Fire Fighters have the Biggest Hearts
Many years ago when I was a kid, my family experienced a fire that was devastating for our family of eight. You can read about that experience here.
I learned to appreciate and focus on what we had and not what we lost. I saw so much love and outpouring from the community but at the time, I didn’t really give much thought to the men and women who put the fire out.
I now know, they are very brave people. We see it in our communities every day. Some of you may even be volunteer or professional fire fighters and Emergency First Responders (EMS). I want to thank you for your service!
We ALL saw the incredibly bravery of the hero’s that faced the burning towers on 9/11 in New York City. Those are images we’ll never forget. 343 Firefighters died on that day. An incredible tragedy.
This week I had the wonderful opportunity to work with a team of local fire and safety officers from a nearby town. I taught them a management class on how to understand their leadership style, identify styles of others, as well as how to delegate and motivate their volunteers based on their style.
It was a REALLY fun day and there was a lot of laughter. I did have a short panic attack though when, about an hour into class, someone’s phone beeped and then the others started ringing and vibrating! I thought “Oh no! Someone needs help and they are all going to leave.” But it didn’t happen. They each picked up their phone, looked and one by one placed it face down on the desk. Phew! The Chief said I was lucky. They didn’t get called away. And I felt lucky! Just to be training with these amazing men and women.
I started off by telling them the story of my house fire and I got to thank them for their service. It felt really good. For me. And hopefully for them too. I bet there are many that they save and rescue yet sadly, didn’t get to hear a thank you from many of them. (But that is not why they do it!)
In an amazing coincidence earlier in the week, I had a guest on my Emerge. Evolve. Lead. podcast who happened to be a retired firefighter who suffered from PTSD because of a series of traumatic incidences he experienced on the job. There was also trauma in his life as a child that he carried into adulthood.
On the podcast this week is David Hollenbach III, from Florida, who shares some pretty horrific stories that he and his team got called to handle. Some are accident scenes, some are acts of violence and then there are fires too.
I’m so grateful we have these committed officers and volunteers who, in my opinion, don’t get paid enough, to help us in emergency situations.
And a grateful thanks as well to all the nurses and doctors who save lives at the hospitals afterwards and patch people up and sometimes, have to deliver terrible news to family members. My heart goes out to them all.
It’s not an easy job. It’s not something I could ever do.
If you want to hear first hand what one Battalion Chief had to deal with, please listen to this weeks podcast. David Hollenbach is also an author and his book was just published a few months ago. Check out: Fireproof: Your Grand Strategy for Transforming Failure into Fuel for Your Future. You’ll want to buy the book and listen to this episode.
Peace and blessings to you all,
Maureen
P.S. Interested in creating a culture of confidence, authenticity and respect in your team at work? We should definitely talk. Learn to better retain your people and boost productivity at the same time. Get on my calendar to discuss possible training and team building opportunities.
Here’s what the Chief wrote me the day after class:
Emerge. Evolve. Lead. Podcast.
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