What people are saying about Redline Leadership LLC
I read a quote the other day. " Getting the most out of life isn't about how much you get to keep, it is about how much you pour into others". Kevin Body pours his heart and soul into every person he meets not with a goal of making himself better but making everyone better. He has taught me a lot of professional and life goals. His life perspective comes from a place of conscious thoughts and life experiences. I'm a better person having met him and would recommend anyone looking for a mentor to use him.
A Gift That Keeps On Giving
Coaching and mentoring someone is a gift. With this, you bring intergrity and trust to the game... What a great foundation for a future leader or reminder to current leaders in the organization. What I've learned through our time together will be everlasting...
Let me tell you why I would really encourage you to use Kevin as a mentor.
I have known Kevin as of this writing for 38 years, Kevin is foremost a good friend and over the years and I have watched Kevin go from Fire Fighter to Lieutenant, Captain, Battalion Chief, Deputy Chief, and Assistant Chief.
I have relied on Kevin to give me input when I ask and I have always wanted him to put that mirror up in front of my face and tell me exactly what I need to hear, good and bad and sometimes not want what I was hoping to hear.
Kevin is there to give you encouragement, make suggestion on which direction that you should proceed, bounce information off of so you may have a better idea of which is the best way for you.
I know that I’m not the only one that has relied on this from Kevin, because coworkers of mine have commented on using him as a mentor.
If you decide to use Kevin as a mentor, I know that you will not be disappointed.
Dan Jones
Friend, Mentored
Captain (Retired)
South King fire & Rescue
Kevin Body has been mentoring me for 26 years and has shown exceptional dedication to ensuring my success in my career and personal life. Kevin has helped guide me by establishing my goals and determining what steps I needed to take to accomplish them. Kevin held me accountable and ensured I followed through until I succeeded. It has been an absolute pleasure working with Kevin and I would highly recommend him as a mentor to any individual wanting to better themselves.
In response to your post… you were one of my earliest mentors at South King. I am currently an instructor at the Consortium Recruit Academy and I actually was looked at funny by a recruit the other day when I drug hose out of the tower at North Bend, and I thought of you cleaning the bathrooms at 8’s when I was a hydrant tester, and when I joked to you about unloading the dishwasher one day at 2’s and I said “you’re above that” and your reply was serious basically stating you will never see yourself too big for that task. You’re still referred to when people at south king bring up mentors and strong officers. Though our time together was much shorter than others there, Thank you for everything!
As organizational leaders it is our responsibility to prepare our people for their current and future roles. This can only be done by investing in people. We must dedicate time to their development either as a group or on a one-on-one basis. The challenge can be how to provide your team with everything they need to be successful.
Kevin has provided me personally the benefit of reaching more people on my team then I had capacity for. His experience and perspective helped move our organization years ahead by harnessing his industry experience and background to advance our organizational mission. He has coached our team in group settings to create a collaborative team vision. He has also helped our team in one-on-one settings to help create Divisional and Battalion visions that align with our organizational vision.
You can never go wrong by investing in people, many times we think things are the fix. The reality is your people need coaching from a professional that can help shape the future of your fire department in ways that can impact your community positively. Kevin’s passion for the fire service, experience, and understanding of people have played a major role on our success and future opportunity to impact those we serve.
I strongly recommend you use the opportunity to bring Kevin into your team, you will find a better prepared Dept, a more motivated and satisfied work force, and indirectly those you serve will benefit.
In support,
Brycen Garrison
Fire Chief
Brighton Fire Rescue
Kevin Body has provided guidance and perspective at key times during my firefighting career. As a young firefighter I had grown frustrated and cynical with the way that higher level decisions were made, and plans were implemented. Kevin showed me that a person could recognize imperfection in the world without succumbing to anger and cynicism, and in fact focusing on doing my work well actually affected the end product of emergency services far more than the politics at the top end. Much later when we both chief officers I sought Kevin's guidance once more. His answer was to introduce me to his crews at several of the stations in his battalion and let me talk directly to those he supervised. Not only did I learn some valuable information about what fire crews appreciated in good leadership, but I got to see what kind of workplace relationships were possible with the proper investment of effort.
“I cannot speak highly enough in favor of Kevin. He has mentored me for years and I owe so much of my progress to him. With his guidance, I was able to not only identify gaps in my approach towards becoming a firefighter, but also engage in impactful self-reflection that has influenced a great deal of the habits I have today. I’ve grown so much as an individual and a professional thanks to Kevin.”
I meet Kevin Body at my department’s Strategic Planning process. From my first interaction with Chief Body, I knew he had a unique insight into how an organization builds towards specific goals and objectives to build success for the future. Listening to Chief’s Body’s wisdom, I knew he would be a tremendous mentor to work with. On our last day of the Strategic planning process, I asked Chief Body if he would mentor me to become a better leader and prepare me to test for the rank of Lieutenant. He agreed and we started the mentorship process right away. We worked every week for six months for me to obtain a promotion to Lieutenant. Kevin started assigning me assignments to identify who I was as a leader and man. He had me recognize the importance of creating my Mission, Vision, and Values and how it helps with being an effective leader and making sound decisions at work and in life.
