John Barrett's Page

Perception is reality...and a large part of one's perception is based upon their environment... past, present and their expected future.



For example, if you are around positive people the majority of your life then you more than likely will have a bright outlook on things and most who cross your path will consider you to be a smiling optimist. Conversely, if you spend most of your time around people and situations that steep in negativity then you will probably share a life view full… Continue

RIDING BACKWORDS – September 2010



Open Door Policies



Generally speaking, an open door policy refers to the availability of management to any employee at any level. Open door policies allow employees to step outside the traditional boundaries created by the hierarchy of an organization – what we know as the chain of command. Open door policies permit employees to bring their concerns to the appropriate level they feel can provide the impetus necessary to… Continue

Tomorrow markes the 3rd anniversary of the passing of nine Charleston firefighters at what has become known as the Sofa Super Store fire. This incident was the inspiration behind my efforts to create an organization to HONOR THEIR SACRIFICES by gathering, preserving and promoting lessons learned from line-of-duty-death incidents. Please say a prayer for those left behind from that horrible day; and to those friends in the fire service don't forget to HONOR THEIR SACRIFICES...because the lessons… Continue

When make do shouldn't do

Firefighters and emergency medical workers must be largely optimistic - if they weren't then how or why would they want to do the job. Is a pessimist going to routinely put themselves in a position to respond to what may be the worst day of someone's life and expect to make it better - or at least make a difference? If they believe that they can’t/won't be able to make a difference then why even respond? An optimistic attitude is essential for success for… Continue

HONOR THEIR SACRIFICES is raffling a Brand New Personalized Phenix TL2 Leather helmet(s) to continue to provide financial support for our mission of providing the fire service with a free to use and easy to access line-of-duty-death lessons learned database. We are hopefully just weeks away from unveiling our new website and when that happens we will be eagerly searching for information from around the country to add to it. This new effort will require another marketing campaign (and this will… Continue