Why Every Hire Should Be a Leadership Hire
In fire, EMS, law enforcement, and corrections agencies, the traditional approach to hiring often focuses narrowly on technical skills and immediate operational needs. We seek candidates who can pass the physical agility test, demonstrate basic competency, and fill the vacant position on the schedule. However, this short-sighted approach overlooks a critical reality: every entry-level hire today is a potential chief, captain, or administrator tomorrow.
The most successful first responder agencies have shifted their hiring philosophy to prioritize leadership potential at every level. This isn't about expecting rookies to command incidents on day one—it's about recognizing that the person you hire as a probationary firefighter today might be leading your department in twenty years. The question isn't whether you should hire for leadership; it's whether you can afford not to.
The Leadership Pipeline Challenge in Public Safety
First responder agencies face unique succession planning challenges that make hiring for leadership essential. Research from the U.S. Department of Labor's First Responder Workforce Diversity Study reveals that public safety organizations struggle with building sustainable talent pipelines for leadership positions. Unlike the private sector, where leadership development programs are commonplace, many fire, EMS, law enforcement, and corrections agencies lack structured pathways for identifying and developing future leaders.
Studies examining police retention strategies emphasize the importance of participatory management approaches, which have demonstrated significant improvements in organizational commitment and retention rates. Yet these approaches require leaders at all levels who possess not just technical competency but also emotional intelligence, communication skills, and strategic thinking abilities.
Research conducted by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services found that some fire and rescue services fall short on creating inclusive cultures that value diversity, with particular weaknesses in leadership development. These findings underscore a crucial gap: agencies often promote based on operational excellence without ensuring candidates possess the interpersonal and strategic capabilities required for effective leadership.
The Cost of Waiting: Why Leadership Development Can't Start at Promotion
Many first responder agencies operate under an outdated model: hire for technical skills, promote the best technicians, then scramble to teach them leadership. This approach creates several critical problems.
First, it results in leaders who excel operationally but struggle with personnel management and organizational leadership. Research indicates that many fire departments promote top firefighters to leadership roles without formal training in people management, coaching, or strategic thinking, resulting in leaders who may excel operationally but struggle with organizational leadership. The consequences ripple throughout the organization—poor morale, increased turnover, and diminished public trust.
Second, waiting until promotion to develop leadership skills creates significant knowledge and capability gaps. When experienced leaders retire or leave first responder agencies, they take invaluable institutional knowledge and insights with them. Without a pipeline of developing leaders who have been absorbing organizational wisdom throughout their careers, agencies face continuity crises that affect service delivery and operational effectiveness.
Third, this approach limits your talent pool. Research reveals that 78% of employees indicated their departure could have been prevented by the employer, with many citing lack of career development opportunities as a primary factor. When employees don't see clear pathways to advancement or opportunities to develop their leadership potential, they leave—taking their training investment and operational knowledge with them.
What Leadership Traits Look Like at Entry Level
Hiring for leadership doesn't mean seeking candidates who arrive with fully formed executive skills. Instead, it means identifying foundational traits that indicate leadership potential and can be developed over time.
Communication and Emotional Intelligence
Strong communication skills are essential for any leader, including the ability to effectively listen and speak with others while clearly articulating ideas and thoughts. At the entry level, this manifests as candidates who can articulate their thoughts clearly during interviews, demonstrate active listening, and show awareness of how their words and actions affect others. These individuals naturally facilitate information flow and help resolve misunderstandings among peers.
Emotional intelligence means being able to recognize and manage your own emotions and the emotions of team members, allowing leaders to effectively navigate complex interpersonal dynamics. Look for candidates who demonstrate self-awareness, can discuss how they've handled conflicts constructively, and show empathy for diverse perspectives.
Problem-Solving and Initiative
Leadership requires the ability to see problems, analyze them, and take appropriate action. Research suggests tracking how employees progress in their problem-solving skills: initially seeing problems but doing nothing, then seeing problems and seeking help, and finally seeing problems and proposing solutions with context. Even at entry level, you can assess this trajectory by asking candidates to describe challenging situations they've faced and how they approached them.
Leadership involves a willingness to take charge of tasks and projects, think outside the box, introduce innovations, and advance personal development. During the hiring process, candidates with leadership potential often ask thoughtful questions about how the agency operates, express interest in understanding the broader mission, and demonstrate curiosity about growth opportunities.
Adaptability and Learning Orientation
First responder work demands constant adaptation to new situations, technologies, and community needs. Successful career progression requires a willingness to continuously enhance skills through self-directed learning, which empowers individuals to adapt to new challenges and stay competitive. Candidates who show evidence of continuous learning—whether through formal education, certifications, volunteer experiences, or self-study—demonstrate the growth mindset essential for leadership.
Teamwork and Followership
Paradoxically, great leaders must first be great followers. In first responder agencies, where rank structure and chain of command are fundamental, understanding how to support others and work within a team is essential. Important soft skills for entry-level employees include teamwork, communication, and work ethic, as these represent a mindset that can be expanded upon rather than skills that can only be learned through work experience.
Integrating Leadership Assessment into Your Hiring Process
Identifying leadership potential requires intentional changes to your recruitment and selection processes. Here are evidence-based strategies for incorporating leadership assessment:
Behavioral Interview Questions
Move beyond standard questions about certifications and training. Ask candidates to describe situations where they:
- Had to influence others without formal authority
- Faced ethical dilemmas and how they navigated them
- Received critical feedback and what they did with it
- Worked with someone difficult and how they handled the relationship
- Took initiative when they saw a problem that wasn't their responsibility
Scenario-Based Assessments
Create realistic scenarios that reveal how candidates think, prioritize, and interact. These don't need to focus on technical skills—instead, present situations involving:
- Conflicting priorities that require judgment
- Team disagreements that need resolution
- Communication challenges with diverse stakeholders
- Opportunities to take initiative or show restraint
Assessment of Soft Skills
When evaluating entry-level candidates, focus on soft skills like communication, leadership, motivation, willingness to learn, problem-solving, work ethic, and teamwork, as experience and hard skills can be gained on the job. Use validated assessment tools that measure leadership potential, personality traits aligned with your organizational culture, and learning agility.
