My Thoughts

As I read the article I started to visualize and relate it to my younger self, back when I was a rookie in the fire service and it brought back fond memories of me and my fellow brothers in the fire service of my past. I was once this highly motivated and prideful fire fighter that Lasky speaks of. Now I'm not old by any means but the fire service during my life as a fire fighter has changed dramatically since my first visit to the volunteer department that started it all for me 14 years ago. I can't help but think what happened to that guy he speaks of. Where is the motivation to learn more and just basically be more not expecting anything in return. I look back on my career and see that I had a burning passion for a better future in the fire service. I wanted to learn and grow with the people around me because they had the same attitude as me. So we kind of fed off each other and that helped draw us closer as a fire department family. Today I can barely see my future going anywhere, it was actually at a stand still. I could blame my non motivated attitude towards things that i didn't have when I was younger. Like kids, wife, long hours at work, bills, or no desire to learn new things. But Lasky gives a good perspective on how we as fire fighters should learn from each other and trust each other more. Not only on the fire scene but also on the home front. I do agree with his aspect of pride and ownership. It is without a doubt in my mind that in order to make a good leader you must be able to own your mistakes. That is a good way to learn new and different things and it also teaches you that nobody is perfect. The fire service has changed a lot and will continue to change and grow with technology. We must embrace this new generation with open arms and consider some of their new training techniques, leading procedures, and ideas in order to help us become better leaders, better fire fighters with a better and more positive attitude.