Posts

Do You Serve or Deserve? Part 2

By Rick Davis / March 11, 2024 / Comments Off on Do You Serve or Deserve? Part 2

Last week in Part 1, I described a couple of examples using the word deserve. This week we will take a deeper look into the subject. Servanthood depth As a member of the John Maxwell Leadership Team, I heard the CEO Mark Cole deliver a presentation titled Leadership Depth: Going Deeper so You Can Take…

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Do You Serve or Deserve? Part 1

By Rick Davis / March 4, 2024 / Comments Off on Do You Serve or Deserve? Part 1

The interview A young man wearing a suit and tie entered the room, introduced himself, and took a seat before an interview panel of which I was participating in. He was seeking a position as a firefighter with our agency and although he had no previous experience, he spoke as if he were a fifteen-year…

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Personal Development is Like Climbing a Ladder

By Rick Davis / February 26, 2024 / Comments Off on Personal Development is Like Climbing a Ladder

In a career, climbing the ladder often refers to vertical movement through an organizational hierarchy. Are you ascending the ladder of personal development or are you watching someone else go higher while you whittle away time? Are you trying to climb the ladder of development by yourself or are others helping you? The photo shows…

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Are You Caught in the Wire?

By Rick Davis / February 19, 2024 / Comments Off on Are You Caught in the Wire?

The photo depicts a life size diorama of a World War I German solider cutting barbed wire. The display is from the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and is a perfect illustration of how we become tangled up and caught in the wire with the circumstances of life. We are eight…

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Who Are You Imprinting, Following, and Impacting? Part 2

By Rick Davis / February 12, 2024 / Comments Off on Who Are You Imprinting, Following, and Impacting? Part 2

In last week’s blog post, I mentioned an online article titled, Why Your Dog Follows You Everywhere, According to Behaviorists by Katelyn Chef. The article described “imprinting,” when “young puppies up to six months of age can imprint on their owners and learn to read social cues as they would their birth mother.”1 Imprinting and…

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Who Are You Imprinting, Following, and Impacting?

By Rick Davis / February 5, 2024 / Comments Off on Who Are You Imprinting, Following, and Impacting?

The photo shows our dog Java. She is a fifteen-pound, Toy Australian Shepherd/Rat Terrier mix, and in my opinion one of the smartest dogs walking around on four legs. When Java first became a part of our family, she would shy away from me. But over time, by picking her up, holding and petting her,…

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Are You Bridging or Creating Gaps With People

By Rick Davis / January 28, 2024 / Comments Off on Are You Bridging or Creating Gaps With People

Do you believe a generation gap exists in our society? Do you complain that the younger generation does not listen, or they do not care? As a leader entrusted with the care of others, are you bridging or creating generation gaps? The authoritative battalion chief Periodically, I met with another battalion chief from a neighboring…

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Gators Gobbling Gators

By Rick Davis / January 21, 2024 / Comments Off on Gators Gobbling Gators

In October 2021, media outlets including USA Today ran a story showing video of one alligator eating another alligator in Horry County, South Carolina.1 The video is an incredible account of one large reptile gobbling up a smaller one. According to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, “Alligators will eat almost anything, including each…

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How Do You Create a Leadership Development Plan?

By Rick Davis / January 15, 2024 / Comments Off on How Do You Create a Leadership Development Plan?

In the January 10th blog, I wrote, “as leaders if we do not have a plan to develop ourselves, then we resemble the steel ball inside a pinball machine. Bouncing off the bumpers and making a lot of noise but showing little progress for the effort.” How do you create a leadership development plan that…

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Do You Have Planning Tools for Personal Development?

By Rick Davis / January 8, 2024 / Comments Off on Do You Have Planning Tools for Personal Development?

In last week’s blog, I encouraged people to start a leadership journal for 2024. I also referred to a leadership development plan. In my book The Furnace of Leadership Development, How to Mold Integrity and Character in Today’s World, I wrote, “In order to develop as leaders, we must map the route and not rely…

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Fire Officer Leadership Academy

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