Friday, May 29, 2020

Challenge 20: 2020 WFLDP Campaign

2020 WFLDP Campaign logo and challenge


Challenge 20:
Effective leaders know how to respond to a crisis.
#2020WFLDPCampaign #commandpresence #fireleadership

Thursday, May 28, 2020

IGNITE: Make Your Own Weather

hotshot crew

Each of us makes his own weather, determines the color of the skies in the emotional universe which he inhabits.  ♦ Fulton J. Sheen ♦
[Photo: Gannett Glacier Fire Crew]

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Finding Calm During the Storm

firefighters on a ridge
I recently went through a health crisis. I had been through the same scare three times before, but this one seemed more dire. With each test the tensions built, the crisis became deeper. However, amidst the chaos, I had the opportunity to find a profound peace like none before. In "The Art of Stress-Free Productivity," David Allen speaks about how crisis evokes serenity--a point where you are fully present and at peace in the midst of a crisis.

Monday, May 25, 2020

IGNITE: Memorial Day 2020

flags
“The legacy of heroes — the memory of a great name, and the inheritance of a great example.” ♦ Benjamin Disraeli♦ 

Thank you to all those who have given the ultimate sacrifice. May we never forget your sacrifices. Memorial Day 2020 

[Photo: Kari Greer/USFS]

#fireleadership

Friday, May 22, 2020

Challenge 19: 2020 WFLDP Campaign


Challenge 19:

Effective leaders are transparent and encourage follower input.
  • Assess a current situation.
  • Do you have a written plan for the situation?
  • Ensure your followers understand the plan and provide input.
  • Revise the plan as needed.



#2020WFLDPCampaign

Thursday, May 21, 2020

IGNITE: Leaders Embrace Change

crew buggy and firefighters herding cows

It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. ~ Charles Darwin ~ 

[Photo: Redding IHC] 

#fireleadership

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

"Do It Scared"

child looking through a hole
(Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay) 
Today's blog comes from a friend and former wildland firefighter, Summer Osmond. Summer is going through some major health struggles. One way Summer manages her mental health is through a private group on social media where she expresses her most vulnerable thoughts. This is one of her posts. Summer has given permission to share it with a wider audience in hopes others might find strength through her words.

Monday, May 18, 2020

IGNITE: Pay Attention

firefighters on a ridge
"If you do not pay attention to what has your attention, you will give it more attention than it deserves." ♦ David Allen♦

[Photo: Kyle Miller/Wyoming IHC]

#fireleadership

Friday, May 15, 2020

Challenge 18 - WFLDP Campaign

2020 WFLDP campaign logo and challenge


Challenge 18: 2020 WFLDP Campaign, Command Presence: Do you know who you are?

Effective leaders are about "we” not "me."
  • Create a psychological safe environment for your followers.
  • Read Amy Edmundson’s book “The Fearless Organization – Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth.”
#WFLDP2020Campaign 
#commandpresence
#fireleadership 

Thursday, May 14, 2020

IGNITE: Complacent Responders

fire reflecting on water
“A complacent responder can “infect” other responders."  ♦ Risk Gasaway, SA Matters ♦

[Photo: Kari Greer/USFS]

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Staying resilient as a working parent with kids at home

Alexis Waldron, Human Performance Specialist, USDA Forest Service
When a friend made a request for others to share the most interesting thing they had seen since March 1st on Facebook—during the beginning days of COVID-19, as it became more real for the U.S.—I replied by describing the experience of driving to daycare with my three-month-old daughter (the day before my husband and I made the decision to pull her and her sister out). I was behind an old, blue Ford Explorer with a single driver in the front. On the dusty back windshield there was a white stick figure family, but instead of having a mom, dad and kids, it was a single lady surrounded by 22 cats. I missed getting a picture because I was busy counting all the cats on the windshield at the stoplight. In jest, a woman replied to the Facebook post— “Well, you know what those cats WON’T need—toilet paper. Twenty-two cats wins over 22 kids any day!” I laughed out loud when I read her response and also in irony to the empty toilet paper shelves in grocery stores and the fear of parents who have been potty training their toddlers and now are wondering and cringing with no toilet paper—do I dare put them back in diapers? What will that mean?

Monday, May 11, 2020

IGNITE: Small Team, Big Impact


A small team, committed to a cause bigger than themselves, can achieve absolutely anything. ~ Simon Sinek ~
[Photo: Kyle Miller/Wyoming IHC]
#fireleadership

Friday, May 8, 2020

Challenge #17 - WFLDP 2020 Campaign


Challenge 17:
Effective leaders are artful in perspective taking.
  • Watch Daniel Pink speak on attunement @ https://youtu.be/TP81PQ0vlaI.
  • In your journal, define “introvert,” “extrovert,” and “ambivert.” Which fits you best and how you can better the art of perspective taking?
#2020WFLDPCampaign #fireleadership #commandpresence

Thursday, May 7, 2020

IGNITE: Fear



sawyer felling a tree
“No passion so effectively robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear."
Edmund Burke, Irish Statesman & philosopher ♦

[Photo: Kyle Miller/Wyoming IHC]

#fireleadership

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

You Have Been Training for This Moment

Hotshot crew participating in sandtable exercise
(Photo: Dan Malia)
As students of leadership, you have been preparing to lead through crisis since you took L-180, Human Factors. As you moved through the wildland fire leadership curriculum, you gained tools to respond to crisis situations—situations like a pandemic response.

Monday, May 4, 2020

IGNITE: What Great Leaders Do

wildland firefighters in a raft
A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t want to go but ought to be. ♦ Rosalynn Carter, former First Lady ♦
[Photo: Kyle Miller/Wyoming IHC]

#fireleadership

IGNITE: Be Better


The goal is not to be perfect by the end. The goal is to be better today.  ♦ Simon Sinek ♦

[Photo: Kari Greer/USFS]

#fireleadership

Friday, May 1, 2020

Challenge #16: 2020 WFLDP Campaign

2020 WFLDP Campaign logo and challenge



Challenge #16: Effective leaders know their strengths and how to use them. 
#2020WFLDPCampaign #commandpresence #fireleadership