From Firefighting to Continuous Improvement: Build Your Leadership Oxygen Flow
- Didier Rabino
- May 27
- 6 min read
Imagine you’re on a plane. The flight attendant reminds you: “Put on your own oxygen mask before helping others.” As a leader, this isn’t just good aviation advice, it’s a metaphor for sustainable leadership.
Too many front-line leaders are running out of oxygen, stuck in a never-ending loop of firefighting: constantly reacting to issues, interruptions, and breakdowns. There’s no time to coach, no space to develop people, and no energy for improvement. The workday ends in exhaustion, not accomplishment.
But what if there was a way out?
The Shift: From Reactive to Proactive
The visual provided tells the story simply: over time, leadership focus can shift from firefighting to anticipated activities and continuous improvement (CI). But this doesn’t happen by accident. It takes intention and a structured method. The transition requires more than a better calendar or task list. It requires clarity, courage, and consistency.
One of the most powerful examples of this shift comes from a manufacturing plant I supported years ago. The story captures both the urgency of burnout and the hope of transformation.
A Real-World Story: From 12-Hour Days to Sustainable Leadership
A value stream manager reached out to me with concern about one of his front-line supervisors. The supervisor was a hard worker, committed to doing whatever it took to support his team. But that dedication came at a cost: he was routinely working 10- to 12-hour days, every day of the week. He barely had time to complete his responsibilities, and even less time for coaching or improvement. The value stream manager was justifiably worried: this was not sustainable. Burnout was on the horizon.
We scheduled a series of coaching interventions, three or four sessions over a few weeks.
The goal? To restore balance, reduce waste, and help the supervisor find a better way to lead. The approach we used was simple and pragmatic:
1. Capture the Current State
We asked the supervisor to track his activities over several days. For each activity, he noted:
What he was doing
When he was doing it
How long did it take
Why was he doing it (its purpose)
This created a map of his time, a mirror showing exactly where his energy was going.
2. Ask the Right Questions
With the current state documented, we worked through a structured set of questions:
What activities can be eliminated?
What can be simplified?
What can be moved to a better time of day?
What can be delegated to another team member?
What can be combined with other tasks?
One breakthrough came with timecard reconciliation. This task took up a lot of his time at the end of each day, often when employees had already gone home. As a result, questions lingered, and corrections required follow-up. We moved this task to an earlier time, while employees were still present and available to clarify discrepancies and receive feedback.
The result? Less back-and-forth, fewer delays, and a more effective use of time.
3. Reinforce with Standard Work
We captured the new routine in a simple document: Leader Standard Work (LSW). This wasn’t a rigid schedule but a structured approach to managing time with intention.
A few weeks later, I ran into the supervisor on the shop floor. I asked, "How are things going with your time management?"
With a big smile, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper.
“I’m doing fantastic,” he said.
That paper? It was his Leader Standard Work. It had become his daily guide—his oxygen mask.
The Roots of Firefighting
Why do so many front-line leaders fall into this pattern? Here are the top five culprits I see in organizations across industries:
1. Unstable Processes
When work is unstable, leaders spend most of their time responding to variability: missing materials, unclear work instructions, broken tools, or poor communication between departments. Stability must be the first focus.
2. Poor Visual Controls
Without real-time visibility into what’s happening, problems remain hidden until they escalate. Leaders are left in the dark, responding after the fact rather than preventing issues.
3. Lack of Team-Based Problem Solving
When teams don’t have the tools or skills to solve problems, everything escalates up to the leader. This creates bottlenecks and burns out those in leadership roles.
4. Unclear Expectations
If team members aren’t clear on what’s expected, they constantly seek clarification or repeat work. Leaders spend their time answering questions rather than developing people.
5. No System for Escalation
Without a tiered response system or escalation process, all problems are treated equally urgent, even when they’re not. Leaders run from issue to issue without a framework.
A Better Way: Build a Leadership Flywheel
The solution isn’t just more time management. It’s a shift in mindset: from reaction to intention.
Here’s what that flywheel looks like in practice:
Fix a recurring issue → Create more time → Use time to develop people → Empower teams to solve problems → Free up more leadership capacity → Repeat
Each cycle creates more space for the next improvement. This is how a culture of continuous improvement sustains itself. Leaders are no longer spending their energy extinguishing fires. Instead, they’re preventing them from starting in the first place.
Small Wins Create Big Shifts
You don’t need a six-month initiative to get started. Begin by identifying one recurring issue that wastes time or creates frustration. Ask:
Why does this keep happening?
Who needs to be involved to fix it?
What standard or visual could help prevent it?
Celebrate progress. Share wins. Build momentum. These micro-improvements send a signal to the team: we solve problems here.
Normalize the Norm
Here’s the heart of the matter: fire-free leadership is not about perfection. It’s about normalizing what should be normal:
Starting and ending the day on time
Leading standard processes with confidence
Coaching people and supporting learning
Having the capacity to plan, anticipate, and improve
When these things become normal, burnout decreases and engagement increases. People feel safe, supported, and successful.
And it starts with a simple shift: track your time, ask better questions, and commit to daily improvement.
Practical Tools You Can Use Today
If you're ready to help yourself or someone on your team move from firefighting to focused leadership, start with these tools:
1. Daily Time Tracker: Print a sheet or use a digital tool to track:
Task name
Start and end time
Purpose or intent
Notes or reflections
Do this for 3-5 days to identify patterns.
2. Eliminate-Simplify-Delegate Framework: Take your task list and ask:
What can be eliminated?
What can be simplified?
What can be delegated or shifted to another role?
What tasks could be combined?
3. Create Leader Standard Work. Build a simple document outlining:
Daily check-ins
Visual management reviews
Problem-solving time
Team coaching or feedback sessions
Time reserved for improvement
4. Escalation Matrix: Define clear criteria for when and how issues should be escalated. Build tiered huddles or stand-ups that surface problems and support quick resolution.
5. Coaching Habit: Embed a habit of asking one powerful question each day:
"What’s the biggest issue affecting our performance right now?"
"What support do you need to solve this?"
"What can we improve today that will make tomorrow easier?"
These tools are not silver bullets, but they create traction. The kind that builds sustainable culture change.
Final Thought: Leadership is a System, not a Heroic Act
We often celebrate heroic leaders who go above and beyond. But heroics should not be the norm. Systems, not superheroes, create high-performing teams.
So if you're a leader stuck in firefighting mode, you're not alone. And you're not failing. You're simply trapped in a system that needs rethinking.
The good news? You can redesign that system.
You can build in structure. You can reduce the noise. You can coach instead of chase. You can model what great leadership looks like.
All it takes is a first step. For one supervisor, that step was tracking his day. For you, it might be starting a conversation with your team. For your organization, it might be piloting the Leader Standard Work in a model area.
One step leads to another. One solved problem creates room for another win. One less fire opens space to breathe.
Put on your leadership oxygen mask. Then help others do the same.
The flywheel is waiting.
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