The Virtuosity Podcast
Every choice builds character. On the Virtuosity Podcast, we explore how to make every day a rep toward excellence. Dr. Corey Crossan, your host and co-founder of Virtuosity, began in sport, where she discovered that strengthening character didn’t just improve her performance—it transformed her entire life. Since then, Corey has been gripped with understanding how we can intentionally build character to fuel both personal and professional success.
At Virtuosity, we believe character is like a muscle—it needs consistent training. That’s why we’ve built a research-based system that acts as your character gym, making character development practical, scalable, and accessible—even within the largest organizations.
On this podcast, we sit down with participants from our flagship Virtuosity program, where individuals commit to a full year of daily character development, powered by Virtuosity. Our guests will share why character matters to them, how they’re applying it in their personal and professional lives, and the insights they’ve gained along the way.
We hope these conversations challenge, inspire, and equip you with new ways to integrate character into your own journey. Subscribe to stay up to date with our weekly episodes, and if something resonates, share it with your friends and colleagues.
The Virtuosity Podcast
A Firefighter’s Formula for Excellence with James Rychard
What happens when someone on the front lines of crisis begins to champion character as the foundation for resilience, leadership, and peak performance?
James Rychard—fire service leader, intercollegiate athlete, and national advocate for character-based leadership—joins us to explore how daily practices can fuel both peak performance and lasting well-being.
🧠 What you’ll hear:
🍁 A bold vision: what Canada could become if character-based leadership started at the top
🔥 Why character—not competence—is the key to sustainable excellence
💪 How firefighting mirrors elite athletics in both mindset and structure
🚨 The hidden burnout risks beyond emergency calls—and how to manage them
🧭 What Benjamin Franklin can teach us about self-assessment today
📉 Why performance drops when character goes unchecked in leadership
📱 How the Virtuosity app helps James stay grounded—shift work and all
If you’ve ever felt the tension between going hard and staying well—or wondered how to lead with strength and humanity—this episode is for you.
Resources
• The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/The-Autobiography-of-Benjamin-Franklin/Benjamin-Franklin/9781416598343)
• Ben & Me: From Temperance to Humility - Stumbling Through Ben Franklin's Thirteen Virtues, One Unvirtuous Day at a Time (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9308927-ben-and-me)
• Character Quotient Assessment in Forbes (https://www.forbes.com/sites/marycrossan/2025/03/26/from-good-to-great-10-ways-to-elevate-your-character-quotient/)
• Leader Character Framework with Culture, Virtues, and Vices (https://virtuositycharacter.ca/organization/storage_production_6e2934b8-3e20-47a7-aa79-59a612f967be/990340a0-9980-4919-9456-ab5640b405a0.pdf)
About Virtuosity
• Website (https://virtuositycharacter.ca/)
• Monthly Newsletter (https://mailchi.mp/virtuositycharacter/subscribe-to-the-virtuosity-monthly-newsletter)
• LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/virtuosity-character)
• Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/virtuositycharacter/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=)
Host, Dr Corey Crossan (https://www.linkedin.com/in/coreycrossan/), is a research and teaching fellow at The Oxford Character Project where she develops and facilitates character development programs for students, industry, and university partners. Corey’s love for elite performance developed as she competed in top-level athletics for most of her life, highlighted by competing as a NCAA Division 1 athlete. Corey translated her understanding of elite performance into a passion for helping individuals and organizations develop sustained excellence. She is also the co-founder of Virtuosity Character, a mobile software application created to support the daily, deliberate practice of character-based leadership development.
Corey Crossan [00.00.09]
Every choice builds character. On the Virtuosity Podcast, we explore how to make every day a rep toward excellence. I'm Corey, your host and co-founder of Virtuosity.
My journey into character development began in sport, where I discovered that strengthening character didn’t just improve performance—it transformed my life. Since then, I’ve been driven to understand how we can intentionally build character to fuel both personal and professional success.
