Leadership Conversations @ The Kitchen Table
May 31, 2026 · 1 hr 8 min · 13 segments
Fire Chief Ryan McGrady of West Pierce Fire & Rescue, one of the most powerful leadership traits isn't about having all the answers—it's about being willing to be vulnerable. Chief McGrady discusses…
Ryan McGradyGuestBerlin MazaHostLike, you know, obviously there's a, there's a saying, like, if you don't... without change, there's no progress because progress, there's changing that's happening.
And so, um, not just having the ability, but encouraging the ability, but encouraging others that change is necessary.
Like the change, you know, was the, to bring the consortium together, but then the change to say, "You know what? It, it's going to dissolve for, for many reasons," right? But that's change and there's progress along the way, and I thought you said something so important when you said that many of the relationships continued.
Like, "Okay, finally we're, we're broken up and now everyone go their separate ways," 'cause they're still your, your, your neighbors, they're still your colleagues, they're still mutual aid, they're still all that.
And so that's, that's such a, you talked about ego and, and then, then putting the ego aside, 'cause that's important.
When we're talking about leadership and we're talking about, you know, progress and we're ultimately talking about service, we'll say, 'cause I know we're gonna jump into service here in a minute, and it's not even a failure.
Like I'm not even gonna go as far as to say that just 'cause something dissolved doesn't mean it's a failure.
That could be a, a, a success because of the opportunities that, uh, that happens, but also that happened, 'cause I'm sure a million great things happened since the dissolving.
And so I think, I think we get too caught up sometimes in if something doesn't work, it's a failure.
I do think that, um, I mean, you know, one of the, one of the things that, you know, we talk about a lot in leadership is humility, and that's something that I think that-
And I, and I think that having that level of humility and at, at every level, right? You don't have to be a chief officer or an officer, whatever, right? You, you gotta be humble or the, this job will definitely humble you.
Um, I do think that, um, you know, kind of looking at it, as painful and as difficult as change can be, and I know it was d- it was hard-For a lot of us that were in the, you know, that were assigned there and were really trying to build something special, you know, it's very difficult.
Just like, you know, when people brought it, you know, they, they come in with their ideas and they're like, "Yeah, w- I think we're gonna go in this other direction," right? That, that is not an easy thing to ask, you know, or to, to ask somebody to, to, to give up or to, uh, feel like, oh, well, you know, this is the way we do it, but now I have to do something different.
Well, the consortium in of itself, as it, you know, as itself, that was hard for all of us because we thought, you know, we're...
Like, you know, obviously there's a, there's a saying, like, if you don't... without change, there's no progress because progress, there's changing that's happening.
And so, um, not just having the ability, but encouraging the ability, but encouraging others that change is necessary.
Like the change, you know, was the, to bring the consortium together, but then the change to say, "You know what? It, it's going to dissolve for, for many reasons," right? But that's change and there's progress along the way, and I thought you said something so important when you said that many of the relationships continued.
Like, "Okay, finally we're, we're broken up and now everyone go their separate ways," 'cause they're still your, your, your neighbors, they're still your colleagues, they're still mutual aid, they're still all that.
And so that's, that's such a, you talked about ego and, and then, then putting the ego aside, 'cause that's important.
When we're talking about leadership and we're talking about, you know, progress and we're ultimately talking about service, we'll say, 'cause I know we're gonna jump into service here in a minute, and it's not even a failure.
Like I'm not even gonna go as far as to say that just 'cause something dissolved doesn't mean it's a failure.
That could be a, a, a success because of the opportunities that, uh, that happens, but also that happened, 'cause I'm sure a million great things happened since the dissolving.
And so I think, I think we get too caught up sometimes in if something doesn't work, it's a failure.
I do think that, um, I mean, you know, one of the, one of the things that, you know, we talk about a lot in leadership is humility, and that's something that I think that-
And I, and I think that having that level of humility and at, at every level, right? You don't have to be a chief officer or an officer, whatever, right? You, you gotta be humble or the, this job will definitely humble you.
Um, I do think that, um, you know, kind of looking at it, as painful and as difficult as change can be, and I know it was d- it was hard-For a lot of us that were in the, you know, that were assigned there and were really trying to build something special, you know, it's very difficult.
Just like, you know, when people brought it, you know, they, they come in with their ideas and they're like, "Yeah, w- I think we're gonna go in this other direction," right? That, that is not an easy thing to ask, you know, or to, to ask somebody to, to, to give up or to, uh, feel like, oh, well, you know, this is the way we do it, but now I have to do something different.
Well, the consortium in of itself, as it, you know, as itself, that was hard for all of us because we thought, you know, we're...
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
