It's great to say you take responsibility for a mistake or to say that you need to improve or make changes.  That's only half the battle though.  You must take meaningful steps and actions to actually correct the mistakes, make the improvements and changes that are needed.  Taking action is the part of taking responsibility and ownership that is hard, not verbalizing them.

I was lucky to have some great officers and leaders influence my career path in the fire service, and in life.  They were always offering sound advice and sharing their experiences. Some I heeded right away and others I had to learn the hard way.  Either way, their words and actions provided me a template to use to work to be a good firefighter and, later on, officer.

Now I have the opportunity to pass along the valuable bits of information that was passed to me along with my own…