Chief Gary Ludwig On Becoming A Fully Involved Leader

Title: Gary Ludwig – What Makes a Leader

Competence and Character

Gary Ludwig worked with the City of St. Louis immediately after finishing high school. After 25 years of service, he is the retired chief paramedic at St.Louis Fire Department and now he is the fire chief of Champaign Fire Department, Illinois.

In his new book “Fully Involved Leadership,” Ludwig shared his approach for other generations of leaders to improve their power and enhance their relationship with firemen. Each chapter mentions different factors that make a good leader with discussions and stories from Ludwig’s own experiences as well as other fire chiefs. He also talked about the inspirations throughout the writing process of the book.

In the interview, Ludwig narrowed down the key components that he believes are essential for leaders to have: competence and character. It is his upbringing background that infused these characteristics which enable him to be who he is today as a “fully-involved” leader.

“I think that a quality of leadership that is needed is, if you want respect, you have to be able to give respect. […] If I say something, what I say, doesn't have a lot of substance behind it because I don't have the competence. So the same thing, if I was confident and I was a liar and a cheater, I backstab people and they can tell when I'm lying because my lips are moving and I wouldn't have any character”.

Ludwig expressed his thoughts about current leaders as he mentioned that they have to be the role models that motivate and inspire firefighters. He also criticized those who abuse their power and ranks to cause their staff to make a mistake on purpose. Moreover, the importance of having both key qualities of competence and character was further explained as he talked about an example of leaders who cannot manage a fire scene:

“You may have an excellent character where you've talked to your employees. You've mentioned them. You have integrity, you have honesty. You always tell them the truth, but at the same time, you can't manage a fire ground. You have no confidence. And so you won't be seen as a leader”.

Intelligence Before Emotion

In the book “Fully Involved Leadership,” Chief Ludwig also mentioned the lessons from the military that can be adopted as an approach in fire service training. He believes that the American military is a good environment to prepare our young generation for the role that they will be, including leadership. They have to go through various types of training to be molded and progressed as their career. On a personal level, Ludwig applied the model of military training in his department as he does one-on-one mentoring with the firemen to advance leadership skills from one to another. He suggested that there are many opportunities and educational programs that can elevate firemen’s leadership skills and prepare them for future executive roles.

Another takeaway that Ludwig put in one chapter of the book is how to control emotions while being a leader. He pointed out that firemen are trained to be problem solvers which led to the fact that they have to make a quick decision on the spot as there is a lack of time or information. Therefore, they cannot expect positive consequences all the time. It is important for leaders to “use intelligence before emotion” and acknowledge the separation between making decisions at the fire scene and in the office.

Chief Ludwig provides us with outstanding and valuable knowledge on ways to approach leadership in the fire department, leaving inspiring notes for the future generation of leaders.

His book “Fully Involved Leadership” as well as his previous ones are available on Amazon and his website: www.garyludwigbooks.com.

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