Given some of my posts, some of you, I think believe I'm a safety nazi.  That's pretty far from the truth actually.  I'm a true believer; when I got into the business, I did so because I wanted to be involved in it and because my family tradition led me there.  But I'm the kind of guy that if I didn't believe in it, I wouldn't have stuck around.  And the danger and the thrill, personally, did it for me.  What's more, it wasn't enough.

Over the years, however, I matured.  I grew up, which unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who you speak to) changes things. I had the good fortune to meet movers and shakers in the emergency service world and each of them had a story to tell.  Mostly their story was that while it was fun being at the edge of sanity with some of the heroics we pulled off and the chest full of medals we earned, we never really appreciated the impact that one stupid move could make that would change the world forever.

The events of September 11 really put my priorities into focus.  On that beautiful September day and on into the night, I stood in front of the TV in my living room, oftentimes holding my then-baby daughter, with tears in my eyes when I realized that 343 of my brothers perished in the line of duty.  The effect that this loss has had on our nation is questionable, as today it seems like the public has forgotten that day.  But the scar it left on our job, on our family, is impenetrable.  There are children growing up whose fathers will never hold them or see them graduate or walk them down the aisle.  Or even look on with pride as they too choose to join our brotherhood.  Who won't be there to pin on Lieutenant's bugles at that first promotion.  Each of these 343 individuals had a profound impact on a number of others, and that ripple effect continues outward and outward until millions, even billions in this case, are impacted.

But the tragedy that happened that day is an anomaly, a blip in the statistics of firefighter mortality.  In fact, we can't ever factor in the loss of 343 individuals on that one day in any of the data we analyze because it throws wild swings into the results.  That certainly doesn't decrease their contribution any more.  In fact, it immortalizes it.  Forever that will be a group of people who stand alone.  But the 100 or so firefighters who die in the line of duty each year are considered, in a figure that has decreased over time, but not nearly in proportion to the fires we now fight. Looking at the situation after that day and understanding the effect the loss of those 343 people had on so many, it is obvious that any casual approach to safety results not just in a loss to the immediate individuals involved, but to many others.  Any poor decision causes a ripple that can become a tsunami.  

So on a grand scale, the loss of even ONE firefighter is an unacceptable one and extrapolated out into an average loss of 100 brothers a year affects not just you or your crew, but families and community, and everything else, multiplied 100 times.  And when a significant number of these injuries and deaths occur not from heroic deeds, but from failing to use common sense, I struggle with the argument that our "safety culture is ruining the fire service".  Let's just take the injuries and deaths that HAVE occurred from people putting themselves in harm's way out of the equation, and in looking at casualties that are related to cardiac events and failure to wear seatbelts, we could make a significant impact on sending more brothers home every day than ever before.  

But we CONTINUE to resist changes in our industry that would make that difference.  Why?  Because you safety nazis are sucking the fun out of our job.  Because you are unreasonable in expecting me to maintain appropriate cardiac health to do the job.  Because we resist the notion that there should be a standard for doing the job.  Because it is inconvenient for me to wear my seatbelt.

There is absolutely no argument you can make to me that can reasonably suggest that increasing our safety is a bad idea.  I am a chief officer now.  I joke that my white helmet will likely remain white until I die, because my job is to send you guys in and to make sure that all I sent in comes back out in the same condition.  It's not the fun part of the job, but at some point, I had to grow up and accept my role.  I am no longer the "go to" guy on the scene for a really hairy rescue and even though I understand that, it's never going to escape me.  

A few years ago, I jumped into the water with Capt. Tom from the EMS12Lead blog and we made a rescue.  While he was a Lieutenant at the time, I was a chief.  My chief, when handing me the Meritorious Service Medal (I missed the actual ceremony, Capt. Tom got one too), reminded me that my job was no longer in the water, but on the shore.  He also indicated it would probably be my last medal.  I indicated that if I got another medal it would probably be my last medal because I'd be looking for another job.  He laughed at that.  But it was an awakening.  I realized how right he was.  My job is to keep you guys safe.  You job is to be safe about doing it and to only take risk when the risk is worth it.  Not only will I keep from throwing your body into an unwinnable battle, I ask that you keep from making decisions that require the same.