At Virtuosity, we believe character is like a muscle—it needs consistent training. That’s why we built a research-based system that acts as your character gym, making character development practical, scalable, and accessible, even within large organizations.
On this podcast, we sit down with participants from our flagship Virtuosity program, where individuals commit to a full year of daily character development. Our guests share why character matters to them, how they apply it in their lives, and the insights they’ve gained. We hope these conversations challenge, inspire, and equip you to integrate character into your own journey.
Subscribe to stay updated on our weekly episodes. And if something resonates, share it with your friends and colleagues. Ready to start your own Virtuosity journey? Download the Virtuosity Character app or visit us online. Now, let’s dive into today’s episode.
Hello everyone, and welcome to the seventh episode of the Virtuosity Podcast! If you're new here, check out our launch episode with Mary Crossan for a powerful introduction. Today, we’re thrilled to welcome James Rychard as our guest.
James is a 23-year firefighter and instructor from Burlington, Ontario, Canada. He’s a published author in Firefighting in Canada and Canadian Firefighter magazines, known for challenging the status quo and introducing unconventional ideas. In 2022, he co-authored “Guarding Against Burnout in the Emergency Services: A Firefighter’s Perspective” for the Canadian Journal of Criminal Justice Report.
He holds a BA in Psychology and is a graduate of the Fire Service Executive Management Certificate program through the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs and Humber College. James serves on several international committees and brings a boots-on-the-ground perspective to the challenges facing today’s fire service. He’s a passionate advocate for organizational and personal wellness, specializing in leadership decision-making and mental health. He has presented at international conferences on burnout, human factors, culture, and character leadership.
Jamie, I love your focus on both performance and well-being. As I’ve shared before, as an athlete, I often felt well-being took a back seat to performance. I appreciate how you give equal attention to both. I’m excited to explore how you see character influencing each. Welcome!
James Rychard [00.03.30]
Thank you, Corey. It’s great to be here.
Corey Crossan [00.03.31]
The first question I always ask our guests is: Why does character matter to you?
James Rychard [00.03.38]
For me, it’s pretty simple. Who shows up is more important than what shows up. In organizations, we tend to focus on roles and capabilities, but I’ve found that character—the “who” behind the role—is what really makes the difference.
Corey Crossan [00.04.07]
Absolutely. Competencies are about what we do; character is about who we are. It's such an essential but often overlooked piece. I’m especially interested in your focus on peak performance and well-being. How did that become a passion for you?
James Rychard [00.04.32]
Like you, I was a university athlete—football at Waterloo and Bishop’s. I noticed strong parallels between sports and firefighting. Studying psychology, I became fascinated by peak performance—particularly work by Dr. Mykhailiuk on flow, and Maslow’s peak experiences. The connections made a lot of sense to me, especially in high-stakes environments like firefighting.
Corey Crossan [00.05.16]
What specific parallels do you see between athletics and fire service work?
James Rychard [00.05.26]
The structure and demands are very similar. In sports, you train with gear, attend meetings, work with specialists for injuries. Firefighting has the same elements—physical demands, recovery, and continuous learning. Many recruits have athletic backgrounds, so it’s about transferring that mindset. I often refer to firefighters as tactical athletes.
Corey Crossan [00.06.22]
Interesting. What originally sparked your interest in bringing character into the fire service?
James Rychard [00.06.42]
Thanks for that, Corey. In 2020, I noticed a pattern: over 20 fire leaders resigned abruptly. The reasons often related to misconduct—misuse of funds, inappropriate behaviour, sexual misconduct. These were character issues, not technical ones. I reached out to Fire Chief John McNerney and Steve Virgin from the CRA—both passionate about character leadership. From there, we started connecting the dots and looking at how to merge fire leadership with character-based leadership.
Corey Crossan [00.08.34]
That’s such an interesting application. I've also heard you speak passionately about burnout in fire services. When you think about character and burnout, do you see character development as a way to mitigate burnout? How do you see those two connected?
