Published in the June 2013 edition of Firewatch! Magazine. In the article, I identify leadership traits I have tried to emulate throughout my career and draw a correlation to fire industry leaders that have used similar traits to build the foundation we have today.

1. Traits of Good Leaders
by John Mackey
As an aspiring business leader moving through various duties in the military and different
industries throughout my career, I have been fortunate to work for a few gifted leaders. These
mentors taught me the importance of effective leadership and of developing and displaying the
right behaviors over simply getting results without any regard for how goals are achieved. I refer
to this rule with teams I have lead as the 51%–49% rule: highlighting the importance of how the
team gets things done (51%) is more important and sustainable than the result (49%) itself.
As I look back at some of these leaders, I can see some commonalities among them. They
include the following:
Each of these leaders had strong character and used this trait as their foundation for
success. They truly led by example, setting the tone for the rest of us to follow. They managed
their people in a way that was engaging and respectful. They never wavered in times of crisis;
they simply focused on the immediate challenge in front of them and addressed it appropriately.
Because of this, they attracted the best people to be part of their teams and ultimately more
customers came their way because they wanted to be associated with such leaders. As Jack
Welch, the former CEO of GE once said, “Your team (and customers) comes to know who you
are in your soul, what kind of people you attract, and what kind of performance you want from
everyone. Your authenticity will make you accessible; you will connect, and you will inspire.
You will lead.”
Many of these leaders were visionaries. They had a deep commitment and passion for
what the organization was manufacturing or service they provided for the markets and customers
they served. They created a vision for the organization and worked diligently every day toward
achieving that vision. These leaders relied on the entire team to achieve these goals. This
approach was reflected in how decisions were made, how work was planned and delegated, who
was hired and the processes that were used, and how issues and challenges were addressed. This
commitment and passion was contagious and supported at all levels of the organization, creating
an environment where everyone truly felt like a contributing member of the team.
Each of these leaders built good relationships with the entire team as well as customers.
These leaders were able to connect with so many different people. They had good social skills;

2. they were able to relate to others in a genuine way; they were empathetic. Each of these
relationships were built around trust. Since trust was such a key ingredient in these relationships,
the engagement of the team was much higher and ultimately produced higher quality work. Trust
also allowed these organizations to attract good customers. Customers can get a sense for a
company’s culture, and if they can sense that employees are trusted, they want to do business
with them.
Many of these leaders were also highly effective communicators. Because of their
commitment to the company’s vision and passion for the markets they served, they were able to
keep the team informed and focused on the organization’s purpose, and the role everyone played
in accomplishing that goal, motivating and inspiring the team on a daily basis. In addition to
being effective messengers and getting information out, these leaders were even better listeners.
As author Steven Covey states, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” These leaders
would take the time to have conversations with others to understand the business, the industry,
the challenges, and the opportunities the business faced as best as possible. Author John C.
Maxwell tells us that “a good leader encourages others to tell him what he needs to know, not
what he wants to hear.” These leaders sought input from others and always took accountability
for decisions they made.
Today, our customers expect more from everyone in this industry; manufacturers,
suppliers, contractors, and most importantly, fire equipment distributors (FEDs). The FED is the
local face to the industry and represents what the industry stands for every day. As business
leaders, we have the opportunity to display the right behaviors that show our true character. We
display our commitment and passion when we engage with our teammates and, more
importantly, our customers. We have an opportunity to build relationships based on trust—the
foundation of every relationship we have. Finally, we have an opportunity to communicate
effectively with our teammates as well as our customers.
I encourage everyone in our industry to keep these traits in mind as we navigate through
our changing markets and determine where we have opportunities to lead. They are in front of us
every day. Today, our customers expect so much more from manufacturers and service
providers. We need to take the time to listen and learn about their challenges and expectations
and share that information with our industry partners so that collectively we can continue to add
value to the vitally important fire protection industry.

3. On this 50th
anniversary of NAFED, let’s not forget the passion and hard work of
industry leaders before us and how they paved the way for our industry and where we stand
today. Those leaders emulated many of the leadership traits I have highlighted. Let’s continue to
build on their vision and passion for protecting life and property and work even harder to
increase our value to the markets and customers we serve, raising the bar on how service is
delivered over the next fifty years. We have a solid foundation because of those previous leaders;
let’s use that passion as our launching pad into the next generation.
©2013 by John Mackey, all rights reserved.
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John Mackey is an industry professional with more than fifteen years of leadership experience in
sales, human resources, and organizational transformation. You can find John on LinkedIn at
www.linkedin.com/in/mackeyjohn/ or call 303-396-7519