We lost 343 brother firefighters in one day in New York City.  They, as well as many more firefighters and other public safety professionals who survived, considered their duty to save others from that infernal hell and did so for thousands and thousands of others, and to their credit, we should be thanking them all for their courageous actions.  But this tradition was an act that isn't replicated in all of these line of duty deaths, because in the majority of line of duty deaths, preventable actions or shall I say, more mature and considerate actions, could have saved firefighter lives.  

To put it plainly, the lives we lost were not traded for a single save.  Our "duty above personal risk", while meant to signify that willingness to sacrifice, can also be read that we are devoted to "duty" above "personal risk".  We have a duty, not only to save the lives of endangered victims, but to be there to lead our families, to be there to teach our rookie firefighters, to be there to be a Cub Scout leader or to work in the PTA.  We have a duty to live our lives to the fullest, not to casually throw our lives away without a sane reason.

If the time comes, God forgive me, to throw my life in front of another so that someone may live a full and productive life, I know in my heart what my action will be.  But until then, I refuse to commit my body, or yours, to a decision based on a misguided view of heroism, or because it is what we always believed to be the duty of our calling.

Be safe and if anything, in the name of those who have gone before us, honor their memory by being there for everyone who remains.  And I ask that God bless the civilian departed and their families on this 10th anniversary of their death.  And most of all, God bless and keep our 343 brothers, their families, and the other firefighters who still suffer the effects of the horrible day, both mentally and physically.  We love you and miss you all terribly. 

Dr. Svensson pointed out in the very beginning that his observation of the situation is as from the perspective of an outsider.  And while he has experience as a firefighter, he also has experience as an educator and a researcher.  So instead of approaching his discussion from a hysterical standpoint, he used a historical standpoint: that facts are facts and frankly, the methods of changing our culture isn’t working.  Sometimes some tough love is necessary, if we are sincere in wanting to bring everyone home in the morning.

Furthermore, at no point in his presentation (and I have listened to it and took copious notes) has he said that the Swedish fire service is better than any other fire service. In fact, he prefaces his presentation by saying that Sweden also has issues and they are not “better”.  But while data can always be manipulated to say what you want it to say, try looking at this objectively:

What gain do we get from having an increase in firefighter fatalities?  It’s not that we encourage firefighters to die, but the trend is there.  Just based on the data Dr. Svensson shared, firefighter fatalities in America have been slightly reduced, but for the most part, have remained steady.  Put that rate, however, in the context of decreasing civilian fatalities and decreasing fire responses, the ratio of firefighter fatalities per civilian fatality has INCREASED.  Likewise, the ratio of firefighter fatalities per fire has also increased.  Dr. Svensson even stated, this was AFTER pulling out the training and station deaths.  The inference is that even with a reduction in call volume, we continue to see a steady stream of firefighter fatalities.  And based on the language used by some of the commenters, the macho and egotistical feedback has been pretty predictable.  Why do we take so much pride in our injury and mortality rates?  Could it be that we are okay with it that way?   

One issue I really found interesting was his discussion of cardiovascular fitness relative to the job.  I have said on number of occasions that I am appalled by the continued reluctance of the fire service to embrace meaningful fitness standards.  At the same time, these issues are relative to the general population: fitness is decreasing, obesity is increasing, and subsequently, cardiovascular issues are also increasing.  In the meanwhile, the job of fighting fire has not changed, in fact, it has grown more challenging, and is compounded via station closures and staff reductions by having less personnel in many communities to now do the job that many were allocated to before.

