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First In, Last Out
Leadership Lessons from the New York Fire Department
by John Salka
List Price: 15.00
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Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Portfolio Trade (February 22 2005)
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Read an Excerpt

Leadership Lessons from the New York Fire Department
'What makes them do it?'is a question I have been asked hundreds of times in the course of my travels through the United States and other parts of the world. It is a natural question.

Chapter 1: You're the Chief
I've been working on this book for more than twenty years, ever since I stepped down from the cab of 11 Truck's apparatus and came face to face with a big fire that was gutting a ConEd plant on Manhattan's Lower East Side.

Chapter 1: You're the Chief, Part 2
'First in, last out.' That sums up the leadership code of the FDNY. Like most other leadership principles, it's a simple concept, but one that's difficult to live up to. Company officers are expected to be the first into every fire and the last to leave.



Book Description

Would the people who work for you follow you into a burning building?

What does it take to lead people into a burning building? How do the leaders of the New York City Fire Department develop so much loyalty, trust, and grace under pressure that their subordinates will risk their very lives for them?

As a high-ranking officer of the FDNY, John Salka is an expert at both practicing and teaching high-stakes leadership. In First In, Last Out, he explains the department's unique strategies and how they can be adopted by leaders in any field - as he has taught them to organizations around the country. In a tough-talking, no-nonsense style, Salka uses real-world stories to convey leadership imperatives such as: first in, last out - your people need to see you taking the biggest risk, as the first one to

  • enter the danger zone and the last to leave
  • manage change - the fire you fought yesterday is not the one you'll be fighting tomorrow
  • communicate aggressively - a working radio is worth more than 20,000 gallons of water
  • create an execution culture - focus your people on the flames, not the smoke
  • commit to reality - never allow the way you would like things to be to color how things are
  • develop your people - let them feel a little heat today or they'll get burned tomorrow

Illustrated by harrowing real-life situations, the principles in First In, Last Out will help managers become more confident, coherent, and commanding.

About the Author

John SalkaJohn Salka

John Salka rose through the ranks of the New York City Fire Department from firefighter to lieutenant, captain, and now battalion chief (the second highest command), a position in which he manages more than 150 men. He also teaches leadership to other fire departments across the country and to outside organizations like the U.S. Marine Corps..

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