EMS Leadership Topics with Dana Love

Upcoming Fall Season and Speaking Engagements

Wed, 9 Sep 2009 05:53:12 -0400

Our summer vacation draws to a close, and we wanted to share some ideas we're working on for our fall season! You've given us great feedback on topic ideas, on our format and on ways to improve, and with more than 1,400 subscribers (on iTunes and to the website), you're a loud voice!

Some great material is coming up. We left last season with the STARS cliffhanger - how to succeed in your first 90 days of a new role - and we will finish and recap that management model for you. We'll also talk about the cult of "evidence based medicine", and why it looks more and more like the confirming evidence trap and less like an agnostic view of the facts.

I also give a schedule of retention and leadership talks I'm giving over the next few months. I hope to see you at them -- let me know you're a viewer! I'll be one of a two-person team at the Tidewater EMS Council facility in Norfolk this weekend talking about retention, and I'll be spending two days on retention and recruitment at a large event in West Virginia. The Self-Aware Leader presentation has been reworked and added to for this year's Virginia EMS Symposium in Norfolk, held this November.

I look forward to seeing you, and I'm excited about the fall season. See you soon!

Personnel Safety and Accelerated Growth

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 07:10:21 -0400

We often talk about a “culture of safety” in EMS and fire services, and ask any EMT or paramedic the first words in a scenario and you will hear a rousing chorus of “Scene Safe! BSI!”, but are we really promoting safety?

I propose we’re not.

While safety is a relative thing, and there is always dynamic tension between safety and our work, the increasing evidence points out some key deficiencies in our industry practices.

Like, you know, our ambulances are death traps. Our personnel are under supervised and sometimes fail to use (or aren’t provided with) the right PPE for a task.

Some agencies are doing this right. I talk about two, one in Virginia and one in Florida.

We also talk about the third of the STARS transitions - accelerated growth. There’s some real value in using this method to find the best management style to deliver maximum change.

Plus, the podcast talks about Tulsa, Oklahoma, and how not to respond to city council’s request for information. Seriously, what the hell?!

Mentoring and Economy

Tue, 7 Jul 2009 20:59:16 -0400

Where else will you combine advice about state and local budgets, a discussion about property values, mentoring ideas and quotes from The Godfather, all while addressing some of the most pressing issues facing EMS and fire leadership today?

More than 1,400 people watch EMS Leadership Topics, the video podcast where best practices meet useful advice.

Today’s episode looks at the economy. (Editor’s note: Yes, I know we just talked about it last month.) But since then, California’s been refused Federal money, seven states have no budget...and Dana’s prediction that state revenues will drop by another 20% over the next year are combined with a desire to develop a communication plan for your agency.

We also talk about mentoring, especially important to keep your quality staff and develop a team mentality. So much to do, so much to talk about.

Coming up in our next episode: accelerating growth in your business (no, not by running over them) and a discussion about one agency’s problems when they got rid of field supervisors.

Subscribe on iTunes, and join The Leaders List! Both are free, so both have value beyond their cost! Forgive the economist’s pun...

Economy and Turnarounds

Thu, 28 May 2009 08:18:30 -0400

Is it coincidence that we talk about the economy and turnaround transitions in the same episode?

How the economic outlook impact the ambulance services used to be a philosophical conversation, one we’d have over a few beers. Now, we’re crying in our beer. Layoffs, hiring freezes, pay cuts, no overtime...this wasn’t the public sector we knew before!

Complacence put our service at risk, in many parts of the country, and pulling ourselves out of the muck won’t be a simple task. We talk a little about how an agency in New Zealand is looking at delivering tomorrow’s EMS service.

Here’s a hint: It doesn’t involve yesterday’s thinking!

We also talk about the second of our STARS transitions, the turnaround.

Challenge and Start-up Transition

Wed, 6 May 2009 07:06:53 -0400

The floodgates are open. We're hoping to break the 1,400 download mark with Episode 18, so forward this to colleagues and friends who you think might benefit from the podcast.

We talk about two different topics in this episode. First, the VAVRS Leadership Challenge, and the importance of leadership training. This was our first "location shoot", so it's the first time we got outside the studio (which is a fancy way of saying my basement) to do a segment. The VAVRS and Leadership Organics team put on a new Challenge in Middletown, and I was there to participate as a coach during the last day. Combining two pieces of work - coaching and shooting a podcast - was fun.

Second, you asked for more detail about how to succeed in a new role. We try to give you what you ask for! The topic "The First 90 Days" rolled around a few months ago, and there's been an increasing amount of email looking for a more detailed treatment of the subject.

Plus....no swine flu update, because we don’t rent pigs!

Changeover

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:07:31 -0400

The new site is now the place for new podcasts, and this seventeenth video podcast is the first to go live at the website www.emsleadershiptopics.com!

It’s also my Easter greeting to you...and my chance to correct a mistake from the last episode.