Fitness requirements support a simple fact: we need to have an acceptable standard of fitness, therefore we need to have more comprehensive medical screening.  The problem is, as Dr. Svensson observed, in the United States, we evaluate ability, not fitness.  This is directly a result of equal opportunity mandates but has an undesired effect.  In an effort to minimize discrimination, we have embraced ability testing to determine whether a person can do the job.  We say, “If you can do the job, you should be allowed to” because we are trying to be more inclusive.  But the tell-tale issue for whether or not a person is going to stroke out on us or have an MI isn't whether they can or can not pull a ceiling or drag a dummy, it is much more insidious than that.  Cardiovascular issues that are killing firefighters aren’t readily apparent.  And I know firefighters that can whip through an abilities test without too much going on, but it doesn't require a physician to take one look at them and say, this guy's a candidate for the Big One.

But honestly, I could go point for point about the presentation and I'm not.  At least not with you all.

I intend to have my personnel listen to the presentation and view the PowerPoints included.  I also intend to ask them to challenge themselves and ask, "Is he right?  Is he wrong?"  And I'm going to trust that my people are going to listen to what is going on and look past the harshness of the message and evaluate it like grown-ups.  There is importance of having knowledge of the past in order to understand the present.  And we have quite a few people who are okay with romanticizing the concept that it is our duty to die in the line of duty for no apparent reason.  It is okay to be maimed for life for no apparent reason. It is okay to shovel a company into a burning building with deteriorating conditions because if we don't, we are pussies.

Well, it is okay only because the “leaders” in our business hype it as the standard as to what should be.  Their mentality is okay for a future of knuckle-draggers, but what if we gave you a finite number of resources and told you that if you screw them up, you don’t get more, so you’d take better care of them?  Or even better, if you are reckless with those resources, you have to pay for them?  Well, how much longer do you think it is going to be before the lawyers realize that incident commanders sending their personnel into a situation with no control, no coordination, or no meaningful mission (other than "searching" an untenable building) are in fact, killing personnel, and liable for wrongful death restitution?  It won't be long, because it is already happening.

The tradition of the fire service I had passed to me from my father, who got it from his father, and got it from his as well has been established that we must do whatever it takes to save lives.  But there is a profound disconnect: Have we in fact created these expectations ourselves?  Maybe this is where we ask the public: What is it you want from us?  If you read any of the civilian comments in these communities where they are struggling with funds, there is a certain amount of "screw the firefighters" being said and not a whole hell of a lot of support.  Perhaps we need to really educate the public and seriously ask them: "If you are expecting us to sacrifice our lives to get you out, there needs to be some relational support.  Otherwise, f*&# off."

If we keep repeating traditions that don’t make sense and cause us unwarranted pain, what does that make us?  Stupid?  I think that's what Dr. Svensson said that some of you all are upset about.  If you had a son who was pledging a fraternity, and the traditional hazing was to get painfully burned over a percentage of his body because hey, that's the tradition, I'd bet you'd tell him he's nuts.  The only tradition I am buying into is that as a firefighter, I am willing to take a risk to save someone if I have the possibility of saving someone.  But we aren't even doing that.  We won't even buckle our seatbelts, and where is the tradition in that?

The most telling part of the presentation came in the discussion on survival training.  While I don't necessarily agree with some of the issues, the real focus was this: Right now we focus on how to get out of problems.  Maybe we need to be re-focusing on how to stay out of trouble to begin with.

They don’t think about safety because it is simply a part of what they do.  It is not a thought, it is ingrained in their culture.  It's not standing outside a house quivering because we are too scared to fight the fire.  It is taking resources, defining the problem, and using the resources wisely and to the best effect to create a solution.  We are letting our egos get in the way of facts. Instead of getting cranked up about what was said, listen to what he is saying. There are other approaches that make sense, yet we continue to ignore them.

I'm not even going to suggest that we should have a safer work environment.  I'm just going to say that instead of pointing at the Swedish guy and being offended at what he said, perhaps we should listen, take what we can from the discussion, and learn.  He used that language for a reason: to make a point.  He isn't over in Sweden right now rubbing his hands gleefully because he has offended the Americans.  He made it clear that as an outsider looking in, he sees a problem and wants us to be aware of it.  However, he is also concerned that we are ignoring the issues based on our emotional reaction to the problem, rather than the rational explanation of how to solve it.  I don't like being called stupid either, but as I have been told before, if the shoe fits, wear it.

