
Wildland Fire Leadership
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Wildland Fire Leadership is blog where students of fire and leadership come together to discuss, debate and exchange leadership development concepts, experience, and thoughts with an intent to promote cultural change in the workforce and strengthen the wildland fire service and the communities they serve.
Wildland Fire Leadership
1M ago
Author: Nick Terrell, Bureau of Land Management Fire
One of the most impactful lessons I have learned recently has been the importance of self-care. Along with mental health, self-care is a buzzworthy topic in the wildland fire field. But there's a good reason for that: we are burning out at an alarming rate (not a news flash by any means in 2025). It has taken me a few years to realize it - and it’s an admission of vulnerability in doing so - but I was approaching a burnout event the year that I got injured and had to sit on the bench for fire season. Looking back, I was not making enoug ..read more
Wildland Fire Leadership
2M ago
Author: Pam McDonald, BLM Wildland Fire Training and Workforce Development
In his 2015 TedTalk, Dave Isey, founder of StoryCorps, talks about the importance of storytelling and listening to others tell their story. Storytelling is woven into the fabric of our culture. Whether it is around the camp fire after a long days work, in the vehicle coming and going to the fireline, or over a beverage, stories bind us together. Being able to tell our stories is a powerful teaching tool, but not everyone has the gift of storytelling; however, nearly everyone has a story to tell or ears t ..read more
Wildland Fire Leadership
4M ago
Author: Christopher Ayer, Corona De Tucson Fire Department
Do the stories we tell ourselves about interactions with fellow firefighters or supervisors shape our beliefs about our agency?
I joined the fire service after a long career in professional basketball. In that world, everything revolved around my ability to produce results: points scored, rebounds, blocked shots, and my plus/minus stats while I was on the court. (The plus/minus stat is a topic for another time; probably a future post.) These stats dictated my pay, my career trajectory, and where I would go next. Naturally, I ..read more
Wildland Fire Leadership
4M ago
Challenge #50: Servant-Leaders lead through influence and example.
Read “Ascending the Second Mountain.”
Optional: Read David Brook’s book The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life.
Dig deeper on the Wildland Fire Learning Portal ..read more
Wildland Fire Leadership
4M ago
Author: Nick Terrell, Bureau of Land Management Fire
Wildland fire is a highly dynamic work environment. We all know that. Because of this, I believe most of our workforce handles change on the fireline exceptionally well. Line gets burned over. Fine, we got Plan B, C, and D. But how do we handle change off the fireline? And what happens to our fitness for change over time? As wildland firefighters, are we taught to manage change well? Honestly assess your workplace culture and attitudes. How do you, your peers, your supervisors, and your subordinates react when posed with changes in the workp ..read more
Wildland Fire Leadership
6M ago
Author: Christopher Ayer, Corona De Tucson Fire Department
Can one person change an organization? At first, it may seem like an impossible task, akin to Atlas carrying the universe for eternity. But could we be overestimating the weight of this challenge? Perhaps we are all Atlas and just don't realize it yet.
Can two people or a small group influence the direction of an organization? Could they shift the culture of an agency with hundreds of employees toward positivity? I've been on a championship-caliber team that couldn’t win a game. You'd think they were different teams, but it was th ..read more
Wildland Fire Leadership
8M ago
Author: Christopher Ayer, Corona De Tucson Fire Department
Training, mentoring, practice, education, knowledge—are they different or synonymous with the same outcome? Recently, I've taken a hiatus from writing due to a new baby and enrolled in school to further my career. Just a tad busy this off-season. During class, there's been a lot of rote memorization and constant attention to definitions to pass written tests. There isn't a person reading this who hasn’t been PowerPointed to death, reading each word off a 150-slide presentation, one slide at a time. We work in a dynamic and ..read more
Wildland Fire Leadership
1y ago
(Zacharie Grossen - Own work)
Author: Pam McDonald, BLM Wildland Fire Training and Workforce Development
I recently listened to Wondery's Against The Odds podcast "K2: The Savage Mountain" about one of the worst climbing disasters of modern times. In 2008, 11 people died and 3 were injured attempting to reach the summit. "Summit fever" leads to one in five climbers losing their life on the summit. Knowing when enough is enough may very well be a successful operation. The very same should be said about wildland fire suppression operations. Every wildland firefighter sho ..read more
Wildland Fire Leadership
1y ago
(Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0
<https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
Author: Pam McDonald, BLM Wildland Fire Training and Workforce Development
Do you follow the Chinese new year and their zodiac animals?
I was born in the year of the snake and formed in the womb during the year of the wood dragon. As I begin the glide to retirement, 2024 is the year of the wood dragon; I will retire in the year of the snake. Coincidence? Not really, the calendar is on a 12-year cycle. I will be eligible to retire on my fifth cycle of the Chines ..read more
Wildland Fire Leadership
1y ago
(Photo Credit: Leadership Freak)
Author: Pam McDonald, BLM Wildland Fire Training and Workforce Development
If you are a member of the wildland fire service, you are aware of after action reviews. Good leaders conduct them after every operation, but do you conduct personal reflections? Practicing the art of self-reflection on a regular/daily basis is a valuable exercise. I
Why is self-reflection important to personal growth?
In "Self-Reflection: How To Make The Most From Every Experience," Adam Sicinski shares the following benefits:
Learn from your failures ..read more