Paul Combs's Blog Posts Tagged 'leadership' (41)

We all know that one person, don’t we? The one who was promoted to a leadership role when they have no leadership qualities whatsoever. They have said all the right things to the right people, done the bare minimum to get ahead, and now find themselves in a position of management over firefighters that know all to well who this person really is. My grandfather used…

There's no real power to having knowledge that you refuse to share with others. Regardless of your reasons, you are not smarter or empowered by what you know when it's kept in your self-centered locked mind of superior denial. Knowledge only works when you use what you know to lift others, so they can in turn lift others, and so on...

If you know it,…

In July of 64 A.D., a fire ravaged Rome for six days, destroying 70 percent of the city and leaving half its population homeless. According to a well-known fable, Rome’s emperor, the unpopular and sadistic Nero, “fiddled while Rome burned.” As with all historical events, much can be learned from their triumphs and tragedies, and here we can apply the burning of one of…

We can't all fight the volume of fires that some of the larger cities do, and if you don't, please don't act like you do! Some of the best instructors I've ever had the pleasure of meeting are volunteer/part-paid or work full-time in smaller departments - and they teach excellent classes despite not having a structure fire every shift. The one thing they all have in common…

What is scarier, a headless horseman terrorizing a small New York farming village, or knowing that your proud department is ran by a headless leader? In this Halloween season of ghouls, goblins, ghosts, and Lady Gagas, perhaps we should look inward to our own demons and excise those who torment and haunt our hallowed bays. Leadership should be clear, concise, and…

June Fire Engineering magazine editorial cartoon: Imperial Leadership.

To see of my work or to order prints:…

Leading a crew of diverse personalities can be challenging. As a fire officer it is your job to make sure everyone on your team is being as productive as possible, even if you have to adjust how you treat each individual to do so. The more effective you are at individualizing your leadership style, the more effectively your subordinates will carry out their assigned…

Change is inevitable, but there are those who cling to the past like a monkey with fuzzy hands grabbing a Velcro banana (get it? fuzzy, Velcro… ok, that was bad, but you get the visual). However, change brings progress, and progress is good. We need progress. Progress in gear, progress in apparatus, progress in technology, and progress in… wait for it… tactical…

When things go wrong, too many fingers are typically pointing in every direction except the one place they should be - at you!  If you're the problem, stop blaming others, step up, man up, fess up, and be accountable for your actions.



Besides, you're a little old to be claiming the dog ate your homework!

Click link below to see more of Paul's…

Let's have a show of hands, figuratively speaking... Who likes to be micromanaged and placed under the ever-present scrutiny of a magnifying glass? If you raised your hand, please quietly leave my blog now - I'm sure there's a mega-corporate blog out there in Internetland just for you!



Great leaders lead by placing trust in their subordinates and empowering…

We all know one - the firefighter/officer so obsessed with advancement that they act, do, and say anything to self-promote their narcissistic agenda. Consequently, it is no surprise that city politicians tend to love these folks because of their willingness to become political puppets.



So, congratulations! If you've made it to the pedestal on the backs of…

I hate bullies! Always have, always will. Unfortunately, this is a leadership trait of far too many company and chief officers. As I see it, there are fundamentally three types of supervisors:

Leaders: Their ability to motivate and empower firefighters to excel is their key to success. People enjoy working for leaders and they have the highest…

It is a fresh new year - full of hopes, dreams, and challenges. Many of us will use the new year as a launching pad for personal improvement and an opportunity to accomplish important goals. Maybe yours is to advance within your department, to finally run that extra mile, or simply lose a few pounds - whatever it is, it's a great time reevaluate and implement…

If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, then this technology intrenched generation of youth is from the center of Pluto! Old-school thinking and marketing will be the death knell of today's fire service, especially in the volunteer sector with we don't learn to be creative in our recruiting methods.

How is your department coping with these…

January's magazine editorial cartoon speaks to any department which relies on volunteers or paid-on-call personnel to protect their district. Quality local jobs are dwindling and people have become less interested in helping their communities to concentrate on second careers, soccer games, and a myriad other distractions. In most cases, they no longer work…

Leaders: Why should we expect to retain the quality people we have if we don't give them a reason to stay? Your people are your most valued asset - train them, motivate them, and give them the gift of fulfillment that only the fire service can give! If not, then don't be surprised when…