In this case the researchers are using the Green June Beetle, but given the size of the cockroaches (or Palmetto Bugs, as we like to call them in South Carolina) I have seen, we could probably equip them with a hammer drill and let them tunnel the victims back out of the rubble once they find one.

Cyborg insects are low maintenance, can get into very restricted and virtually inaccessible areas, and with these new developments, can be adapted for a number of different tasks.  Some of these cyborg applications could also be used for monitoring hazmats or terrorist attacks, doing pre-entry search and recon for SWAT teams, or spy work.  As far as our use of these creatures, the sky (or the basement) is the limit.

Never lose sight of this constant: Change is inevitable.  It''s how we deal with it that makes the difference. What we know today as the way we do business may be radically different tomorrow.

It may take extra time that you don't think you have. That time may seem very valuable. The shortcut you take may seem like it saves those precious seconds. But I have seen in my life, many times when those shortcuts have proven catastrophic, and in most of those situations, I look at them and wonder, had someone taken a few extra moments to do it right, what the outcome might have been.

While the historical issue between response to rescues in New York City is frustrating and sad, since it seems to me to be the confluence of a power struggle and turf battle, instead of celebrating a terrific save the other day, instead we have this tragedy to contend with, as shared with us by Dave Statter on his blog.

I have always learned and always taught that when lifting, we "crib to the lift". And while the spreaders are not the desired lifting tool, I have used them before and they have worked just fine. I preface that, however by explaining that I am also passionate about physics and when I have used spreaders, I also understood that the force applied must go somewhere, and if the load isn't stabilized, the force is going to create motion we don't want. In this case, the force displaced the object alright: lateral to the support (the spreader) and with nothing to support the load (cribbing) the load went to ground (and victim).

I don't care if you are FDNY, ESU, or anyone else. I have seen this very same shortcut taken before in departments that have had identically catastrophic results. I also recall other times when the load has shifted on the column, in one case, three stacked air bags.  In this case, the firefighter, who happened to also be the salesman of the lift bags and should have a little expertise in their use, himself was killed.

There's a lesson to be learned in every tragedy. Aside from the physical principles that apply to all of us here on this planet, there's another very important one. Driving recklessly, failing to wear your seatbelt, not wearing proper PPE, not paying attention to overhead power lines, and in this case, not providing an alternate column to support the load via cribbing, all might seem like they are saving precious seconds, but failing to do the right thing the first time, ended instead in tragedy.

Take a moment to ditch the emotion and be the professionals you are. Do the right thing the first time.

Between emotion and other factors, sometimes people make issues out of things they know nothing about, or they fail to consider the facts before they resort to anger.  So I kept that partially in mind when I saw the headline about the Swedish fire service “expert” who spoke at FRI this week.  Obviously, even the headlines suggested a certain amount of anger from individuals in the American fire service about his statements.  

While the headline of the linked article hit me in the gut a little, I was prepared to read something that I would not agree with, nor could ever agree with.  In fact, before I even read the article, I already made up my mind that this guy was some academic who had never actually fought a fire before, and now he was going to tell us what we are doing wrong.  Before making a statement, however, I actually read the article and you know what?  In some of the points he made, he is absolutely right.

I don’t equate the comments he made on RIC (people were making unsafe decisions way before we had to come up with a way to save them from those decisions) as being anything other than his observation.  While it may seem to him that people drive more recklessly since they feel safer in their cars, I think there are a few other factors at play when we suggest that firefighters have more comfort from having a RIC present, so they are comfortable taking more risk.  I think just the understanding of the fact that a two-man or four-man RIC isn't likely going to get you out of a situation keeps me from going down that slippery slope.  But while there are plenty of other things to agree with, those items are debate for another day.  What I wanted to talk about was our reactions to the headline as compared to the level of “emotional intelligence” or commonly known as “EQ” (in contrast to IQ) that most people have and how EQ relates to certain events.

