First In, Last Out: Leadership Lessons from the New York Fire Department [Hardcover]

John Salka (Author), Barret Neville (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 2004

What does it take to lead people into a burning building? How do the leaders of the New York City Fire Department develop so much loyalty, trust, and grace under pressure that their subordinates will risk their very lives for them?

As a high-ranking officer of the FDNY, John Salka is an expert at both practicing and teaching high-stakes leadership. In First In, Last Out, he explains the department’s unique strategies and how they can be adopted by leaders in any field—as he has taught them to organizations around the country. In a tough-talking, no-nonsense style, Salka uses real-world stories to convey leadership imperatives such as:
• first in, last out—your people need to see you taking the biggest risk, as the first one to enter the danger zone and the last to leave
• manage change—the fire you fought yesterday is not the one you’ll be fighting tomorrow
• communicate aggressively—a working radio is worth more than 20,000 gallons of water
• create an execution culture—focus your people on the flames, not the smoke
• commit to reality—never allow the way you would like things to be to color how things are
• develop your people—let them feel a little heat today or they’ll get burned tomorrow Illustrated by harrowing real-life situations, the principles in First In, Last Out will help managers become more confident, coherent, and commanding.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

After twenty five years in the most dangerous of all occupations, John Salka, Battalion Chief of The New York City Fire Department, offers tough and tender lessons in leadership. Salka masterfully leverages examples from fire fighting--"where lack of leadership can kill people"--to create values for leaders in every organization. He alternates vivid summaries of historic and terrifying fires (the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory, the 1993 World Trade Center explosion and ground zero) with metaphors from the firehouse to describe three commitments for decisive leadership. "Follow the smoke," is an imperative to uncover reality in yourself, your organization and your industry. Next, Salka counsels, "know their names before you send them into the flames," and encourages leaders to identify the contributions of each employee. The maxim, "Find your top whip" conveys ideas for developing future leaders and making a job into a classroom.

Other standout chapters focus on the nuances of building trust, clear decision-making and execution and tools for aligning individual and organization goals. Those expecting a macho approach to high-stakes leadership will be pleasantly surprised. Salka embraces intuition as "your subconscious trying to offer up a life time of experiences" and he explains how "managing emotional triggers" are ways of gaining competitive advantage. Salka's inspiring and passionate vision of leadership is a combination of reality testing, self-knowledge, and a shared mission when the heat is on. --Barbara Mackoff

From Publishers Weekly

Salka, an FDNY battalion chief in the Bronx, has spent 25 years with the department, rising from firefighter to his current rank. He shares his insights on managing people, coping with crises, mentoring, decision making, adjusting to change and more. While Salka uses his experiences fighting fires, he clearly shows how his work has applications in almost any corporation: "[O]ur mission is to protect the people and property of New York City.... Since your customers define this value, your customers define your business. Organizations today need to ask themselves, Who is our customer? Only by figuring out exactly who their customer is and what they want can organizations fully grasp their mission." Salka discusses how he works with his firefighters and how managers can use his tactics. For example, he says, "[T]he most effective way to show your people that you trust them is to delegate to them. This is standard operating procedure in the FDNY. By letting them tackle problems on their own, you demonstrate your belief in them." The book covers key aspects to leadership—establishing trust, connecting with employees, decision making, engaging employees, dealing with crises and nurturing new leaders—in a logical fashion. The writing is solid though not inspiring. Readers who expected thrilling tales of firefighting will be disappointed because Salka's real-life anecdotes are toned down. Overall, this is a solid, but not unique, look at leadership.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover (March 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591840252
• ISBN-13: 978-1591840251
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #362,788 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Salka is an FDNY battalion chief with over 30 years on the job and he currently works in the Bronx. He has written numerous articles over the years for the FDNY magazine "WNYF" and has also contributed articles to Fire Engineering, Size-Up and Firehouse magazine, where he writes the monthly column "The Fire Scene".
Chief Salka's books, "First In, Last Out" (2004) and "The Engine Company" (2009) are based on his experiences working in the FDNY from his appointment in 1979 throught the next three decades. Chief Salka writes and lectures on fire service subjects and Leadership to public service organizations, private industry, military and fire service audiences. He can be reached at 914-755-6866 or [e-mail]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical Advice for Front Line Managers, June 2, 2005

By 

Brian Wiggins - See all my reviews

This review is from: First In, Last Out: Leadership Lessons from the New York Fire Department (Hardcover)

Salka's advice is modeled on the leadership lessons of the New York City Fire Department. He takes many of the basic principles of effective leadership that are used to define the officers of FDNY and applies it to real life situations that can be used at any level of leadership by comparing these situations to those faced by the firefighters and their daily battles.

This book's real strength comes from Salka's approach: he writes to the front line supervisor/manager, the folks who are often on the first tier of management. While many books, as good as they are, assume that the reader is in a position to affect policy and choose their entire team, "First In" speaks to managers whose responsibility is the daily performance of the staff.

In addtion to great advice that can be put to practical use by leaders at any level, Salka regails the reader with colorful stories of the men and women of the FDNY. Overall, a great read.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended!, August 30, 2004

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: First In, Last Out: Leadership Lessons from the New York Fire Department (Hardcover)

The New York Fire Department (FDNY) seemed a company of heroes in the months after September 11, 2001. Later, when investigations revealed the enormity of the blunders and the degree to which petty political infighting had literally doomed firefighters to death, the FDNY lost a bit of its luster. But FDNY traditionally has a core of strong leaders, and John Salka is one of them. In this book, he shares his leadership philosophy. It's no slur to observe that this is a leadership book for firehouse buffs who are as interested in firefighter yarns as in leadership. The leadership principles outlined here are sound but not new; what is fresh is that the author illustrates those principles with fire fighting stories, clearly far more interesting than war stories from accounting - even if a bit remote from most people's everyday business reality. After all, few business people risk their lives in their daily work, and probably no business has the esprit de corps of a firehouse. We recommend this book to business people across the professions. The ride inside the fire truck will keep you engrossed in its solid leadership lessons.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An invaluable guide to managing well, May 10, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: First In, Last Out: Leadership Lessons from the New York Fire Department (Hardcover)

As a member of corporate America, I know first hand how many bad managers there are out there, and how easy it is to make poor decisions when managing people. This book is straightforward and easy to read, but more importantly, it outlines what I think, are some of the most fundamental ideas behind strong leadership. Some are common sense ideas that are easy to forget (and are helpful to read again from this angle) others are more surprising. But you will see most if not all of them in every good boss/leader you've ever worked for or observed. (and respected, for that matter.) Highly recommended to anyone who is looking for a truly useful book on managing and leading - the right way.