It was just after lunch when my pager went off, a cardiac arrest. While the others rushed to the station to collect the fire truck, medical gear and uniforms, I went straight to the house as it was between mine and the station. Not recommended, but I had my gear and time matters. On arrival I found a father who had passed away while sitting on the couch watching TV with his two adult children. They thought he was asleep. As we did CPR, our focus narrowed to this gentleman and in time his family. The room quickly filled with ambulance officers, but despite all our efforts he was already gone. As To View More >>

Don’t just sit there! Do something! Over the years I’ve been and done many things. Everyone has. In my case, I’ve been a Xerox salesman, a volunteer firefighter, and a successful entrepreneur. Believe it or not, all these seemingly unrelated personas had at least one thing in common, what I’m going to talk about today, and that is: A bias toward action. What do I mean by this? I mean, if there’s a choice between sitting in a conference room planning what I’m going to do, and getting out there and doing it, I hope that I choose action. This is not to knock planning, To View More >>

My day job is Managing Director of Queensberry, but about 3 years ago I joined the New Zealand Fire Service as a Volunteer Firefighter. Not long after joining I extended my role to include Medical First Response and I now hold the rank of Senior Fire Fighter. This has offered me an amazing array of experiences and learning opportunities. I hadn't expected it, but there are some incredible parallels between handling emergency situations and running high growth organizations like ours. I use this learning daily and have found the stories of jobs I have attended to be powerful metaphors for what To View More >>

If you are in or running a disfunctional team, maybe it is a simple as people do not know who is the boss? Not an unusual situation but one that needs to be quickly and consciously resolved. Here I share my experience with this in the fire service and what can be learnt from it. One of the things the Fire Service does exceptionally well is make it clear not only that there must be a boss but also who that person is. In an emergency situation, control needs to be quickly put in place and priority given to the tasks needing to be completed. Your OIC (officer in charge) might be your best friend at To View More >>

Is it possible there is something to be learned from the Fire Service when it comes to handling customer complaints? I strongly believe so and share that learning here. Scenario: Imagine a car accident on a busy highway, multiple serious injuries and heavy traffic. You know there will be lots of screaming and emotion, and this really is a life and death situation for the people involved. The Question is ... What would you do? The amateur care giver rushes in looking for the sickest person, gets caught up in the emotion and most likely gets themselves injured or killed in the process. Not good and To View More >>

For god sake ... if you are going to be in business have some courage. Without it you will die. Firefighters are the people running into a fire when everyone else is running out. They're being brave and courageous, but that's not the same as saying they aren't scared. Whenever you go on a call you never know what you're going to get until you're there. Will this be a false alarm or the big one? Adrenaline runs for a reason and that is to prepare you for the job ahead. A healthy amount of fear keeps you safe. As I am sure you have heard before ... Courage isn't not being scared, it's being scared To View More >>

Does marriage have a lot to answer for? Hmm, good question. Personally I don't think so, but it does bring its own set of challenges. My belief is that relationships, whether with family, friends or lovers, "ebb and flow", a bit like the tide, and this means they need constant attention and will change over time. Like everyone, Sonya and my relationship has had its high points, but also some low ones. Currently things are absolutely wonderful and the low points long forgotten. The interesting thing, however, is, at their 'worst' relationships have the opportunity to become their 'best'. Why? Well, To View More >>

Recently I wrote about mates being awesome, and the best thing about joining the Fire Service is the camaraderie that comes with it. Honestly, I have never been involved in anything that has such a strong sense of community, and that holds the value of "having each other's back" so highly. It is an incredible organization for that reason. Our company, Queensberry, also has an amazing culture that fosters the feeling of one family and of looking after each other. We are very proud of the fact that, in all the past entries we've had in the "Best Places to Work Awards" we have been in the TOP 10, To View More >>

Your brand, either commercially is the some of all your parts. The way you look, the way you sound, what you do and how people perceive you. The fact that Brand is not just about a "logo" is hard for many people to understand, here I attempt to use the fire service as an example of how brands develop and live or die beyond just there name. It's hard to describe the Fire Service brand ... it's not constrained to one country, one organization or even one uniform. Each fire service feeds off the stories and identity of the next, but each retains its own approach to the emergency events they service. To View More >>

Well after less than a month with iPower I have moved web hosts due to their unreliability. I am sure this isn't the way they are permanently but over the last week my site was down on a number of occasions for hours, and I have lost my confidence. I am very sorry for the inconvenience caused ... grrr. One of the interesting observations is that they weren't prepared to go into detail of what the technical issue was, just each time that "it was a router and it's now fixed". I guess companies do this due to being scared of looking bad, but left with no convincing information I was forced to move To View More >>