Moving from Fire Fighting to Growth
Is Your Organization Stuck in Firefighting Mode?
Growth mode is the ideal state for a healthy organization, characterized by leaders who make deliberate investments in innovation, expansion, and development, and think strategically, plan meticulously, and invest resources with a clear vision in mind.
However, many organizations find themselves trapped in a reactive leadership style - constantly putting energy into urgent, expensive, and unplanned crises that require immediate attention. This “firefighting” approach is unsustainable - over time draining resources, demoralizing teams, and distracting from the organization's strategic goals.
Reasons leaders stay stuck in firefighting mode
Lack of Time Investing in Systems
Without investing in the systems, processes, and skillsets, leaders find themselves constantly dealing with the same issues, often caused by a lack of structure.
Inability to Escape
Leaders who have spent too long in reactive mode often don’t know how to break free.
Comfort in the Chaos
Some leaders actually enjoy firefighting. It gives them a sense of purpose and urgency, and they feel valued when they can step in and solve an immediate problem.
Lack of Healthy Interpersonal Relationships
Many leaders don’t view their peers as partners working toward shared goals, they see each other as functional leaders who stay confined to their own areas.
Reluctance to Take Initiative
This passivity keeps organizations in a reactive state, with decision-making bottlenecked at the top.
The Accidental Leader
Understanding the Impact of Accidental Leadership
Not all leaders arrive at their positions through deliberate intention or years of strategic development. In some cases, individuals ascend to senior leadership roles because of their technical expertise, long tenure, or by default, rather than through a purposeful cultivation of leadership skills. These are often referred to as “accidental leaders.” While they may have the best intentions, these leaders can unknowingly perpetuate fire fighting mode and prevent the organization from reaching its full potential.
To achieve long-term success, leaders must shift their focus from the chaos of firefighting mode to the more intentional growth mode. This is achieved by the learning a skillset around maintenance mode.
Emphasizing Maintenance and Growth
Our Moving From Firefighting to Growth™ program is designed to empower leaders in escaping the cycle of constant firefighting and leveraging maintenance mode by creating consistent and agreed-upon norms around leadership, communication, and culture.
These norms provide a foundation for stability and alignment, ensuring that everyone in the organization operates with the same expectations, including: Leadership Consistency, Clear Communication Practices, and Cultural Alignment.
Resulting in sustainable leadership approach that supports
Clearly defined and followed processes
A shift in focus to proactive, long-term planning
Establishing strong, cross-functional collaborative relationships
The confidence to step up and take the initiative toward proactive growth
Assess Yourself
Is Your Organization Ready to Leave Firefighting Mode?
Is your organization spending too much time in firefighting vs. growth mode?
Do your leaders need greater alignment on building norms?
Is the focus on firefighting keeping your organization from achieving the Collective Win?
Our Moving From Firefighting to Growth™ program can be tailored to your organization's needs. It is available as either a full-day or half-day workshop, and makes a great addition to a leadership retreat.
Would you like to learn more?
Would you like to dive deeper and learn more about how this program can transform your organization? Fill out our quick form and download our FREE article:
Moving From Firefighting to Growth™
A Leadership Imperative
“Change without maintenance is firefighting. Change with maintenance is growth.”
Frank Ciccia
Frank’s approach was exactly what our team needed at that time. The Hogan test results proved to be an insightful tool to explore individual and team dynamics. Without those and Frank’s expert facilitation, it would have taken our team much longer to coalesce around themes and explore blind spots. A few years later, we still referenced some of these items and worked to remain committed to our Collective Win.
Michaela Gascon, MBA, President and CEO, KJT
