07/02/2026
The hardest advice I ever got as a fire chief came over breakfast. From a man who had no reason to sugarcoat it.
I was a fairly new chief at the time. Making changes. Hitting goals. And losing my people while I did it.
I could feel it. The trust was not there. They followed the rank, not the man. And I could not figure out why.
So I did something most chiefs never do. I asked for help.
I reached out to a friend and mentor who had watched more chiefs succeed and fail than anyone I knew. We met for breakfast. He asked what was going well, and then we got into what was not.
At some point he asked how much time I was spending out of the office.
I told him the truth. Not as much as I should.
He looked at me and said, Chris, you need to get out more. If your people do not know you, they will not follow you.
It stung. Because I knew he was right the moment he said it.
I walked out of that breakfast a different chief. But I also walked out with a question that never left me.
How many fire service leaders are struggling with the exact same thing right now, with no one to call?
The fire service promotes people and then leaves them to figure out the hardest part of the job alone. The conversations. The culture. The isolation of the chair. We hand them a rulebook and act like that covers it.
That question is why The Thinking Chief Leadership Group exists. Coaching, training, and honest assessment built from the chief's chair, for the leaders still sitting in it. So the next struggling chief has someone to call before the trust is gone.
One breakfast changed my career. I built a company so it does not have to come down to luck for yours.
The link is in the first comment.
