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Comms Coach Podcast
Welcome to Comms Coach, the podcast that delves deep into the world of training and quality assurance for 9-1-1. Your host, Lori Henricksen, is a veteran in the field with more than 30 years experience as a dispatcher, trainer and high school teacher who started one of the country's first 9-1-1 Dispatch programs for High School students in Las Vegas, Nevada. In each episode, a lineup of expert guests dive into the critical aspects of emergency communications training, quality assurance and improvement. They share valuable insights, techniques, and best practices to help today's trainers and the next generation of unsung heroes. So whether you're an experienced dispatcher, leader, trainer or simply curious about how to set up and run training or QA programs in your center or school, get ready to embark on a journey of knowledge, growth, and inspiration. This is Comms Coach, building the strength behind every call.
Comms Coach Podcast
Season 2 Episode 3 Steve Sutton The Power of Positivity
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What does it actually cost a 911 center when the culture is toxic—and who's responsible for fixing it? In this episode, host Lori Henricksen sits down with Steve Sutton, a public safety professional with over 30 years across fire, EMS, corrections, and 911 communications, for a candid conversation about what it takes to build a comm center where people actually want to show up.
Steve and Lori don't sugarcoat the reality. Chronic understaffing, mandatory overtime, cliques that make new hires feel like outsiders, and a job where you pour everything into calls and almost never hear how they turned out—it's a recipe for burnout, turnover, and a culture that slowly poisons itself. They've both seen it. And they've both seen what happens when leadership decides to do something different.
The heart of this episode is a principle Steve lives by: what a leader does in moderation, staff will do in excess. That cuts both ways. Leaders who complain, check out, or play favorites give their teams permission to do the same. But leaders who model positivity, recognize their people consistently—not just during Telecommunicator Week—and invite everyone to the table? They build something that lasts.
Steve gets practical about what that actually looks like: clear communication, genuine recognition (handwritten notes, public shoutouts, small gestures that signal someone was seen), encouraging certifications and professional growth, and paying close attention to the first 60 to 90 days when new hires are quietly deciding whether they're going to stay or go. That window matters more than most leaders realize.
The payoff for getting this right isn't just a nicer place to work. It shows up in productivity, attendance, recruitment, retention, and the kind of teamwork that holds together when the calls get hard and the shift runs long.
If you lead a comm center—or you're trying to change the culture of one from inside—this episode is the conversation you didn't know you needed.
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