I want to keep this brief, but it really plays out in society as I see rational individuals presented with particular situations and instead of reacting to them rationally, they relate to them emotionally instead, and fail to grasp the true issues in play.  Instead of seeking understanding, they presume their perception of an event to be the “facts” and are reluctant to see the alternative points of view.  Some individuals with higher EQ can be educated, or shown the other views, and then make decisions based on those facts.  Others with a little lower EQ may go grudgingly toward understanding.  Some go kicking and screaming, and some are completely irrational and unwilling to understand.  Obviously, we all score one way or another along that continuum and where we place in there helps us cope with issues that may run counter to our beliefs.

EQ also permits us to temper our behavior and allows us to think before speaking.  We have people who frankly, engage their mouths (or fingers, via the keyboard) before comprehending the ramifications of what it is they are saying.  While the statements they make may have elements of truth, these statements are “their” truth, and should also involve a little thinking about other viewpoints as well before being said.

Those of you who have known me for a long time may be laughing right now.  I admit, I have said my share of things that I have come to regret later.  But as I have gotten older, and hopefully, wiser, I have also brought some life experience and education to the table.  Over the last fifteen years or so I have begun to understand that not only are most issues presented to us with only the surface points showing, there is usually plenty of time to blame and yell later; first I need to dig deeper and get the real story.

I challenge you to read what was said by the expert with an open mind, and ask yourself, is he wrong? Is he right?  But more importantly, ask yourself about your own personal reaction to his statements.  Reluctance to change because a situation is presented differently than the way you think, even in the face of facts that indicate truth, indicate not loyalty or tradition, but stubbornness and ignorance.  Seek first to understand, then to be understood.  Get the facts, sort them out, and THEN make a decision to speak.  It’s a whole lot less stressful for you and others who surround you that way.

Being so focused on one thing, it is very easy to lose track of your surroundings.  If there is ever a scenario when situational awareness is completely hampered, it is at these moments.  Even if, as a leader, you were to "get up on the balcony" to observe from a different perspective, chances are that if your focus were so narrowed on one subject, you still might miss the subtle and even the obvious, when considering impact upon whatever is actually occurring.

Sometimes the challenges we face are so daunting or so in need of our engagement, that we forget to consider alternatives.  These issues may cause us to hone in on only the details that are immediately apparent to us, as they may jump right out and comand our attention, and cause us to lose sight of the process: to define the problem, gather the facts, consider alternatives, and implement the solution.  Instead we may become completely absorbed in whatever element of that process that causes us the most challenge and we may be paralyzed due to that restricted sightline.  And just as importantly, peripheral vision helps us to consider other factors as they intercept our path and instead of navigating away or turning to combat the issue head on, these factors take us completely by surprise.

Consider that while we may be too close to our problem to be objective, we may even not resolve that perspective by standing back from it, because we are fixed on the issue and unwilling to pay attention to subtleties.  When faced with a monumental challenge, it helps to step back from it, but it also helps sometimes to put the issue down altogether, to walk away from it and reflect, and then revisit the problem with fresh eyes.

Note: Thanks to my traveling companion for his insight and sharing his observations.  And as an FYI, depending on what Irene does, I'll probably be a little busy, so if you don't see anything on FHZ for a while, please stop back by because once I get time, I'll get caught back up again.  Thanks for reading.

In between class sessions here in Colorado, Chief Ron and his wife, Linda, and I took a scenic tour of Rocky Mountain National Park by way of the Western Portal, going up to the Gore Range before turning around and going back into town.  While the park is incredible and the vistas breathtaking, it occured to us that settlers going west centuries ago must have been awestruck coming off the plains and facing this massive roadblock.

We were also listening to a talk radio show at the same time and the moderator was indicating that we are never just given the keys to leadership, we have to earn them through trial and survival.  Only after being faced with hardship and making it through do you realize that these challenges fortify you for any battles ahead.

