About Mike Kraus

Fire Chief to Leadership Coach — Building Better Bosses

I began my California fire service career as a reserve firefighter and ended it 33 years later as a fire chief. Over those three decades, I had the privilege of working with incredibly talented people, serving my community, and learning what real leadership looks like under pressure.

During my career, I gained experience in program and curriculum development, teaching, labor management collaboration, elected official relations, team building, strategic planning, community risk assessment, deployment analysis, budgeting, and organizational leadership.

My tenure as fire chief coincided with one of the worst economic periods in this country since the Great Depression. Our city faced significant financial hardship. It was an incredibly challenging time — one that taught me the importance of communicating and collaborating with my people; then lead them through the fog of war. I learned that leadership isn’t about titles or authority — it’s about people, vision, and the courage to make tough decisions with empathy and integrity.

Today, my focus is on sharing the lessons I learned with others — helping organizations and individuals avoid the mistakes I made, and build stronger, more capable teams.

I specialize in leadership development, team-building, improving labor-management relations, and strategic planning. And, I offer my signature 3-Step “Boss Up!” Program to help organizations build their own Boss Factory — a system that continually develops effective supervisors, managers, and leaders.

While my roots are in the public sector, my methods and insights apply equally to the private sector. Whether you lead a department or a corporation, my goal is the same: Help you and your people Boss Up!