In this episode of the Crew First Culture podcast, Jeremy Sanders delves into the significance of organizational culture, particularly within firehouse settings. He emphasizes that culture is an inherent aspect of any organization, shaped by the actions and attitudes of its members, especially the station officers. Jeremy discusses the challenges of fostering a positive culture and the importance of leading by example to instigate meaningful cultural change. He encourages leaders to actively influence their teams and highlights that while cultural change is difficult, it is essential for growth and success.

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No matter where or what you came from, great things can come from you!

In this episode, Jeremy Sanders explores the profound nature of compassion and the importance of understanding our own darkness before we can truly support others. He emphasizes that compassion is not about providing answers but about being present with those who are suffering. The conversation delves into the necessity of self-healing and setting boundaries to maintain our own mental health while helping others. Jeremy shares insights from various thinkers, including Pima Chödrön and Carl Jung, to illustrate the depth of these themes.

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No matter where or what you came from, great things can come from you!

Leadership Lesson Learned #3 may be a hard sell to some of you out there, but hear me out. I lay out the complexities of leadership expectations and how they can hinder team dynamics. My view of expectations changed forever after a pivotal conversation with Benjamin Martin in Episode 121. If I can't sway you to completely agree I think that you will at least see the importance of simplifying expectations, focusing on cultural goals, and leading by example to foster a more engaged and autonomous team environment.

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No matter where or what you came from, great things can come from you!

Leadership Lesson Learned #2 was an important one for me - sometimes you have taken someone as far as you can take them. This was a challenge for me as a leader because it came down to a moral issue for me that I discuss. I talk about what I learned as far as where we should be placing our time and energy and what happens if we misplace those priorities. I share the story of how this lesson was learned and yes it was definitely learned the hard way so don't listen in and don't make the same mistakes that I did.

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No matter where or what you came from, great things can come from you!

It is such an honor to not only be recording the 200th episode of the podcast but to share the experience with 2 of my closest brothers truly made it special. Please do not miss this conversation in which Marc Maikoski, Nate "Tuna" Gardner, and I dive into authenticity and vulnerability. This was such a great conversation and one that is sure to bring inspiration and hope to anyone who listens.

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No matter where or what you came from, great things can come from you!

In this episode I am starting a new series titled Leadership Lessons Learned (L3). The content of this series comes from a document that I made for the purposes of sharing some of the lessons that I learned the hard way with young officers. In lesson #1 I talk about the lessons that I learned due to my lack of preparedness to lead grown men and women. I hope you take the time to listen to the mistakes that I made and the lessons that I learned the hard way so that you may not have to make the same mistakes yourself.

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No matter where or what you came from, great things can come from you!

I firmly believe that burnout doesn't come from what we do, it happens when we allow life to cause us to forget why we are doing it. This is something that I think is playing a huge roll in the fire service. We have to find our why and once we find it we can't let outside forces cause us to forget it. It has to be about something much larger than ourselves if we want to survive a productive, healthy, and fulfilling career.

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No matter where or what you came from, great things can come from you!

“For every minute you remain angry, you give up 60 seconds of peace.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

I’m like so many of you out there, I’m angry! But anger and negativity are the last things that I want to be consumed with. So how do we fix it? How do we avoid the anger while knowing that we may not be able to remove ourselves from what the source of anger? Listen in as I try to solve this problem for myself and discover some really important things that I can turn my focus to and anchor myself on.

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No matter where or what you came from, great things can come from you!

So many times we waste great opportunities or are simply just not happy with results because they don’t look like what we are expecting them to look like. We have exactly what we need at any given moment, but if we don’t keep our eyes and mind open we can miss it.

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No matter where or what you came from, great things can come from you!

"They tried to bury me but they didn't know that I was a seed."

We will never achieve the growth that we were meant to achieve without being buried a few times. Whether those who stand against you like it or not, God is just using them to get us exactly where He knows that we need to be.

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No matter where or what you came from, great things can come from you!