August 6, 2014 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 15 What Major League Baseball Can Teach First Responders about Succession Planning Public Safety Insight: Major League Baseball’s farm club system offers important lessons for first responder agencies about what makes it an effective succession process.  Public safety agencies can improve the safety, health, and economic viability of the [Continue Reading…]

July 23, 2014 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 14 Are Your Surveys a Waste of Time? Public Safety Insight: To ensure your surveys are not a waste of time, write questions that provide accurate, actionable data. Developed correctly, a survey is a very powerful tool for gathering actionable data for a variety of purposes. Based on my [Continue Reading…]

July 9, 2014 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 13 Political Acumen Self-assessment Public Safety Insight: Public safety leaders can enhance their political acumen by identifying areas in which they must improve their skills.   The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) has identified the lack of political acumen as one of the five “wicked problems” that must [Continue Reading…]

June 11, 2014 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 11 Results: A Critical Success Factor for Leaders Public Safety Insight: Practicing inclusion and acceptance in a diverse world may not require the same kind of bravery as that summoned by public safety professionals whose job is to run toward danger, yet it is equally challenging to many.  The [Continue Reading…]

May 28, 2014 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 10 Results: A Critical Success Factor for Leaders Public Safety Insight: Achieving results by turning plans into meaningful actions is a critical success factor for leaders.   What is your track record for implementing your agency’s administrative policies, procedures, programs, and initiatives? If you wrote down a list right [Continue Reading…]

May 14, 2014 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 9 The #1 Job of a Leader Public Safety Insight: The number one job of a leader is taking care of his/her people.   Retired General Rick Hillier, former Chief of the Defence Staff for Canadian Forces, is a distinguished leader. So on May 5th when he declared, "The [Continue Reading…]

April 9, 2014 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 6 How to Make a Persuasive Case to Politicians Public Safety Insight: You can persuade politicians of the merits of your request by transferring ownership of the issue to stakeholders and putting the need in the appropriate context.     In April 2013, City leaders in Lake Havasu City (AZ) [Continue Reading…]

  February 26, 2014 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 4 Teamwork Gold from a U.S. Olympian Public Safety Insight: The best team members know that for the good of the team, sometimes they must give less than 100% of their individual efforts. Recently I spoke with an athlete who is a veteran of three U.S. Olympic water [Continue Reading…]

February 12, 2014 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 3 How to Align Others’ Interests with Your Own Public Safety Insight: To align others’ interests with your own, appeal to their enlightened self-interest.   Fire Chief Kingman Schuldt is a leader on a mission, charged with merging two southwest Florida fire districts, East Naples and Golden Gate. Since [Continue Reading…]