Leadership Levels

"Tiered" by Nicholas_T is licensed under CC BY 2.0

In fall of 2018, the NWCG Leadership Committee (LC) met to evaluate and align the entire L-course curriculum—look at the course work as a whole and realign the content, audience, and include material that may be missing. From that effort, the LC defined what wildland fire leadership was at each level of leadership and connected all the elements of the Wildland Fire Leadership Development Program (WFLDP) beyond the L-course. Thus, the work began on creating the wildland fire leadership levels.

What are the wildland fire leadership levels? 

Think of the wildland fire leadership levels as the overarching definition of how NWCG defines leadership from the wildland fire perspective. It provides a  road map of self-development from the entry-level employee (Level 1 - Follower) to the leader of organization (Level 5). It gives specific knowledge, behaviors, and development goals that describe what is expected from each leader of the wildland fire organization.

The Wildland Fire Leadership Levels

⇒ Level 1, Follower (Provide Action)

⇒ Level 2, New Leader (Convey Intent)
⇒ Level 3, Leader of People (Develop Intent)
⇒ Level 4, Leader of Leaders (Provide Direction)
⇒ Level 5, Leader of Organizations (Create Vision)

These levels reference information found in Leading in the Wildland Fire Service, PMS 494-2; the NWCG Standards for Course Delivery, PMS 901-1; the Individual Development Plan Guide; and OPM’s Proficiency Levels for Leadership Competencies.

Wildland Fire Leadership Challenge - Digging a Little Deeper

Leadership is the art to the technical work we do as wildland firefighters. It gives us a play book on how to conduct ourselves, lead small groups, influence entire organizations, and create the right culture for us to leverage our different backgrounds and perspectives to best respond to chaotic work we do in the wildland fire environment.

So, the challenge is for all of us to continue to develop for our next leadership level regardless if you are a follower, new leader, leader of people, leader of leaders, or leader of an organization and build on our those behaviors and knowledge because all of us are responsible for our role as a leader.

• Review the wildland fire leadership levels. Identify which level best fits your stage of leadership development.
• Using the self-development tools and the wildland fire leadership levels, create a plan of action to develop your leadership art. 

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Mike Ellsworth, Training Specialist, is the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Agency Representative on the NWCG Leadership Committee as well as co-chair. Mike is also chairs the Leadership Curriculum Management Subcommittee and is the L-580 Curriculum Management Leader.