Institute News

Over the years, I’ve written CatchUp articles with leadership lessons from Shakespeare plays (King Lear, Comedy of Errors), Winnie the Pooh, Walking in Memphis (the song) and Harry Potter.

With various social media options, leaders today have no shortage of potential feedback mechanisms.

While getting good feedback is always a great practice, the old adage “don’t believe your own press” is especially important if we are to keep an even keel.

Unfortunately, sometimes the most detrimental information isn’t from external sources, it comes from “stinkin’ thinkin’” in our own heads. Even great leaders must find a way to combat it to be successful. There are several ways of thinking to be aware of.  

A common topic of conversation during the quarterly meetings of the Tennessee Fire Chiefs Association is enhancing leadership skills through effective communications. This is important to the success of any fire service agency or team as it strives to provide the best possible fire protection and life safety services in a community.

Rest is a critical skill that many leaders set aside as an optional luxury that is rarely experienced. Our culture celebrates hustle and exalts being busy as a badge of honor. However, rest is not optional in the life of a successful leader; it is a strategic necessity.  


“If you want newness, you have to have strangeness.”

“If you don’t have wild ideas, you’re not going to find creative ideas.”

“A wish is the first step to a question.”

“Creativity is the raw material for innovation.”

If you think back over the last 20 or 30 years, we’ve seen innovative products introduced that make our lives easier or more convenient. Personal computers, smart phones, robot vacuum cleaners and many more products have become a part of our lives. But before they became indispensable to us, these products were ideas in someone’s head.

On April 3, 2025, Governor Bill Lee signed Public Chapter No. 140 into law. This Act amended Titles 5, 6 and 7 of the Tennessee Code by imposing new requirements related to development related fees assessed by local governments. The purpose of this new law is to ensure transparency, accountability and consistency in how Tennessee’s counties, cities and metropolitan governments assess and document development-related fees.

A few weeks ago, I attended my uncle Victor Allsup’s funeral. He was a lifelong farmer and one of Mississippi's leading dairy farmers for many years.
 

Leadership principles aren’t just theoretical; they have a practical impact. This impact can be either positive or negative to those we lead and the organization that we are a part of. That’s why I believe that leading with principles is a good leadership practice that many effective leaders should consider. This form of leadership is often referred to as principle-based leadership, but some may call it values-based leadership. While this leadership style has been around for many years, it is not often referenced in texts discussing leadership styles.

As a photographer, I spend a lot of time thinking about lenses. I have go-to lenses that I love and a very expensive wish list on my favorite gear websites.
 
In the photography world, there are many different lenses. In fact, there’s a lens for every situation. That’s why we have telephoto, macro, prime, fisheye—yes, even pancake lenses—to name a few.
 

Over the past several years, our nation has seen much change. Multiple spheres of our society have witnessed and experienced rapid increases in the speed of change. Most recently, the federal government and service organizations nationwide saw shutdowns, funding delays and stoppages, as well as some temporary and some permanent closures.