For the mentorship process to be effective as possible, Kevin had to know who I was to my core for me to reach my potential. He has a transparent and organized way of getting the most out of the people he works with. Kevin does anything and everything in his power for his peers to reach their goals. I became successful in my promotion by digging deep into the man I knew I was and the leader I wanted to become. Some examples that Kevin did was for me to identify what I believe a leader is. We would have conversations from my past and present leadership experiences for me to expand on being an effective leader. I would be given more assignments on how I would lead my team. We would then have deep conversations to ensure my leadership styles were working. This was an ongoing process. I would implement his strategies into my work environment. Then I would give Kevin feedback on what was and wasn’t working, and then we would explore different avenues for my leadership to be more effective. Through the consistent feedback that took place, I saw tremendous growth in myself as a leader. One of Kevin's most effective tactics was for me to pick seven coworkers to perform a 360 survey of myself to improve on my weakness. Kevin then emailed those individuals. Kevin came up with specific questions for those coworkers to answer to give honest feedback on how I could improve. From there, Kevin and I would discuss different scenarios using my weaknesses for me to improve and recognize how to become more successful in my career. Kevin’s attention to detail is outstanding. One of Kevin’s biggest strengths is his active listening skills and in-depth conversations about his life experiences and how other successful people in the fire world and business world became successful. This allowed me to see how others were successful in their different professions. Kevin was also an outstanding counselor. With work troubles and in my personal life. This, in turn, allowed me to look within myself to become a better friend, family member, and coworker. I would also share with Kevin how station life was going and how to improve that aspect of the job. Station life is essential for fire service success. Because successful station life spills over into the fire ground. We consistently worked on that aspect of my mentorship process. Which directly impacted the crew and the leadership process. We would find ways to empower crew members to create a culture of buy-in and growth.
Once we identified my core values and leadership styles, the real work began. It was time to test prep. We started practicing my oral resume and oral board questions. Kevin would give specific instructions and examples on how to be the best interviewer I could be. Kevin used his own past experiences for my prep. Kevin has thirty-plus years in the fire service. Kevin’s life experiences are unmatched. When I would answer an interview question, Kevin would give honest feedback for me to improve. Then Kevin would detail how to make my answer more effective. Kevin would then relate the question to the real world, and we would role-play. This was so effective for understanding the value of the questions and the answers. In turn, I would know how it correlates to the Lieutenant position. Kevin’s main goal for practical interviewing skills is to see how one’s training, education, and experiences relate to the job you’re applying for.
The next phase of test prep was fire-based scenarios. This enhanced my knowledge on the fire ground. We would take pictures from previous fires around the country and go over strategy and tactics using the three-deep model of Blue Card. Kevin would go in-depth in building construction, life safety, Incident stabilization, and property conservation. This wasn’t just test prep for me to obtain the position of Lieutenant. It also improved my knowledge of the fire service. We also went over scenarios for MCI and Hazmat incidents. So, I was increasing my knowledge and command presence for the fire officer position. I also would share calls and training I did with my crew while on duty with Kevin. We would dissect the calls and training so continuing growth would occur within the crew and me. We then attacked what it is to be a servant leader within the crew, community, and fire department. I would share past life experiences of servant leadership and how I was already a servant leader within my department. Kevin came up with questions and scenarios so I would understand how to continue improving as a servant leader and how to build community equality that creates a successful fire department. These are just some tactics Kevin did for me to grow in my position and for test prep.
I tested for the position of Lieutenant with my department in September 2022. I ended up getting promoted to Lieutenant. Suppose I would never meet Kevin Body. I wouldn’t have been promoted. Kevin’s insight into life, leadership, building crew dynamics, fire ground strategies, and tactics is unmeasurable. The number one attribute Kevin has is his way of bringing out what’s already inside of you and how we individuals have what it takes to succeed. Kevin’s in-depth mentorship process involves goal setting, leadership dynamics, culture building, accountability, and perspective. Working with Kevin will set anyone up for success. Kevin not only works with firefighters and fire departments but also with people from all walks of life. I highly recommend anyone to use Kevin’s knowledge and life experiences to grow people toward their goals. I’m glad I can call Chief Body a mentor, coach, friend, and brother from another mother.
Kevin Body has been the greatest influencing factor in my 30 plus years in the fire service both as a volunteer and as a career which is ironically how long I’ve known him. He has been a mentor, source of inspiration and most importantly a friend. I feel I have become a successful leader and company officer impart due to his guidance to acquire numerous certifications, classes and seminars which have enhanced my knowledge and skills. Kevin has always been a sounding board of reason which has allowed me to make course corrections not only in my way of thinking but how I have managed various crossroads along the way. He has taught me to not let my failures get me down but to turn those moments into learning opportunities for future success. I have people that have worked for me who frequently ask how I know which decisions to make. My usual reply is what I just referenced. My ability to be patient with people didn’t start out so well as I was challenged on how and why people perform various tasks. Kevin taught me how to be more open and patient with the fact that there are various ways to performance. To appreciate Kevin as a mentor is to also appreciate his drive to not only himself better but to impart that wisdom to others. I have been allowed the opportunity to see this in our long time friendship which I value dearly. I cannot think of a better person to be recognized for his achievements as a mentor. I am aware of so many like myself which Kevin has touched as a mentor and I am proud that I was able to be one of them.