About this episode

Firefighter Aaron Burlingame discusses leadership, culture, and faith following a life-changing incident.

In 2018, a truck exploded just feet from firefighter Aaron Burlingame. He came back. This one’s about leadership, culture, faith, and what the worst days teach you about what actually matters. Aaron Burlingame — Battalion Chief with the St. Charles Fire Department — sits down with Zach & Pat on leading vs. bossing, building a culture people choose over higher pay, first-responder mental health, raising sons who own their mistakes, surviving serious burns, and the faith he found on the other side. Real conversation, no clickbait. ▶ CHAPTERS 00:00 Meet Aaron Burlingame — St. Charles Fire 01:00 Why a fire chief fell for jiu-jitsu 06:00 The real lesson: consistency & doing hard things 11:30 Leadership isn’t being in charge — it’s responsibility 15:00 How "Discipline Equals Freedom" changed his leadership 17:00 What the worst days teach you about what matters 18:00 How the fire service finally took mental health seriously 23:00 The culture that put St. Charles on the map 31:30 The cell-phone box: rebuilding conversation 34:45 The Dungeons & Dragons leadership lesson 39:30 A leadership mistake he still learns from 46:00 Watching his son enter the fire service 51:20 The day…

People in this episode

Hosts: Zach Fagas, Patrick Doyle

Guest: Aaron Burlingame

Topics covered

• leadership
• fire service
• mental health
• culture
• faith
• parenting

Keywords

• leadership
• firefighter
• mental health
• culture
• faith
• parenting
• resilience

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: St. Charles Fire Department

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