First In, Last Out: Leadership Lessons from the NY Fire Dept.
By John Salka with Barret Neville
Portfolio, March 2004
240 pages, $24.95
The firehouse jargon is confusing and ultimately annoying. Ignore it. Salka, a New York City Fire Department battalion chief, has written an excellent primer on how to lead. It begins with overarching themes such as the one represented by the title: The person in charge needs to go first as the company attacks any problem, and must stay to the end to make sure the problem is resolved. From there, Salka provides specific tactics. Among them: Communicate aggressively (“a working radio is worth 20,000 gallons of water”) and concentrate on execution (“focus your people on the flames, not the fire”).
