Who is The Next Fire Service Leader?

For some time…and at FDIC…the question was posed on who is the next fire service leader….

Who is the next Brunacini, the next Dunn, the next Brennan…

This question was posed by some almost as if they were looking at me… I do feel certain that if they were looking at me, they were looking for the answer to the question…not looking at me to take on the role. I have never carried myself, sold myself, or even thought of myself as a fire service leader. I am not that guy…not right now. I have too much too learn and too little time to learn it in.

Why are they looking to my generation to see who the leaders will be? To be clear, my generation is not the youngest in the fire service. I can relate to the newest bunch, but I am not one of them…although I probably look it!

Maybe my generation is the one who should be pumping out fire service leaders…

So how do we find them, cultivate them, give them a hand up?

What about the “elephant in the room”. The one that reared its ugly head at FDIC. The “exclusivity” elephant. The one who has to have all or nothing from the individual “fire service leader”.

I don’t want to harp on this too long, but us “individuals” make our name by spreading ourselves out among the masses. Not by being owned or maintained by a single entity. We go with what works for us and we make the best of it.

We do much of the work on our own and enjoy sharing it with magazines, web sites, and blogs to spread the message. Everyone wins. What we don’t want is to be tattooed with a company who thinks they owe/own us.

So who will be the next?

You? Me (doubt that)? Him? Her?

It will be whomever applies themselves to making change, sticks to their guns, and overall wants to move ahead!

I have an idea of some whom I think might be the next leaders…we will just have to see what the future holds.