BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): Leadership in EMS will not evolve on its own. The EMSPIRE conference leadership panel, “Empowering the next generation of leaders,” held at the Green Bay Packers’ Lambeau Field, made it clear that if the industry wants to thrive through the next decade, it must invest now in developing, mentoring and equipping future leaders.
The pathway to EMS 2050 leadership begins with today’s intentional coaching, culture-building and commitment to pay it forward.
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About EMSpire
The EMSpire Conference was created to bring EMS professionals together for a day of learning, collaboration and inspiration. The agenda is carefully designed to confront the real challenges facing today’s EMS agencies while spotlighting the innovative ideas, operational models and leadership strategies that are reshaping the field.
Attendees come to EMSpire to exchange knowledge, sharpen their skills and connect with peers who share a deep passion for service. The result is a rare environment where front-line providers, administrators and executives learn shoulder-to-shoulder,returning home with actionable insights and renewed energy to strengthen their agencies and their communities.
Leadership development
Moderated by Regina Crawford, the leadership panel brought together a powerhouse group: I participated along with Matt Zavadsky, Heather Stenbroten, Steve Wirth and John Michael Poss. Together, we explored what it means to prepare EMS for the decades ahead, focusing on leadership, resilience, mentorship and culture.
From the outset, Zavadsky captured the urgency: “We’re in a hyper-turbulent time where leadership will guide us through the waters. But fewer and fewer people are choosing this profession, and even fewer are choosing to lead it.” Each panelist agreed that developing future leaders must become a deliberate act, not an afterthought. I shared it’s our fault when people fail as new leaders. We promote great clinicians and then sit them behind a desk with no preparation.
Pull quote: Leadership development isn’t optional: it’s survival.
The conversation tackled the widening skills gap between field excellence and administrative readiness. Stenbroten reminded the audience that tomorrow’s leaders need a hybrid skill set: equal parts business acumen, emotional intelligence and technological fluency. “Today’s EMS leader has to manage finances, strategy and innovation,” she said, “but also maintain empathy and connection.”
Wirth urged leaders to rekindle pride in the profession. “EMS is meaningful work,” he said. “We should celebrate that — not downplay it.”
Building the pipeline
A shared message emerged: the next generation of EMS leaders won’t appear by chance. Agencies must identify and invest in them early. Poss described his agency’s “next person up” approach — ensuring every role has a ready successor and that potential leaders are mentored from their first day.
I discussed California’s Ready Next initiative, which pairs developing leaders with agency visits and direct exposure to innovative practices. We stopped talking about leadership and started showing it. By the end of our East Coast site visits, competitors became collaborators — and everyone left with ideas to implement back home.
Zavadsky praised the curiosity and digital literacy of the incoming generation, calling it a strength rather than a threat. “They’ve grown up questioning everything,” he said. “That’s good for us. Encourage it, channel it and let them help modernize our systems.” Stenbroten added that leadership requires creating space for questions, mistakes and growth.
“We have to let people be curious instead of confident all the time,” she said.
Wellness, ethics and resilience
No discussion on leadership is complete without addressing wellness and mental health. Zavadsky described the Hope Squad peer-support program, which trains team members to identify behavioral shifts in colleagues before they become crises.
Stenbroten shared how her agency screens every employee annually for anxiety and depression, ensuring immediate follow-up when scores flag concern.
Wirth emphasized that vulnerability from leadership normalizes help-seeking: “If you act like everything’s fine all the time, you’re teaching your people that it’s not OK to be human.”
Ethical leadership also drew strong focus. I pointed to the military’s servant-leadership ethos: “First the horses, then the troops, then yourself.”
Wirth added that moral courage often means confronting toxicity early. Stenbroten spoke about standing alone in difficult moments, describing how she introduced nurses into her EMS system after COVID, a bold and unpopular move that ultimately strengthened her teams. “Sometimes you have to stand alone before others see the value,” she reflected.
The human side of leadership
The panelists shared personal stories of leading under pressure, from mass-casualty incidents, to system transitions and disasters.
I reflected on commanding a mutual aid element during London’s 7/7 bombings: when chaos hits, you move from leader to commander. That’s when training, trust and clarity matter most.
Zavadsky described his experience managing a 133-car pileup on an icy Texas interstate, where “the first mission was keeping responders alive.”
Each story reinforced that leadership is built in calm moments, not in crises. You can’t surge what you haven’t practiced.
There was also humor and humility. The panel freely admitted their own missteps, from reply-all emails, to professional rivalries taken too far. Those confessions underscored the same truth: leaders are fallible, learning beings.
As Wirth said, “Be a lifelong learner. Most of what EMS does well, we borrowed from someone else, and that’s OK.”
Collaborating for the future
The closing moments of the session brought the conversation full circle. Empowering the next generation isn’t just about professional development; it’s about mindset.
Zavadsky summed it up simply: “Once you walk through the door, hold it open for someone else.”
Stenbroten urged attendees to support future leaders: “let them sit at the table early — coach them, don’t critique.”
Reflecting on my own decades of leadership across continents, I added: pay it forward — always.
The EMSpire Leadership Panel reflected what the conference itself embodies: collaboration, curiosity and care for the future of EMS. The next generation won’t build itself — they’re waiting for an invitation, a mentor and a leader who believes in them. If EMS wants to be ready for 2050, that invitation needs to go out today.
