Contents
Acknowledgment and Appreciation
Opening Thoughts
Personal Survival: You and I Are Not Where or Who We Were Back Then
The Issue of Volunteer Turnout and Response in 2020
Dena Ali
Transforming Imperfection and Building Grit
Steve Austin
If We Lose Our History, We Lose Everything
Frank Babinec
Leave It Better Than You Found It
Charles Bailey
Thirty Years of Transformation
Seth Barker
Do the Right Thing
Donna Black
Putting Water on the Fire: Managing Expectations and Acknowledging
Perspectives
Keith Bryant
What’s Most Important?
Eddie Buchanan
The Courage to Change
Harry Carter
Faith or Failure: It’s Your Call
Steve Chikerotis
Trust Your Gut Instinct
Michael Ciampo
Tactical Tips in Truck Work
Melanie Clark
Widow to Wounded Warrior
Paul Combs
Gratitude Is Not a Four-Letter Word!
Denny Compton
It’s Simple: If You Accept the Rank, Perform the Role
Dan DeGryse
Ownership
Joe DiBernardo
“Chief D”—Fifty Years of No-Nonsense Leadership
Chuck Downey
Cool, Calm, and Collected—FDNY Mental Performance Initiative
Joseph Downey
Only the Faces Have Changed
Michael Dugan
Mayday, Mayday, Mayday
Brian Fennessy
Mission-Driven Culture
Reggie Freeman
The Power of Influence vs. the Power of the Position
Brian Geraci
Our Most Important Service
Brian Goldfeder
He Passed “It” On to Me
Bob Grabowski
The Loss of a Young Firefighter That Left a Legacy of Learning
Gordon Graham
If It Were Your Daughter
Tiffany Green
Ultimately What We Are Here to Do Is Serve!
Bobby Halton
The Best Damn Job We’ve Ever Had
Michael Hamrock
A Spirit of Gratitude and Better Self-Care for the Job
Aaron Harris
Professionally Staffed by Volunteers
Jodie Hettrick
Trust in Your Potential
Charles Hood
Love and Forgiveness
Rudy Horist
Pass It On
Otto Huber
What Not to Pass On
Sara Jahnke
Adding Grandpa Days
Tom Jenkins
Beyond the Certificates
John A. “Jay” Jonas
Are You Ready for Fire Duty?
Nicol Juratovac
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Which One Are You?
Kara Kalkbrenner
The Culture of the Fire Service Must Change
Rick Kane
Six Important Lessons
Anthony Kastros
Firehouse Etiquette
Scott Kerwood
I Have No Ambition in This World but One
Rick Lasky
Those Who Get It and Those Who Don’t
Jimmy Lee
You Have the Best Job in the World. Don’t Blow It.
Frank Leeb
Staying Learnable
Mike Lombardo
Search—Random Thoughts
Gary Ludwig
Leadership Is Not Being a Hammer
Dan Madrzykowski
Your Team Is Counting on You
Ray Maguire
Let’s Get Battle Ready
Ricky Mantey
The Importance of Family
Troy Markel
It’s All About Relationships
Rick Markley
How Giving Back to the Fire Service Is Good for You
Ray McCormack
An Honest Appraisal
Mike McEvoy
From an EMS Guy
Jenny Minter
Share in the Pride
Lori Moore-Merrell
Servant Leaders Are Exceptional Leaders
Jack Murphy
Art of Building Intelligence and Battle Plans
James Murtagh
Mentoring—the Mentee—the Mentor
P.J. Norwood
The Power of Asking Why
Denis Onieal
How to Advance in Your Career
Mollie and Steve Pegram
The Four Fs
David Polikoff
Do They Think You’re a Good Leader?
Bob Pressler
What I’ve Learned So Far
Jan Rader
Making Positive Change
Forest Reeder
Even Better, Faster, Safer, and Smarter
David Rhodes
Surviving Bad Leadership
Frank Ricci
Moving Toward the Threat—Hunting Peacocks
Tommy Richardson
Leadership and Command Philosophy
Erich Roden
Your Shirt Always Looks White
Joanne Rund
Safety: A Key Player in Everything You Do!
John Salka
Every Firefighter Should . . .
Russ Sanders
The Company Commander: The Most Important Position in the Fire
Department
Chase Sargent
Job, Life, Career, and Other Stuff
Danny Sheridan
Support for Rules and Issues
Bill Shouldis
Connecting with the Community: Strategy at the Eastern America
Warehouse Incident
Ron Siarnicki
Where Do You Stand?
Bryan Spies
The Coveted Right Front Seat: What If I Told You Running Calls
Is the Easy Part?
Jack Sullivan
How a Firefighter Line-of-Duty Death Changed My Life,
and Maybe Saved Yours
Rich Thode
My Own Random Thoughts
John Tippett
It’s a Privilege to Serve
Jerry Tracy
Brain Constipation, Better Known as Cognitive Dissonance
Nate Trauernicht
An Uncommon Path
Tony Tricarico
Setting the Tone: As Goes the Captain, So Goes the Company
Mike Uttaro
Effecting Change: Quit Talking and Begin Doing
Frank Viscuso
Leadership 101
James Wessel
Letter to a Firefighter
Lee Whitehurst
How to Survive Career Suicide
Mike Wieder
This Is What We Are All About
Mike Wilbur
We Are Making Progress
Trisha Wolford
All Grit, No Salt