Taking the Cape Off: How to Lead Through Mental Illness, Unimaginable Grief and Loss

by Patrick J. Kenny

A Personal Guide on How to Lead through Mental Illness, Unimaginable Grief, and Loss Taking the Cape Off shares Fire Chief Pat Kenny's journey to overcome his perceived failure as a leader in his most cherished duty, that of being a protector. His "Cape" failed to protect his 20-year-old son Sean from dying by suicide after a lifelong battle with mental illness. His anguish was complicated by his role as the leader of a fire department. This is not a story of darkness but rather one of hope as he reveals the path he took to move forward with his life and return to a leadership role. In this book, he will
This comprehensive handbook is for leaders in any profession, for grief-stricken parents, and for anyone who struggles with the stigma of mental health. You will receive insight and guidance from the author’s personal experiences to help you understand and embrace the limitations of your leadership—your Cape—so that you can serve those suffering from mental illness, enhance your leadership, and enrich your life.

TAKING THE CAPE OFF is a 2022 Gold Recipient of the Mom’s Choice Awards® Honoring Excellence.

TAKING THE CAPE OFF won the Gold Medal Award in the Non-Fiction – Grief/Hardship category for the 2021 Readers' Favorite International Book Award Contest.

TAKING THE CAPE OFF is an Award-Winning Finalist in the Parenting & Family, and Spirituality categories of the 2021 Best Book Awards sponsored by American Book Fest.

342 pages, Paperback

Published November 18, 2020

About the author

PATRICK J. KENNY has been a member of the fire service for over 38 years, currently serving as the Fire Chief in Western Springs, Illinois. He has been a Chief Officer for over 20 years and a speaker in multiple countries on Mayday for Mental Health® for more than a decade. He has articles published in the areas of mental health, leadership, fire safety, and fire code challenges. He was awarded the Fire Chief of the Year in 2004 by the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association. He was awarded the Fire Engineering/International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI) George D. Post Instructor of the Year Award for 2020.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had the pleasure to meet Chief Kenny while I was working with the Fire Department. His genuine character is truly present both in person and throughout this book. He is a man with integrity, strength, empathy and is well respected in the fire service.

Reading this book was difficult. But his perseverance to overcome such personal hardship and to keep leading his department is inspiring. This was an introduction to mental health awareness that is necessary in our world and especially among (and for) all first responders.

I applaud him for his courage to share his family’s story with the world; for his dedication to share Sean and Eileen’s health journeys so that others will know they are not alone and especially for allowing himself to take the cape off and just be Pat.

Congratulations Chief; you did your family proud!

Mental health takes a big step to the forefront in this book. The resources and lessons learned will help others who are walking this same path and hopefully lead them to services that can help them.

[Mindy W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting with good info... in the beginning. But I lost interest about 2/3 of the way through. It seemed the points were made early on and the last two sections could've been reduced or even incorporated earlier in the book.

[Dan Colantuono · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glad to see someone finally taking about what we all struggle with.