I provided the wrong URL for the Leadership Organics company, the consulting organization which worked on both the VAVRS Leadership Challenge and the Virginia Office of EMS’s Keeping the Best! recruitment program.

Their correct URL is www.leadershiporganics.org.

Stay tuned for new material and new ideas on our new website!

Agency Excellence and Performance Measures

Mon, 6 Apr 2009 17:37:36 -0400

This podcast continues our exclusive interview with Jake Mazulewicz ( his website is at www.jakemaztraining.com), but the focus of the conversation shifts dramatically.

Jake provides some very tangible ways to test your performance as an educator, basic measures which describe an underlying truth about how well you perform in the classroom.

That got us talking about performance measures in general, and about how to inspire excellence in your agency during a down economic cycle.

Plus, I talk about rental pigs.

It’s amazing the stuff people paint on their property!

We’ve been expanding the new site - www.emsleadershiptopics.com, and we’ve put together a Leaders List to keep subscribers and anyone interested in leadership in the ambulance industry up to date on new and emerging trends.

Education

Mon, 9 Mar 2009 17:10:45 -0400

We spend the entire episode talking about the importance of education in our profession, and work through some ideas on how to both promote good education and nurture good educators.

This is the first interview done on the podcast, and it’s pretty exciting to tackle such a complex issue. Let us know how you liked it, or where we can improve!

The topic deserves more than one episode, so we will get into more detail in upcoming EMS Leadership Topics episodes.

I also answer some viewer mail from New York and Georgia, and take a look at a recent job survey which ranked our profession in third place.

We’ve been expanding the new site - www.emsleadershiptopics.com, and we’ve put together a Leaders List to keep subscribers and anyone interested in leadership in the ambulance industry up to date on new and emerging trends.

The Framing Trap

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 21:59:38 -0500

Today’s episode, number 14, has a bunch of neat information. We spend time talking about the last of our decision making traps, and I’ve held the most esoteric for last! It’s called the framing trap - and it’s not so much a trap as a given.

It was the subject of Nobel prize winning work in economics, which became the basis for an entire field of psychological research. I reference work done by the Nobel laureates in this podcast, making it the second of the EMS Leadership Topics to reference a Nobel winner.

To be fair, Al Gore was only an incidental reference. Tversky and Kahneman are central to this topic!

We also look at performance measurement, starting with an update on the Virginia EMS system as seen through the eyes of the JLARC.

Our new site has gone up - www.emsleadershiptopics.com. It’s just a front page now, but we’ll be updating information there over the coming weeks!

Luddites

Wed, 4 Feb 2009 20:00:33 -0500

How do I connect a 19th Century sockmaker with the 21st Century ambulance services? You’ll just have to watch to find out! As an added bonus, during a dream sequence, you’ll get to see a big bag of crazy get opened up.

That’s right, the first EMS Leadership Topics dream sequence....

A second segment talks about dealing with the Confirming Evidence Trap. Connecting global warming and the death penalty with intubation, paid-only agencies and monster medics, this is a wild ride.

In our next episode, we’ll be talking about the last of the decision making traps, the Framing Trap, and we’ll take a look at the economy, budgets and performance measures for the EMS industry.

For new leaders and experienced veterans, EMS Leadership Topics offers timely, actionable advice and a unique point of view you’re not likely to encounter anywhere else!

The Sunk Cost Trap

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 20:00:26 -0500

Your emails about the series on decision making and the traps that plague all of us have really been great! This podcast includes a segment about one of those traps: the sunk cost trap.

A second segment talks about dealing with a new leadership position, and how to tell if you’re using the right leadership style. (Hint: if you’re not clear that there’s more than one leadership style, this podcast is for you!) It doesn’t matter if you’re the President of the United States, a new equipment officer for your department or have just been promoted to a deputy chief’s role - how you manage the first 90 days in your new role define your success in that role. Let me know if you like the material, and I’ll go into more detail.

In our next episode, we’ll be talking about a new decision making trap, the Confirming Evidence Trap, and we’ll take a humorous look at how Luddites infest the ranks of the ambulance services.

For new leaders and experienced veterans, EMS Leadership Topics offers timely, actionable advice and a unique point of view you’re not likely to encounter anywhere else!

Mentoring

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 20:00:46 -0500

A number of subscribers have asked about the EMS Leadership Challenge. This episode provides some insight into that excellent program - where it came from, how it was developed, why it’s valuable - and offers context for management coaching and the process of mentoring leaders.

A second segment deals with the recession and current problems with EMS funding in Virginia, and offers suggestions to address the shortfall with legislators.

In our next episode, we’ll be talking about a new decision making trap, the Sunk Cost Trap, and we’ll look at ways to make your first three months of the new year wildly successful as a leader.

For new leaders and experienced veterans, EMS Leadership Topics offers timely, actionable advice and a unique point of view you’re not likely to encounter anywhere else!

The New Year