Is our culture keeping us from talking about what's important?
Brian Simpson, PhD, argues that the coping tools responders build to survive the job also make it hard to talk about what the job does to them. He says new mental health resources cannot change a culture that treats silence as strength. Formal and informal leaders have to speak first, he writes, about what they have been through and what has helped.
The Vital Importance of Perspective in Public Safety Leadership
Brian Simpson, PhD, applies a fireground habit to leadership off the fireground: when in doubt, zoom out. He explains how stepping back helps incident commanders see hazards that people in the task miss, and how the same distance helps leaders judge workplace frustration more fairly. He argues that leaders who want better organizations must first control their own emotions and egos.
Even small traditions can help us remember the ones who came before.
Brian Simpson, PhD, remembers a battalion chief whose quirks became crew traditions, and explains how those customs outlived the man. He argues that small traditions keep a department’s memory and give its members a sense of belonging. He asks leaders which customs shape their own crews and where those customs came from.
Our job comes with a second family, but too many of us forget to put our first family first.
Brian Simpson, PhD, credits his wife’s support for helping him prepare for two promotional exams, then argues that the job’s demands leave too many responders putting home second. He asks leaders what they are doing to protect family time and how they will help younger members do the same.