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#21 – Leadership is Like Finding Water in the Desert

Bobbie Scopa
Published on December 10, 2019

This week’s story is interesting just on it’s surface, but there’s a whole lot more to it. The story really deals with how we deal with a supervisor. These interactions can be critical to our future profession. Over my working life I’ve often been asked how I gained my wildland fire qualifications so quickly. My flippant answer was because I found water in the desert. This story explains why I said that. But the bigger picture is how I dealt with my supervisors and provided leadership “UP”. We often think about providing leadership down in an organization. But leading up is important but can be difficult to figure out how to do. I’m not suggesting I know all the answers but I can share this example of how I dealt with a few opportunities early in my career.

If you have experiences you’d like to share leave a comment. We need to learn from everyone around us. Thanks for listening everyone.

Episode 21, Leadership is Like Finding Water in the Desert – BobbieOnFire.com
Bobbie Scopa

I've been a wildland and municipal firefighter for over 40 years. I've held positions from firefighter up through the ranks to Chief and above. Over the years I've gathered many surprising and funny stories. Most have a good leadership lesson for all of us. I hope you enjoy them.

3 comments on "#21 – Leadership is Like Finding Water in the Desert"

  • Bobbie you hit the nail on the head when you said you have to read your audience. One of the best life’s lessons you can learn. I always go with I push if my gut tells me there is an urgency and I may be seeing something that the other person doesn’t.

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