Leadership Development Programs
We offer three distinctly different officer development programs.
The Leader’s Toolbox is a 1-3 day program designed to help line personnel and supervisors work effectively as a team toward a common goal. Each program is customized based on identified needs of the participants using a facilitated adult learning exercise at the start of the program.
The Company Officer Development Institute is a weeklong program designed for company officers and those aspiring to be promoted into company officer positions.
The Chief Officer Leadership Institute is a weeklong program designed for chief officers and those aspiring to be promoted into chief officer positions.
Program Descriptions
Leader’s Toolbox
All building fires eventually go out. But the fires in your department can burn for years, causing unbelievable damage. The Leader’s Toolbox is lively and fast-paced, interactive facilitated discussion designed to address the challenges you face as leaders of people in emergency services. The program will focus on traits of human behavior that will help you understand why people do, and don’t do, what you want them to.
The program also looks at your style and behaviors, in a non-threatening way intertwined with humor, to help you understand how your behaviors and beliefs toward others influence their attitudes and performance. You’ll be introduced to best practices that are used by successful leaders in all walks of life and understand why some people can make leadership look so easy and effortless while others struggle with it daily. Come prepared to discuss some of your most difficult leadership challenges and leave with leadership tools that work!
The agenda of topics for this session are customized and developed following a facilitated needs assessment conducted with attendees on the onset on the program. Popular topics from past programs have included:
- Teambuilding
- Communications
- Social media
- Problem solving
- Leadership
- Misbehaving employees
- Buddy to Boss
- Motivating employees
- Time management
- Conflicting roles and priorities
- Company officer leadership
- Leading up the chain of command
- Dealing with difficult people
- Providing non-confrontational performance feedback
- Developing presentation outlines
- Public speaking skills
- Storytelling as a teaching skill
This program is presented and facilitated by Fire Chief Richard B. Gasaway.
Company Officer Development Institute
The Company Office Development Institute was created to strengthen front-line supervision and leadership skills of company officers and aspiring company officers. All too often, firefighters are promoted into the position of company officer without first having the opportunity to participate in a program to develop the skills needed to lead their team to success.
The results are predictable. The newly promoted company officer faces challenges they are not prepared to handle. This causes a great deal of frustration, anxiety, and in some cases can be career damaging. It can also damage relationships and prohibit the success of the company. This weeklong program is designed to help build tomorrow’s leaders…Today!
It is based on proven strategies and skill development that prepares a company officer for success. This is a dynamic, interactive program addressing skills related to teambuilding, communications, problem solving, motivation, time management, role conflict, coaching, discipline and much more.
Participants include aspiring company officers, newly promoted company officers and veteran company officers wanting to sharpen their supervisory and leadership skills.
This program is facilitated by Fire Chief Richard B. Gasaway and Indianapolis Fire Department Lieutenant Patrick Harper.
Chief Officer Leadership Institute
The Chief Officer Leadership Institute (COLI) is a development program designed for newly promoted and aspiring chief-level officers. The program helps develop, enhance and refine the qualities essential for leading a modern fire service organization. The program strives to help aspiring and newer chief officers achieve success by preparing them for the challenges of taking on greater organizational responsibility.
The program will provide new knowledge, build self-awareness of strengths and opportunities for personal development, facilitate changes in personal perspective, develop skills for being successful at the strategic-level and share tools for creating influence, motivating and changing behaviors.
Participants include aspiring chief officers, newly promoted chief officers and veteran chief officers wanting to sharpen their strategic leadership, personnel and influencing skills.
This program is facilitated by Fire Chief Richard B. Gasaway. Guest presenters include respected and experienced chief officers throughout the United States and Canada.
