Deputy Chief Frank Viscuso (ret.) served more than 26 years as a professional firefighter in New Jersey. He is a columnist for Fire Engineering magazine and the author of twelve leadership books, including Amazon best-sellers Step Up and Lead, Step Up Your Teamwork, Flash Point: Ignite Your Team and Forge a Winning Culture and Common Valor: True Stories from America's Bravest.
Frank is a highly sought after, internationally recognized speaker who has the ability to move people to action. Over the past two decades he has spoken to audiences on many topics that include leadership, team building, officer development, and customer service (1,000+ presentations in 47 States and 4 Countries). Frank travels throughout the United States, Canada and Europe providing leadership and team development and has trained (more than 550,000) firefighters, as well as emergency service workers, sales teams, U.S. Armed Forces, the healthcare industry, small businesses and large corporations (including Exxon/Mobil, Jersey Mike's, SERVPRO, and Crossroads Realty). Frank has provided keynotes at dozens of prestigious Universities including Stanford, Princeton, Northwestern, Rutgers, Oklahoma State, and West Point Academy. He has also provided leadership training on US military bases throughout the United States and Europe (Including Camp Pendleton, NSA Souda Bay on the island of Crete, Greece, and NSA Naples, Italy. His keynotes, seminars and workshops are designed to introduce people to the top traits associated with leadership and to equip them with the skills needed to lead, inspire, and motivate their teams.
Deputy Chief Viscuso was honored as an opening ceremony Keynote speaker at FDIC International in 2022, and the 2025 International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI) George D. Post Instructor of the Year. This award recognizes individuals for extraordinary accomplishments in fire service training.
Throughout his career in the fire service, Frank has developed promotional exams, written more than 60 Standard Operating Guidelines, and acquired millions of dollars in grant money. He has also developed probationary firefighter and apparatus driver training programs, as well as leadership and officer development workshops. In addition to his active speaking schedule, Frank works as a consultant and helps organizations develp and establish programs and guidelines that will help their teams achieve success. Scroll down to learn more about Chief Viscuso's presentations and books.
Leadership Development
Frank offers many seminars, workshops, and keynotes on the topics of leadership and team development. His most popular classes are Step Up and Lead, FLash Point: Forge a Winning Team Culture, and his Leadership Development Workshops. For a full list of classes, email frank@commonvalor.com.
Step Up and Lead
Presentation Content Summary
Leadership Traits(2 hours)
This incredibly popular and energetic resentation includes a discussion on the highest rated leadership traits. Among them are loyalty, adaptability, determination, enthusiasm, empathy, courage and honor. This class features both intense and humorous stories designed to help leaders and aspring leaders Step Up and make a difference within their organization and community.
Leadership Skills (2 hours)
This class covers the necessary leadership skills that are needed to motivate, manage, and maintain team discipline. Among the topics included are Mentoring and Succession Planning, Critiquing, Delegating, Preventing Freelancing, Technical Report Writing, Tackling Administrative Tasks, Dealing with Subordinate Issues, the Post Incident Analysis, and how to build Trust and Morale.
Customer Service (1 hour)
Every organizations culture is created by design or default. Creating a culture of customer service does not happen by accident. This class will introduce you and your team to proven theories, methods and techniques that can help you make a great impression on the people you come in contact with on a daily basis. This class will also help build organizational morale and prevent unnecessary liability.
Custom and Corporate Lectures are also available
For a complete list of available keynotes and presentations contact Frank at the email listed above. Frank has worked with teams in the finance, energy, technology, retail, manufacturing, construction and service sectors throughout North America and oversees.
Life Lessons from the Fire Service: The fire service is often viewed through the lens of heroism and bravery, but beneath the surface lies a wealth of life lessons that extend far beyond the flames. This book delves into the profound insights and invaluable lessons learned through years of service in one of the World’s most challenging and rewarding professions.
