Ben Franklin’s 297th birthday was Jan. 17. Besides his famous kite-flying incident, Franklin is famous for creating a variety of community organizations, including a lending library, a night watchmen corps and (in 1736) a “fire-fighting club with specific duties” in Philadelphia.

Franklin was fastidious in detailing the rules for his Union Fire Company. He established guidelines for fines that would be levied for infractions among his volunteers. Using a pseudonym (as he frequently did), Franklin wrote an essay in support of the order and method of volunteer firefighters. He also created what was perhaps the first public education message: “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Franklin was an avid reader and encouraged others to read and share books. In a FIRE CHIEF series two years ago about 12 influential fire service people, we discovered that each person featured was an avid reader as well as writer.

Recently we were talking with chiefs about books that had a significant impact in their lives. A couple chiefs said the Bible influenced them the most. Another chief cited “The Big Red Fire Engine,” a child’s book, as having an early influence on him. Basic and focused, the book takes him back to his earliest interest in the fire service.

One chief said his father shared a book with him titled “I Dare You” that inspired him to think big. Yet another was influenced by “It’s Your Ship” by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff, the keynote speaker at Fire-Rescue International 2003.

One book can change the direction of our life, sometimes even when you’re not looking for a change. “Swim with the Sharks” by Harvey MacKay had a profound impact on me, but the book I would now recommend to anyone interested in leadership is “Good to Great” by Jim Collins.

This month, I would encourage you to buy a copy of the January 2004 Harvard Business Review magazine’s special issue titled “Inside the Mind of the Leader.” The Ideas with Impact series includes “The Best of HBR,” articles previously published on a central theme. The January issue targets leadership. “Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?” by Abraham Zaleznik is just as relevant today as it was when published in 1977.

If you could recommend one book to an aspiring officer or chief, what would it be? Is there a book that played a significant role in shaping the person you are today—fire service or otherwise—that you’d recommend to tomorrow’s fire service leaders?

More than 200 years ago, Ben Franklin was a Renaissance man—ahead of his time. He was right about books, too. Reading and sharing the best of what we read elevates us all.

Janet Wilmoth, Editor