Panel Diversity
Include current leaders at various ranks in your interview panels. A captain may notice different leadership indicators than a chief, and a field training officer brings yet another perspective. Diverse panels also help identify candidates who can connect with people across different levels and backgrounds—a crucial leadership skill.
Building on the Foundation: From Hire to Leader
Hiring for leadership is only the beginning. Succession planning gives high-potential and high-performing employees a clear career path in the organization, which boosts engagement and allows agencies to save money on hiring external senior employees. The strongest agencies create integrated systems that develop leadership from day one.
Structured Leadership Development Programs
Research supports that leadership is a developmental process of learning requiring education, training, and experience that results in personal growth, and implementation of leadership training at varying levels of an individual's career enhances effective leadership. Don't wait for promotion to begin leadership training. Create programs that:
- Introduce leadership concepts during academy training
- Assign mentors who model effective leadership
- Rotate assignments to provide broad organizational exposure
- Include junior personnel in appropriate decision-making processes
- Offer progressively challenging leadership opportunities
Clear Career Pathways
Criteria for promotion should align employee growth with business goals, give employees a career development roadmap, and promote a fair and equitable workplace. Transparency about what it takes to advance—and providing the tools to get there—keeps talented people engaged and invested in the organization.
Create visible pathways that show:
- Competencies required at each rank
- Training and education opportunities available
- Timeline expectations for career progression
- How leadership potential is assessed and developed
Promote from Within
When organizations not only offer new hires attractive jobs in the present but also opportunities for career growth in the future, they immediately become much more attractive employers, resulting in top talent competing for positions. Internal promotion demonstrates that the organization values development and rewards growth.
Promoting internally ensures that the chosen candidate is already a perfect fit for workplace culture and can continue cultivating positive organizational dynamics, unlike external hires who introduce unknown factors. When personnel see their peers advancing through demonstrated leadership rather than external hiring, it validates the investment in their own development.
The Strategic Advantage of Leadership-Focused Hiring
Agencies that hire for leadership gain multiple strategic advantages:
Enhanced Retention: When personnel recognize that leadership development and career advancement opportunities exist, excessive turnover decreases, reducing the significant costs to both the agency and the community. People stay where they can grow.
Organizational Resilience: Succession planning is similar to a risk management strategy because what delivers services is qualified, mission-oriented people motivated to build a stronger community. A deep bench of developing leaders ensures your agency can weather retirements, promotions, and unexpected departures without operational disruption.
Improved Service Delivery: Organizations with strong, well-managed cultures achieve significantly higher financial and operational success than those without. Leadership at all levels improves decision-making, communication, and problem-solving throughout the organization.
Competitive Recruitment Advantage: Providing clear paths for career progression is vital in retaining ambitious entry-level employees and attracts higher-quality candidates who view the organization as offering long-term career potential.
Cultural Transformation: The unique nature of public safety leadership positions requires great emphasis on leadership development and succession management, as these individuals must display superior knowledge, skill, and abilities across multiple disciplines. When everyone understands that leadership is valued and developed at all levels, the entire organizational culture elevates.
Conclusion: The Investment That Pays Dividends
Every person you hire will either contribute to or detract from your agency's leadership capacity twenty years from now. The probationary firefighter who struggles to lead under pressure becomes the captain who can't make decisions in emergencies. The corrections officer who demonstrates integrity and judgment becomes the administrator who transforms organizational culture. The paramedic who communicates effectively with difficult patients becomes the chief who builds community partnerships.
By identifying and developing future leaders early, creating comprehensive leadership development programs, and fostering cultures of leadership and accountability, agencies ensure smooth transitions of leadership while maintaining operational effectiveness and public trust.
The choice is clear: hire for technical skills alone and hope leadership emerges, or hire for leadership potential and systematically develop it. The agencies that choose the latter don't just fill positions—they build legacies.
References
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services. (2022). Pathways and barriers to leadership in fire and rescue services. GOV.UK. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pathways-and-barriers-to-leadership-in-fire-and-rescue-services/pathways-and-barriers-to-leadership-in-fire-and-rescue-services
Hoogesteyn, K., Hofer, M. S., et al. (2025). Addressing police turnover: Challenges, strategies, and future research directions. RTI Press. Retrieved from https://rtipress.scholasticahq.com/article/132453-addressing-police-turnover-challenges-strategies-and-future-research-directions
International City/County Management Association. The comprehensive guide to local government succession planning. Retrieved from https://icma.org/articles/pm-magazine/comprehensive-guide-local-government-succession-planning
Lexipol. (2024). Enhancing employee retention in public safety agencies. Retrieved from https://www.lexipol.com/resources/blog/employee-retention-preventing-a-great-resignation-in-your-public-safety-agency-2/
Police1. (2025). Building a culture of excellence in the fire service starts at the top. Retrieved from https://www.firerescue1.com/leadership/building-a-culture-of-excellence-in-the-fire-service-starts-at-the-top
Succession planning research and guidance from AIHR, Bridgespan, SIGMA Assessment Systems, and other organizational development sources.
U.S. Department of Labor. (2016). Promising practices for increasing diversity among first responders. Retrieved from https://dol.gov/agencies/oasp/evaluation/completed-reports/promising-practices-for-increasing-diversity-among-first-responders
