Leading from the back of the fire truck

I have a friend who is a fire chief in his town. He’s an incredible person—hardworking, humble, and someone who has pushed through real adversity in his life.

Every time I see him, he asks about my business. He’s curious. Always looking for advice, perspective, or something he can apply. Like many people, he assumes the learning goes one way—that because I’ve built businesses, I have something to teach him.

I always tell him the same thing:

No one is above you. No one is below you. We all learn from each other.

A few minutes later, he proved my point.

We were talking about leadership and managing teams, and he shared something I’ll never forget.

When there’s an alarm, the team jumps on the truck. The captain sits in what they call seat one. That person assesses the situation and decides what actions to take. It’s the most important seat on the truck.

Here’s what he does differently

As he trains his team and they gain confidence, he starts asking them what they would do in different situations. Once he trusts their thinking and decision-making, he puts them in seat one…and he moves to the back of the truck.

He told me most captains would never do that. They spent years earning that seat. They see it as something to hold onto, not give away.

But he believes the opposite. By giving others the opportunity to lead, he’s built the strongest possible team.

That got me thinking.

How many of us, as business leaders, are still sitting in seat one… all the time?

If no one on your team ever sits in that seat, how can they truly understand your perspective? Your decision-making? Your pressure? Did you learn leadership by watching, or by doing?

When I talk to MSP managers and team leads, I hear the same thing over and over, especially when they feel safe enough to be honest. They feel handcuffed. Many of them care deeply about the company and their team. Some even get emotional talking about it. That’s how invested they are.

And yet…they’re not trusted with real responsibility.

Here’s the truth

Most leaders struggle to truly give up seat one. But if you don’t…

You become the bottleneck. All responsibility stays with you. Your team never fully develops. And eventually, the business gets stuck.

And when that happens, too many leaders blame the team when the real issue is that no one else was ever allowed to lead.

This is not an easy lesson. I’ve struggled with it myself. But let me ask you this:

If a fire chief (someone making decisions where lives are on the line) can step out of seat one…

Shouldn’t we be able to do the same?

Final thought

There are lessons everywhere if you’re willing to listen.

And sometimes, the best leadership advice doesn’t come from a boardroom…it comes from the back of a fire truck.

Related: Why the most successful MSP leaders rarely grow alone