Flagship Program
Leadership Foundations
Available Now
Builds the leadership foundation every fire service officer needs: trust, accountability, and crew-first judgment.
Beyond the Badge Leadership
Leadership Development Built for the Fire Service
Beyond the Badge Leadership is an online academy for current and future fire service leaders. Start with Leadership Foundations, our flagship program, then keep developing with the CRAFT™ Leadership Profile and Common Ground™.
6
Modules
17
Lessons
Self-paced
Format
CRAFT™ Leadership Profile
Leadership is a Craft.
CRAFT™ is a free leadership snapshot for every registered member. It measures Character, Reflection, Accountability, Follow Through, and Teachability, the five qualities every effective fire service leader carries into the seat.
Create your free account and take the assessment. Get an honest picture of where you stand today and where to lean in next.
The Academy
One platform for your leadership development
Coming Soon
Common Ground™
Building the Fire Service Every Person Deserves
Technical knowledge prepares us to perform the job. It does not always prepare us to work with every person who joins our department.
Common Ground explores how personality, communication, culture and life experience shape behavior. It takes on the conversations departments avoid until someone feels disrespected, singled out or no longer welcome.
The course is being built to help firefighters and officers communicate with confidence, welcome people without treating them like an exception, address problems professionally and set clear standards of respect before an incident forces the department to react.
The fire service will keep changing. Our responsibility is to make sure professionalism, accountability and respect keep pace.
Common Ground is in development. Join the waitlist to be notified when enrollment opens.
Common Ground™
Building the Fire Service
Every Person Deserves
About the Course
This is not a tactics course. It is a leadership course.
Character & Credibility
Become the kind of leader people trust, respect, and choose to follow. Not because of rank, but because of who you are.
Communication & Decisions
Say the hard thing clearly, make decisions you can explain, and hold people accountable without tearing them down.
Developing People
Develop future leaders and lead change without losing your people.
What You'll Learn
Six modules of practical leadership development.
1
Prepare for leadership before the promotion
2
Build character and credibility that earn trust
3
Communicate clearly and prepare for difficult conversations
4
Make honest, structured decisions and lead fairly
5
Recognize and develop future leaders
6
Lead change and build momentum that lasts
Derek Funyak · Founder & Lead Instructor
From the Instructor
The lessons that changed my leadership are the ones I'm sharing with you.
I started in the fire service at 14 as a junior firefighter. Since then I've had the privilege of serving as a firefighter, lieutenant, captain, assistant chief, and now deputy chief.
Leadership Foundations wasn't created from books and theories. It was built from the successes, mistakes, difficult decisions, and conversations that shaped my own leadership.
Everything I teach comes from real experience. My goal is to share those lessons with you so you can become a stronger, more confident leader.
Pricing