformational leader induces employees to perform beyond expectations by empowering and motivating them, and sometimes by leading by example.

Those that follow a transformational leadership framework believe that leaders possess many of the aforementioned qualities, but the focus is on one’s ability to inspire and empower others (Ross, Fitzpatrick, Click, Krouse, & Clavelle, 2014). These leaders literally ‘transform’ their followers by inspiring enthusiasm and performance towards a

There are many models of leadership that exist across a range of fields (e.g. social work, education, psychology, business, etc.). The ability to transform an organization successfully requires a different set of attitudes and skills. Transformational leadership is an approach where a leader utilizes inspiration, charisma, individualized attention, and intellectual stimulation with their employees (Iachini, Cross, & Freedman, 2015, p. 651). Transformational leadership helps to clarify organizational vision, inspires employees to attain objectives, empowers employees, encourages employees to take risks, and advocates the seeking of alternative solutions to challenges in the workplace (Transformational Leadership, 2015). It allows the leader to engage and motivate each follower identify with the organization’s values and goals.

Without a doubt the different phases of the emergency could have benefited from exercise and preparedness programs. All things considered, since there was neither record nor indication that training exercises, specific to railway accidents, had been planned or conducted prior to the derailment incident in February 2015. The incident itself thus became the exercise, yet prior to an incident it is integral to ensure that a plan or procedure has been developed and tested.

Transformational leaders’ focus is on the relationship of the leader with subordinates through encouragement, understanding, enthusiasm, and spur, while considering the individual. The leader motivates, possesses

Transformational leaders are able to inspire employees to work towards a common goal by changing their expectations, motivation and perception of why they are doing the work. Transformational leaders cultivate a commitment from their employees, which encourages them to put aside self-interest to work

The greatest threat facing the Modern Fire Service is the rate at which firefighters are dying in the line of duty. Excluding the terrible event of 9/11 that occurred in 2001 that forever changed the dynamics of the emergency response services1, firefighter deaths have averaged around 100 fatalities each year for the since 1990. This unacceptable rate of firefighter deaths has found its way to be a benchmark in the industry. The problem is that the benchmark should be zero firefighter deaths while on duty and every year that there is a fatality is a year that the fire service has failed its members. The number one cause of firefighter related deaths yearly is proven to be medical, stress, or overexertion related fatalities2. All of these causes of firefighter deaths can be avoided with implementation of training and awareness.

A Transformational Leader is a person who assesses a country, or organization/company, and recognizes the need for a change in the entity and is able to envision what this change should be. The transformational leader not only envisions the necessary change but has the required personality and strength of character that will enable them to influence others to buy into their vision and make it their own, and hence be willing to follow the leader in the quest to bring about the vision.

A TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADER is a person who stimulates and inspires followers to achieve extraordinary outcomes (Robbins, 2007)It has been shown to influence organisational members by transforming their values and priorities while motivating them to perform beyond their expectations (Rowold, 2007)Increased levels of job satisfaction & reduced turnover intentions are consequences of transformational leadership. It is all about leadership that creates positive change in the followers whereby they take care of each other’s interests and act in the interestsof the groupas a whole (Warrilow, 2012)