Flash Point: Ignite your team and forge a winning culture, introduces you to the four stages of team development–Incipient, Growth, Fully Developed, and Decay. Each stage presents unique challenges to a group of people who are striving to work together as a cohesive unit. Flash Point will provide you with the 8 essential steps you must take to ignite your teams inner fire and forge a winning culture.
Considered a "must read" by many of todays top fire service professionals, Step Up and Lead will introduce you to the top traits and necessary skills needed to lead in todays world. Learn how to properly critique others, build morale, earn trust, prevent freelancing, tackle difficult administrative tasks, lead an organization through change, and much more. This best-selling book has been referred to as "the backbone of the fire service". *Also available in Audiobook
Through powerful stories and proven principles, Step Up Your Teamwork teaches how to create momentum, prepare for success, prevent collapse, and turn a group of individuals into a high-functioning team. Frank Viscuso encourages each person to tap into their individual talent, skills, and abilities and recognize how to use these skills to improve the team. The book discusses proven team-building methods you can immediately begin to implement.
Sprinkles the Fire Dogis an inspirational story about a little puppy from a big city who dreams of one day becoming a fire dog. To achieve that dream, Sprinkles must overcome his physical limitations, the critical corner mutts, and his own self-doubt. This is a wonderful story about setting goals, putting in the work, and turning dreams into reality. (Written by Frank Viscuso, Illustrated by Paul Combs) Also check out Part 2: Making a Difference, and Part 3: Working Together
"I have read this and strongly recommend that you add it to your list as a top priority. Insightful, inspiring and authentic" ~ Bobby Halton, Editor-in-Chief, Fire Engineering Magazine
This book, which features 70 Operational Guides and a Universal Tactical Worksheet can be used to draft SOG's and prepare for promotional exams. The book also comes with a CD that allows you to print all the guides so you can use them in the field.
The Mentor is an inspirational story about a young couple that is struggling to make ends meet. After a chance encounter with a wealthy entrepreneur, Michael and Kristen Harper embark on a journey with hopes to change their financial picture and determine their own destiny. The Mentor is a story that will tug at your heartstrings and encourage you to achieve greater success then you previously thought was possible.
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Practice Scenarios
PRACTICE SCENARIOS
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Practice Scenarios was developed to help prepare firefighters to handle problems in four major areas: Fire Incidents (structure fires, outdoor fires, vehicle fires), Non-Fire Incidents (hazardous materials, collapse, vehicle accidents, compounded incidents), and Supervision and Administrative scenarios. This book will help you overcome challenges in the field and the assessment center.
Strategy and tactics are not only needed when fighting a five-alarm structure fire. Sound strategy and tactics are also needed when motivating people, building morale, critiquing underperforming team members, mentoring new ones, delegating tasks and making consistent progress as a team. It doesn’t matter if you are a business owner, manager, sales team leader, public servant, or youth athletic coach –If your goal is to get your team to operate at the highest possible level, It’s Time to Step Up! Will help you achieve that goal.
what others are saying about Frank Viscuso
Frank began his career as a professional firefighter in 1991 and has since written numerous articles for fire publications including Firehouse and Fire Engineering Magazine. He was also instrumental in helping his department acquire millions of dollars in grant money and has developed Standard Operating Guidelines (SOP/GOG) and personal development tools. Here is what three of America's most respected fire service professionals say about him.
Every so often in this business you meet someone who has the drive, dedication, and devotion up and beyond the others; Frank Viscuso is one of those individuals. His literature and live presentations will meet and exceed all of your expectations because of the type of individual Frank is. He is changing the way we approach the challenges in the fire service. His professional and motivational look at how we do business will inspired you. He is the type of fire officer that creates an environment that enables and encourages others to get involved and make a difference.
