"A Culture of Sharing"

I was captivated this week by a video I found on The Washington Post's On Leadership website. The interview titled "Leadership in the Age of Social Media" supports the efforts behind this blog.

Charlene Li, Altimeter Group, spoke about a change in communication that has occured over the last couple of years--a change that is unlikely to reverse course. Introduction and use of social media was that change. Fire leaders and managers must address how the next generation firefighter commuicates with what Charlene calls an it's-okay-to-share attitude with an infinite capacity to share. This mere sentiment is sure to invoke fear in our leaders causing them to reply, "TMI" (too much information).

In the early discussions of this blog, leaders expressed concern over comments that may be submitted by our readers. The result of that discussion was a comment-moderated blog with tight guidelines for sharing. I believe, although I don't know for sure, those fears have subsided as the blog gained credibility, prestige, and has allowed us to come together with our global wildland fire partners such as Australia and New Zealand.

I'm excited to see where we, government agencies, head as barriers to social media use are minimized and the communication needs of the next generation firefighter are met.