Sitting in an air conditioned car on the paved road and using GPS to find our path, it became apparent to me that the next time I am faced with adversity, I need to consider these individuals.  How daunting it must have been, going to a land unknown to them, packing up everything they had and moving it across the Rockies to forge a better life for themselves.  Yet they not only overcame those challenges, they led the making of a new nation.  What right do I have to worry about my petty issues? 

If you believe in what you are doing, nothing can stop you. Consider the triumphs of others when given impossible odds and realize that you can do anything you dream.

Do you want to recharge your batteries?  Teach.  Take what you have learned and share it with others.  You don't have to be a certified instructor to teach.  Even the lowest man on the totem pole can learn something and share it with others. Sharing knowledge changes the world.

According to this pilot, Chief H said, when there is a landing that isn't perfect, there is a culture of not pointing fingers that encourages the flight crew to report the event, discuss the factors, and to come up with methods to improve their performance.  Sounds a lot like a near-miss policy to me, but the difference is that apparently, there is absolutely no resistance to reporting these issues because there is no threat of repercussion.

Now we have the Secret List and the Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System, and in our organization at least, we discuss standard operating guidelines in post-event critiques, but I don't know that those concepts even go as far as what Chief H was suggesting they do in this airline program.  To me, it sounds a lot like common sense: instead of focusing on the situation that has already occurred, focus on the events we can fix or those we can grow to recognize and solve, and move forward.

But there is no way this kind of concept can evolve on many of these blogs.  Hell, if anything is seen, like a glove missing or God forbid, someone isn't wearing their SCBA, it becomes a litany of what a dumbass the individuals are and how is it that these people are even still fighting fire.

Now while our department is very strict about the use of safety equipment and insuring best practices are followed, it is hardly a slamfest out there.  If we see you don't have something, we suggest (pretty strongly) for you to go get it and wear it.  This happens pretty rarely because we have squared away people who have been doing this stuff fairly often (with the exception of some of the rookies, of course).  But really, we do make mistakes and there's a lot of times we laugh about it because once pointed out, everyone is pretty good about doing the right thing.

I'd hate, however, for someone to take a photograph of us when we rolled up on a scene, however, and someone just so happened to have missed putting a glove on.  In the case of a recent fire we had, there was significantly enough fire on the outside to cause the arriving officer to order a transitional attack.  His company deployed two lines to the exterior to knock down the rapidly extending fire, which they did without donning masks.  

The next due engine stretched an attack line to the front door and using proper PPE, made the knock on the inside.  Confined to the two rooms we found burning when we got there, nobody hurt.  Nobody was coughing or hacking and honestly, the most difficult part of the evolution was dealing with the mosquitoes.  But just on the chance there was a picture taken of those first few seconds, we'd have heard cries of "sissy" and "outdoor firefighter" from half the crowd and angry accustations of unsafe activity and amateurism from the other half.

Instead of showing the world you are the resident expert on firefighting (which I suspect half of the trolls would run crying at the sight of a real fire), why not use what you see on the blogs and posts to learn something from it and instead of sharing your incredible insight with us all, perhaps make some intelligent observations that could help others remember not to make those mistakes.  I doubt any of the haters are reading this, so I doubt it will have much impact, but perhaps, maybe it will.

Now, I do read a lot and listen to podcasts, etc. and I will check my quotes with a deep internet search to make sure I haven't stolen someone else's ideas, but I'm pretty sure I said this stuff at one time or another.  I also left off anything I paraphrased (I hope) and added some stuff that exists in unpublished posts (there are a few dozen of those).  Believe it or not, we here at FHZ have standards.  They are low, but we do have standards.  