Deputy Chief Mike Terpak, Jersey City FD / Best Selling Author of Fireground Size-up and co-author of Fireground Operational Guides
The most effective leadership principles I have learned have come from strong leaders within the fire service. Some fire officers are great at leading around the fire station. Others are born to lead on the Fireground. Every so often you come across a fire officer leader in both environments. Deputy Chief Frank Viscuso is one of those leaders. For years, Frank has been educating and motivating people at his seminars. His most popular teaching is based on the leadership and team building skills that are featured in Step Up and Lead, where he draws from his personal experiences as a Fire officer and provides proven techniques that will benefit anyone who is looking to lead a successful team.
Deputy Chief Vincent Dunn, FDNY (Ret) / Former Deputy Chief and Best-Selling author
I can without reservation recommend my good friend Frank Viscuso to anyone who is interested in a speaker who has street credibility a quality so necessary in fire service speakers. Frank has a proven track record of service coupled with deep introspection which has enabled him to rise in our profession to the top of our industry. Frank is honest and loyal and will give 100% to anyone who needs his services. Frank is first and foremost a public servant in the true sense of the word.
Bobby Halton, Former Editor In Chief at Fire Engineering Magazine
"Leaders often become apparent long before they earn a title." Frank Viscuso
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Brian Zaitz, ISFSI president, said: “Chief Viscuso was chosen because he epitomizes what it means to be a fire instructor: service before self. No doubt you have read one of his books, sat in on one of his training sessions, or listened to his podcast. He has an innate ability to make you feel comfortable with him and connect with the fire service. He creates a level of comfort through conversation that breaks down barriers, opening honest and clear discussion with the goal to improve yourself so that you can improve the fire service. His sharing of his experiences, knowledge, and education has improved firefighters and fire officers across the world.
I am a healthcare executive and I can strongly endorse Deputy Chief Frank Viscuso as an incredibly dynamic speaker. He has presented at my hospital 4 times for our yearly healthcare leadership conference and has provided training for our team on leadership skills, management skills, team development, and customer service (which is analogous to patient experience). His fire service experience in leadership, teamwork and customer service translate extremely well to the healthcare profession. Healthcare in the United States is going through transformational change, and the skills Deputy Chief Viscuso presents are needed by every leader in the field. He has a remarkable ability to match stories and personal experienced to the needed skills that every leader in our industry must possess.
Dan Hale, M.D., FAAP, SFHM
Medical Director, Pediatric Hospitalist Service, Floating Hospital for Children | Lawrence General Hospital
Chief Professional Development Officer,Lawrence General Hospital
It is not often that someone has a message and story to tell that can transcend multiple diverse industries. Frank Viscuso has spoken to over 300 of our employees and agents as a group, and has been brought in to our company to work with small teams individually, and each time our members have left his sessions with a renewed sense of motivation and with the skills and tactics necessary to grow their leadership abilities. Frank’s ability to merge his leadership lessons that he has honed over multiple decades in the fire service and present them to corporate employees and sales teams is truly remarkable. From customer service concepts to team leadership principles, the skills that Frank has brought to our organization’s employees has been extremely valuable and had led to a direct increase to our company’s profit and has moved our corporate culture in a positive direction.
Christopher Stopero, Chief Operating Officer, Crossroads Realty, Inc.
Chief Viscuso is a renaissance man. He has the God-given and all-too-unique blend of humility, street credit, experience, education, and most critical of all - passion. Frank has dedicated his life to the art of fire service leadership, no matter the form. In his best-selling book, Step Up and Lead, he gave the new millennial generation and old salts alike, a treasure trove of tools to handle practical, real-world problems that plaque our beloved service. God's gifts to Frank have become blessings to the fire service.
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Anthony Kastros, Battalion Chief, Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District / Author of Mastering the Fire Service Assessment Center.
Listen to an interview with Frank
Listen to a podcast interview with Frank as he talks about Step Up and Lead --> CLICK HERE <--
Content captured from a corporate webinar conducted by Deputy Chief (ret) Frank Viscuso
FDIC International, Opening Ceremony: Keynote Speaker Frank Viscuso
