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The Hidden Cost of Constant Firefighting
Ikechukwu Okoh
June 23, 2025
THE LEADERSHIP PULSE
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When Everything Is Urgent
In 2017, I was leading a healthcare facility in Nigeria during what felt like one of the most unpredictable seasons of my career.
Every day brought a new emergency:
The lab machines broke down again.
A patient’s family was shouting at the front desk.
A key nurse resigned without notice.
At first, I wore it like a badge of honour.
“Call Dr Okoh,” they’d say, and I’d show up, fix it and hold things together.
I thought that was leadership.
Until one particularly chaotic morning, I received a complaint letter from a junior staff member.
It wasn't about broken machines or delayed salaries.
It was about feeling directionless.
At the bottom of the letter, she wrote:
"We know you’ll come fix this too, sir. But will we ever stop needing you to fix everything?"
That line broke me.
I realised I hadn’t built a team.
I had built a dependency.
Why Firefighting Leadership Fails
When you lead like a firefighter, you:
React instead of rethink.
Burn out your best staff.
Miss long-term threats because short-term fires blind you.
You’re too busy to innovate.
Too exhausted to empower.
Too distracted to reflect.
And slowly, the people you lead stop growing because they know you’ll step in again and again.
The Root Cause: Urgency Addiction
In fast-paced environments like healthcare, we confuse urgency with importance.
We believe that being busy is a strategic approach.
But busyness is not a badge of honour.
It's a sign of misaligned systems.
Leadership Shift: From Firefighter to Architect
There are three powerful shifts to make this week:
1. Design SOPs for Recurrent Problems
Instead of solving drug shortages every week, establish a standard response protocol.
What triggers the issue?
Who needs to be informed?
What’s the backup plan?
2. Empower Your Deputies to Decide Without You
The best question to ask your team:
“What would you do if I wasn’t available for 3 days?”
Now, train them to do that confidently.
3. Protect Thinking Time Like Theatre
Block 2 hours every Friday.
No email, meetings, or calls.
Call it your “strategy lab.” Your organisation’s future lives in that space.
Tool of the Week: The Firefighting Audit
How much of your week is spent reacting vs redesigning?
Use this worksheet to:
Track where your time is going.
Categorise each task into firefighting or fireproofing.
Reflect weekly on one system you can automate, delegate, or delete.
Download the worksheet here:
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Ikechukwu’s Journal: My Friday Thinking Practice
I now have a standing calendar block on Fridays from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM.
It’s just me, my notebook, and one question:
“What part of the system needs a redesign?”
Last week, I mapped out why a client kept losing top junior staff after 18 months.
It wasn’t salary.
It was a lack of structured mentorship.
We now have a 12-month junior leadership growth pathway under design, not because of a crisis.
Reflective Prompt
Ask yourself honestly:
"How many of last week’s fires would not have happened if I had fixed the system six months ago?"
If your answer surprises you, you’re not alone.
But this week, you can begin to build, not just battle.
You don’t have to be the hero in every emergency.
Authentic leaders create systems that succeed even when they are not present.
Real power is not in being needy.
It’s in creating independence.
Let this be the week you stop managing crises and start preventing them.
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Please share it on LinkedIn or forward it to a friend who might benefit from it.
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Ikechukwu Okoh
Founder of Leadership Pulse
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