So here you are, from the beginning of FHZ, some of the more memorable ones:

• "When I give you an order, I want to see it done, or your dead body where you died trying to do it."
• "Never eat more than your mask can hold."
• "I am not your friend, I am your boss. If you want to be friends, that's okay, but that doesn't change the fact that I am your boss first."
• "The company officer is the designated adult supervision in the station. Act like it."
• "There won't be a group hug at the end of this. I don't do Kumbaya."
• "When I call for a resource I'm gonna give you type and kind. If I call for a Lincoln-ful of Panamanians, I don't care where you got it, just give me the closest one."
• "Let's put this in terms you can understand: Confined space rescue is nothing more than HAZMAT on a rope."
• "Being a truckie requires resourcefulness. You are presented with a problem no one else knows how to fix and you fix it with what you brought to the party or what you can swipe. After that, it's all magic."
• "Individuals have given themselves the freedom to make poor decisions, then be let off the hook because we 'shouldn't judge them', or because their mommy didn't hug them as a child, or whatever the victim story is this week." (Okay, I just used that one again the other day).
• "The base cause of indignity is usually the result of inconsiderate behavior." (Oh, and that one is new. But I liked it).
• "Conflict in life is inevitable. Conflict escalation and intractability is not." (Alright, that one is new as well.  Back to the old stuff).
• "There's enough ugly going on around us right now without our own people bringing it down on us."
• "Each of us should be serving as a positive example of how to do the job, volunteer or career, and without acting like a bunch of amateurs and whackers."
• "The important part in our lives, really, isn't necessarily what we can fill up our minds with at every moment, but about creating space to let more in."
• "There are a few things that you should raise the stakes for, like your faith, your family, and your country.  But when faced with an unwinnable scenario and a profound lack of resources, sometimes it is best to save what you can save and live to fight on another day."
• "Where t = tempo, r = resources and f = frustration: increasing t multiplied by decreasing r = exponential increase in f."
• "The taxpayers in your community ultimately decide what level of service they want.  If they are insistent that giving you no resources is okay, then they have to be educated to what extent that investment will reap disaster.  Risk is proportionate to return."
• "There are other sides to every argument that get squashed by the rush of the ADD crowd to comment.  Don't fall into the trap of the unenlightened.  Think before you post."
• "I can think of no rational society that thinks it is okay to screw the disadvantaged for the benefit of the privileged.  Taking advantage of the less fortunate is simply bullying."
• "When we use the phrase 'customer service", if that's not appealing to you, try saying it like this: 'doing what is right for our neighbors and the people who visit and work in our community'.  That should be a little more pleasant."
• "Successful coaches match schemes to personnel, not vice-versa."
• "If you are going to successfully implement change in your organizational culture, there should be a reluctance to be where you were and a desire to get where you are going."
• "I'm pretty sure that when my ticket , I'm not going to be quoted saying something profound, poetic, or heroic.  It is likely going to be something that can't be repeated around children or the faint-hearted."
• "If we really want our industry to recognized as professional, it requires consistent conduct that is professional."
• 'Legitimate power, in the sense of leading others, is limited to the amount of leverage the followers will permit."
• "Tansformative leadership requires commitment, honesty to self, and an understanding of the world.  It's yours if you can embrace change, open yourself up to it, and set the example to others."
• "Our business is too dangerous to leave the teaching to amateurs."
• "Perhaps if you guys are going to fight fire like you are in the '70's, you should be paid like we were then too."
• "If as a team, you can't agree on the destination, someone needs to get out of the car. Ultimately, getting to the destination requires assessment, negotiation, understanding, cooperation, and ends with commitment."
• "More often than I care to, my 'command presence' comes out at inopportune times, like when I am talking to my wife (she doesn't like it), my kids (they're not crazy about it either), or my colleagues (they probably think I'm insufferable anyway)."
• "If you fail to illustrate a clear picture of who is in charge, someone else will come in and fill that drawing in for you."
• "Sometimes the best we can do is to pin it down to the neighborhood of origin, if that's what was burning when we got there."

Since at some point perhaps I'll add another page of these for the next years, if one of the sentences I uttered strikes a chord with you, point it out to me and I'll add it.  I'm all about customer service.  Until next time, thanks for reading.