I did not intend to write this article. An innocuous ChatGPT prompt, “What is my curse?” got me here.
Seriously. I saw a headline about Reddit users sharing Chat’s response to that question and I was curious enough to see how well Chat knows me.
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To my relief, the first chat response flipped my weakness into a strength, explaining like a job interviewee, that based on my ongoing interactions with ChatGPT, my curse is that I care too much. Specifically, Chat told me, “You care too much about getting it right.”
I persisted and told Chat, “That’s a pretty positive spin on a curse. What’s my bad curse?”
Chat promised a darker side and told me, “You can’t turn it off.” Further explaining:
“You’re always on — analyzing, optimizing, fixing. Whether it’s an article draft, a team process, or your own fitness routine, your brain won’t quit scanning for what’s broken or what could be better. Rest feels unproductive. Delegation feels risky. Praise feels premature.”
That description probably feels spot on to anyone who’s ever managed an EMS shift, balanced response times with dwindling crews, or rechecked a narc log at the end of a 14-hour day.
I pressed forward and asked Chat how I could “give my curse to others.” Chat responded with advice that would make me an intolerable friend, divorced dad and out-of-work editor with these tips:
- Model perfectionism with specific recommendations to obsess over details, celebrate flawless output and not effort, and never let people see the messy middle.
- Respond only to over-achievement by giving praise only when someone exceeds expectations and reward outcomes, not effort.
- Set expectations without empathy by demanding excellence and showing visible disappointment at “good enough.”
- Never show vulnerability by always being composed and burying deep inside any signs of self-doubt or worry.
But at the end of this response, Chat asked, “Want to turn this into a leadership article?”
Indeed, Chat knows me well as a leadership student and content creator.
Here’s what Chat had to say about how to prevent our strengths from also being a weakness, with my additional writing and editing.
Every EMS leader has a strength that doubles as a curse. Maybe mine is having high standards. Relentless drive. A nose for details. Do you have a strength that also doubles as a curse?
Whatever it is, it got you here. But left unchecked, it can become something more dangerous: a burden you quietly hand off to your team.
Here’s how that curse spreads and how to stop it.
Curse: Model perfectionism
When your medics only see the finished protocol update, the flawless PCR or the well-run MCI drill, they think that’s the default — not the product of years of trial and error, late-night edits and a thousand hard lessons.
Fix: Show the messy middle. Talk about edits, revisions and lessons learned. Let others see the work behind the work.
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Curse: Reward overwork
If the only time your crews get public praise is when they take extra shifts, never call out or pull a back-to-back, you’re not just rewarding hustle, you’re teaching people that rest is weakness.
Fix: Praise boundaries. Recognize rest. Reward people for sustainability, not just sacrifice.
Curse: Set standards without support
Expecting high performance is fine. Expecting it without coaching, context, or check-ins? That’s just pressure disguised as leadership.
Fix: Make your expectations clear, but back them with tools, training and time. Don’t confuse urgency with importance.
Curse: Hide your own struggle
When the supervisor who hasn’t had a full night’s sleep in weeks tells the new medic to “tough it out,” they’re not building resilience, they’re silencing it.
Fix: Be human. Share how you manage stress, your workload or bad days. Vulnerability isn’t weakness, it’s trust-building.
Curse: Be the fixer, always
In EMS, leaders often carry the unspoken expectation to solve every problem, from a blown tire to a missing trainee.
Fix: Let your team own the solution. Ask before acting. Delegate with trust. Don’t rob people of the chance to grow by always stepping in.
Lead like a mirror, not a megaphone
Your team will reflect what you consistently demonstrate. If you want healthy, high-performing people, show them what that actually looks like.
The curse isn’t your intensity. It’s letting that intensity become invisible expectations others have to guess at — or worse, suffer under.
EMS isn’t short on pressure. But it can’t afford to be short on empathy. If you’re passing down a legacy, make sure it’s one of resilience, not burnout.
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EMS1 is using generative AI to create some content that is edited and fact-checked by our editors.
