Learn from real-life experiences and leadership mistakes that led to a line-of-duty death (LODD). True leadership is not about asserting authority or seeking personal glory; it's about empowering others and creating an environment conducive to their success by creating relationships and understanding the generational gaps that cause misunderstandings among firefighters. One of the most important lessons the instructor learned was the significance of confronting and correcting performance issues promptly. As a young officer, he was confronted many times with employee issues; however, only one still impacts him today. Common everyday circumstances and his unwillingness to confront complacency, his lack of experience as a leader, coupled with a mindset of “he’s transferring somewhere slow anyway” and “someone else can train him again” led to an unfortunate situation where a life was lost because of being unprepared for the fireground.