Fully Involved Leadership: Successful Strategies in Leadership from the Firefighter to the Fire Chief

by Gary Ludwig, John Buckman III (Foreword)

One of the fire service’s most well-known and respected leaders reveals principles and events that have shaped his and other chief's careers and leadership values that no “cookie-cutter” leadership or management book can provide. The real-world experiences and lessons that are vividly detailed in the book provide a roadmap for any aspiring firefighter wishing to be promoted, a company or chief officer looking to go to the next level, or a fire chief who wishes to further develop their leadership skills. Fully Involved Leadership, written by Chief Gary Ludwig addresses the tenets of leading firefighters at all ranks and levels, and provides a blueprint for not only motivating firefighters but inspiring them; not showing them how much you know, but how much you care; that leadership is not a position or title - it is an action and examples; reminding you that rank does not equate to leadership, the inverted table of organization, and much more! Fully Involved Leadership is filled with powerful leadership topics and at its core addresses the values of trust; the two key qualities needed to be a fire service leader – character and competence; how to keep your emotions in check by using I before E – intelligence before emotions; how to keep from making a wrong decision; why it is important to show honor to your firefighters, plus a whole lot more! Chief Ludwig offers warm and engaging stories of not only his experiences but other chief officers and how they learned from their mistakes when it comes to leadership. Chief Ludwig provides insights and hard lessons learned that makes you reflect upon the question, “Who would you follow if your life depended upon it?

Genres: Leadership

253 pages, Paperback

Published March 14, 2019

About the author

Writer/novelist Gary Ludwig was born into a family active in country music and motorsports. His mother was a country music singer, his father a guitarist, and family members were competitors in championship automobile racing for many years.

A week after graduating from high school he left home to work on the state and county fair circuit, spending months meeting and working with carnies, roustabouts, clowns, and famous and not so famous entertainers. He befriended the aged and legendary strongman "The Mighty Atom", who gave him lessons about human nature and show business.

Ludwig started his career in radio, eventually working as a producer, copywriter, news and sports writer, marketing manager, morning radio host, and on-air country music disc jockey.

He began working in advertising, and before that was a columnist for the weekly auto-racing tabloid Illustrated Speedway News and at the same time wrote and anchored Speedsport Commentary Radio Network news segments.

Later he founded a small regional magazine in Central Pennsylvania, writing news, commentary, lifestyle reports, plus feature articles and 19th century American history narratives, while serving as publisher.
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Reviews

[Kyle Sutter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great approach to life, inspire others through intentionality, values, and passion. Pretty simple really.

[Blake Markle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book that I felt was full of “basic” leadership mindsets. However, as I read through the chapters I found that my own department struggle with 90% of these basic mindsets and is the catalyst to many of the issues within the department. I think any officer or aspiring officer should read this book as it can be a foundation to their leadership strategy.

[Dustin Champlain · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not genuine

Good lessons but very self centered. When writing a quote you should not give yourself credit for quotes that you did not even come up with. Not should you use your own quotes in your own book. Not a good leadership tsctic

[Raul Reyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its always good to read books on leadership in the fire service.

This book is a must read, I wish I would have read this book when I first started my position as a company officer. Its never to late to read and pass on what I have learned!

[Bruce Quint · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been in the fire service for 43 years. This book provided a wealth of knowledge. Thank you Chief for your work and all that you put forth in the book.

[Brett Hotchkiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

Very insightful, easy to read, hard to put down. The nuggets of wisdom that Chief shares are priceless. Highly recommend adding this to you library.

[Dezarae]

A lot of the context is wonderful and helpful information. I love the end of each chapter reflections and questions. I however found the quoting himself at every chapter in the book a bit self absorbed. Especially since there are almost no other quotes from other Firefighters. Great message overall.

[Rudy Horist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on common sense leadership

Over my 37 year career in the fire service I have read a lot of leadership books. This one I would put in my top 10