Western MAFire Chiefs Assoc. Leadership Academy

The Western Massachusetts Fire Chiefs Association recently hosted the 2023 Leadership Academy. Chief Willian Greenwood’s program filled the conference room with 65 attendees each day, with firefighters and officers from five years to 35years on the job seeking professional development on today’s hot button topics and officer challenges.

Day 1 consisted of two great classes. Critical Decision Making Under Fire which made sense of the modern-day fire science while wearing full PPE/SCBA; and Extreme Leadership 3.0 - about bridging the Leadership/Generational Gap. Understanding the why of human behaviors.

Day 2 began with another two programs on under- standing human behaviors during RITactivations and preparing senior management staff officers on Managing the Chaos of a Firefighter Mayday. The final program of the academy was developing plans to manage compensating behaviors, interpersonal dynamics and conflict resolution modeling for all levels.

Western MAchiefs developed the Leadership Academy to offer professional development for future leaders of the fire service. The goal is to supply leading tactical and leadership programs for local fire service personnel. If you have a program, you are interested in presenting, contact Chief Russ Anderson (ret.) at russand21@comcast.net.

- Submitted by Chief Russ Anderson