COVID, politics, the economy, staffing shortages, funding, recruitment….. You name it — everywhere you turn, someone has a reason why things didn’t get done, why a standard operating procedure slipped, or why something failed. And the truth is, some of those reasons are real. But somewhere along the line, our culture started to blur the line between an explanation and an excuse.
In the fire service, we’re supposed to be driven by solutions. But lately, it feels like we’ve built a culture that specializes in rationalizing failure instead of fixing it.
Solving Problems or Excusing Failures
As firefighters, we pride ourselves on being problem solvers. Yet, even high-performing agencies aren’t immune to the creeping culture of excuses. The tones drop late? “It’s dispatch’s fault.” Reports aren’t done? “The system’s slow.” Morale’s low? “The administration doesn’t listen.” Leadership fails? “We’re short-staffed.”
There seems to be an excuse for just about everything these days, and some of the rationales are so creative they might actually deserve awards. But creativity doesn’t extinguish fires. Accountability does.
At some point, we have to stop and ask, “When did accountability become optional?”
It’s ridiculously easy to use excuses as a shield to protect our pride. They let us shift blame instead of taking ownership. But every time we reach for an excuse, we lose an opportunity to lead.
COVID changed a lot of things in our profession, and yes, it was hard. But years later, “because of COVID” still echoes through our firehouses as a “reason” things can’t get done. Politics divides stations. Finances stall projects. Personality differences split teams. And somewhere in the middle, our mission — the reason we crawl down smoky hallways for people we’ve never met — gets lost in the shuffle.
We’re firefighters, not finger-pointers. When things fall short, the best leaders don’t ask who’s to blame. They ask what needs to change.
“Excuses are the IOUs of poor leadership. Every time you make one, you borrow credibility from the future.”
An Epidemic of Excuses
Sadly, it seems like excuses have gone viral. They spread faster than wildfire because they’re contagious, comforting, and cost nothing … at least up front. But every excuse adds fuel to the slow burn of complacency. Over time, excuses tend to eat away at our discipline and our culture.
According to a study by Gallup, teams with high engagement (often driven by strong leadership and accountability) experience significantly better performance, fewer safety incidents and stronger employee well-being. Translation? When people own their work, they are more effective, they trust more, and they don’t waste time explaining why something didn’t happen.
When leaders let excuses slide, they normalize mediocrity. A company officer who shrugs off poor performance or a missed report today sets the expectation that the same behavior will still be acceptable tomorrow. And before long, you’ve built an entire organization that accepts “almost good enough.”
That’s not a fire department; it’s a cluster-hug of rationalization. Everyone might feel warm and fuzzy, but nothing actually gets accomplished.
The Difference Between Excuses and Explanations
It’s true there are often legitimate explanations for why something didn’t go as planned. Staffing problems, supply chain delays, and budget constraints are real challenges. But there’s also a fine line between explaining circumstances and excusing outcomes.
An explanation acknowledges reality. An excuse avoids responsibility. One invites action while the other surrenders control. But as we all know, the fireground doesn’t care about your excuses — it only responds to skill and execution.
Accountability Starts at the Top
Great fire leaders understand something simple: You can’t lead from a place of excuses. You lead from ownership. Even when it’s not perfect, you own the decision, the outcome, the result. You face it, fix it, and move forward.
FEMA’s “Leadership in Supervision” courses, adopted by the National Fire Academy, teach that effective leadership is rooted in accountability and follow-through. When officers model that behavior, it has a positive impact on the people they lead. In the words of Chief (Ret.) Dennis Compton, “accountability exists (or is lacking) in a fire department because of the quality of leadership, management, and supervision throughout the ranks.”
Excuses may protect egos, but accountability builds teams. When a company officer says, “That’s on me, we’ll correct it,” that sends a message stronger than any policy or memo. It shows integrity. It also shows leadership. And it builds trust, which is something no memo or email blast can ever buy.
The Cost of Excuses
Excuses are expensive. They cost time, reputation, and trust. They stall innovation, destroy morale, and create a toxic culture of blame. According to Harvard Business Review, accountability is one of the strongest predictors of organizational success, and its absence is a reliable indicator of dysfunction.
Excuses are the IOUs of poor leadership. Every time you make one, you borrow credibility from the future. Eventually, though, the debt comes due.
Imagine if every rank, from firefighter to chief, stopped making excuses for one week. No “yeah, but…” No “if only…” Just ownership. The difference in performance, culture, and trust would be as obvious as smoke pouring from a second-story window.
The Cure: Ownership Over Ego
So how do we fight the excuse epidemic? Start small. Replace blame with ownership. Replace “they” with “we.” Replace “I can’t” with “We’ll figure it out.”
Leaders set the tone. When they take ownership publicly, it encourages others to do the same. When they shift blame, it gives permission for everyone else to duck responsibility.
One of my favorite quotes from Jocko Willink and Leif Babin’s “Extreme Ownership” says it best: “There are no bad teams, only bad leaders.” When things fall apart, it’s not a time for excuses; rather, it’s a time for reflection and correction.
Accountability isn’t punishment, but empowerment. It turns “I have to” into “We get to.” It transforms failure into lessons, and lessons into progress.
No Excuses, Just Leadership
Excuses may explain the moment, but accountability defines the future. And in a profession built on character and courage, that’s the kind of leadership we need now more than ever.
Accountability is contagious. The more we practice it, the more it spreads. The fire service has always been about courage, the kind that shows up in a burning building, and the kind that shows up when we admit, “That one’s on me.”
Because at the end of the day, it’s not the excuse that puts out the fire — it’s the firefighter who owns the outcome.
