The Olathe Fire Department (OFD) was challenged with preparing and planning for a significant amount of turnover in their administrative leadership in the next 2-4 years. The problem is the OFD currently has no strategy in place to help manage upcoming chief officer transitions, thus making the organization at risk for decreased administrative performance and vulnerable to future disruptions in the delivery of their programs and services. The purpose of this research was to introduce the concept of executive transition management to the OFD and to identify key components of a transitional strategy that could be utilized to help manage upcoming chief officer transitions. A descriptive research methodology was used to answer the following questions: (a) What is executive transition management? (b) What are some of the best practices associated with executive transition management? (c) What plans, programs, and/or best practices are being utilized in the fire service to manage chief officer transitions? (d) What do the current chief officers within the OFD feel is the best way to successfully transition new leadership into their positions?

The procedures included a review of literature on the topic of executive transition management and related best practices, the development and dissemination of an external survey to fire department members throughout the United States, and the development and distribution of an internal survey to every chief officer within the OFD. The results provided answers to the research questions, identified strategic components for managing leadership transitions, and demonstrated the department's need for a transitional strategy. Recommendations were made to utilize identified strategic components to develop a chief officer transitional strategy to manage upcoming chief officer transitions at the OFD.