WELCOME!
My name is Mike Kraus and I believe effective leadership is the key to success.
I am a student of leadership, not an expert. I say student because I believe one never really becomes an expert on the subject. Being an effective leader takes years of constant awareness and practice. Most of what I’ve learned has been through the school of hard knocks. I, like most supervisors or managers was never truly taught how to be an effective leader. And there-in lays the motivation to do what I do.
I believe there is a huge void in leadership training in most organizations, particularly in the public safety world. We are expected to effectively lead, but we are rarely given the initial, and certainly not the on-going training or education we need to do so. And in the long run, the organization, our employees, and our customers suffer.
There is nothing magic about being a good leader. Certainly, the individual is the final determining factor in whether or not they choose to improve as a leader, even after being shown how. But I emphatically believe that if any organization desires to be successful, it must begin with training its people to be effective leaders.
Of course, there are other critical factors that determine if an organization will be successful, such as well-trained employees and a visionary, strategic, business plan to follow. In fact, I believe these three items, Effective Leadership, Well-Trained Employees, and a Visionary Strategic Business Plan are the core elements in a successful business, agency, or organization. And, these subject areas in a nutshell, are the focus of what I love to teach.
Please browse the site and see if you like what you read. I am passionate about what I do and am happy to customize any program you may desire, in order to fit your specific needs. Thank you for taking the time to visit Mike Kraus Leadership and please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have.
ABOUT ME
My Mission is to provide quality advisement and developmental services, with the highest level of customer satisfaction.
My Vision is that every individual I influence becomes an effective leader, and as a result leads their respective organizations to success.
My Core Values/Principles: Honesty - I will strive to always be honest with myself and others. Open-minded - I will strive to always be open-minded and consider other points of view.
I began my California Fire Service career in 1979 as a Reserve Firefighter with the Clovis Fire Department, and ended it 33 years later in 2012, when I retired as the Fire Chief of the Modesto Regional Fire Authority. In addition to years of wonderful memories working with amazingly talented people and having the privilege of serving our citizens, I gained a wide range of experiences and skills such as program and curriculum development, teaching, labor/management collaboration, elected-official relations, team-building, strategic business planning, community risk assessment, deployment analysis, community relations, partnership-building, managing budgets, and supervisory/management/leadership skills.
Much of my tenure as Fire Chief was spent forging the Modesto Regional Fire Authority out of three separate entities. While the course was plagued with challenges, it was the right thing to do. I gained real experience in the process and have written a book to help others who may be considering moving down this path.
Additionally, my tenure as Fire Chief coincided with the worst economic times in this country since the Great Depression. My city was so financially hard hit that I had to oversee an approximate 25% reduction of my organization's staffing. This unpleasant but necessary process taught me the importance of looking for “out of the box” solutions that normally wouldn’t be considered. These difficult times also forced me to rely on, use, and hone my supervisory, managerial, and leadership skills. As a result of these experiences, I wrote another book, this one on the basics of being a boss.
My focus is now on sharing the knowledge and experiences gained over my many years in the Fire Service with others, in an effort to prevent them from making the same mistakes I did. I specialize in leadership training, emergency command training, regionalization of public agencies advisement, strategic planning, team-building, and improving labor-management relations. I'm happy to listen to your needs and develop a plan of action that will fit into your budget. While my experience has been in the public sector, and as a result is where most of my work takes place, I also enjoy assisting private sector businesses.
Thank you again for visiting my website. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you think I may possibly be of assistance to you and your organization.