James Rychard [00.08.57]
Absolutely. There was a study in 1908 by Yerkes and Dodson that introduced a bell curve showing peak performance at the top, boredom on one end, and burnout on the other. As stress or arousal increases, performance improves—but only up to a point. Beyond that, it leads to burnout.
Character plays a huge role here. It’s about self-awareness, sound judgment, and decision-making. These are the tools that help us manage stress, stay in that performance zone, and avoid sliding into burnout.
Corey Crossan [00.10.07]
That judgment and decision-making aspect is so important. I’m curious—within the character framework, we talk about imbalances that can impact burnout. For example, strong drive without enough temperance, or strong accountability without collaboration. Have you noticed any common character imbalances in firefighting that could lead to burnout? Or is it more individual?
James Rychard [00.11.06]
That's a great question—and a big one. I think you're spot on with those examples. In firefighting, we see burnout not just from emergency responses, but from the non-emergency aspects too. Firehouses function like family systems—close quarters, high emotions, and interpersonal dynamics.
Character dimensions like temperance and accountability definitely play a role. For example, high accountability with low collaboration can isolate people. Or high humanity with low integrity can lead to overextension. So yes, I do think certain patterns contribute to burnout—but they also depend on the situation and how people balance those traits.
Corey Crossan [00.12.48]
Yes, and thinking about culture in organizations—shifting culture is hard. As you’ve tried to bring character into the fire service, what challenges have you faced? What has surprised you?
James Rychard [00.13.14]
There’s an old saying in the fire service: “Firefighters hate two things—change and the way things are.” It’s funny but true. Our culture tends to resist change, even when it’s for the better.
Because fire service leaders often start as frontline firefighters, that resistance sometimes carries up the ranks. So even if leaders see the value in character-based leadership, implementing it can be slow. That said, I’ve also worked with progressive leaders who manage budgets wisely and support this shift. The key is helping them see that the character framework isn’t just about theory—it’s scalable, adaptable, and can be applied across all levels of an organization.
Corey Crossan [00.15.59]
Do you feel like you're still in the phase of making a case for character? Or have you seen it start to be implemented—maybe in development or recruitment practices?
James Rychard [00.16.19]
I’ve been really fortunate. Chief McNerney was open-minded and supportive, as was Tina Carradine from the CAFC. When the CAFC launched its Leadership Development Committee and a new rapid response course, we invited Dr. Mary Crossan to deliver a session on character-based leadership. I was honored to co-present as a practitioner.
That course is now recorded and will be used for future fire service leaders. I also presented with Kimberly Milani at the U.S. Fire Administration’s National Fire Academy, and introduced the framework at the Symposium in the Sun in Florida—where it was very well received. So yes, there are signs of momentum. There’s definitely an appetite for this—it’s about turning that interest into action.
Corey Crossan [00.18.54]
What do people say resonates with them most when they attend these sessions or workshops?
James Rychard [00.19.09]
Part of my presentation includes social intelligence and the dark triad of personality traits—narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy (sometimes sadism too). When people hear that, they often recognize those behaviours in their own organizations. They’ve seen poor behaviour go unchecked. That’s when they realize character isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s essential. These sessions help them put a name to what they’ve felt and experienced, which makes the case for character even stronger.
Corey Crossan [00.20.33]
That really resonates. And I've heard the same—when people hear about character, they often think others need it more than they do. But whatever gets them through the door, that’s a start. Once they begin practicing character, they start to see the benefits for themselves. Like exercise—uncomfortable at first, but it pays off. Whatever the angle, just start.
James Rychard [00.21.26]
Exactly. And that reminds me of Benjamin Franklin—he measured himself weekly against 13 virtues. I love how intentional he was about developing himself. And fun fact—he created the first volunteer fire company in Pennsylvania. So fire and character really do go hand in hand. Franklin’s model of self-assessment is a brilliant example of how character development can be a daily practice.
Corey Crossan [00.22.21]
Wow, I didn’t know about Franklin’s connection to firefighting. That’s really cool.
James Rychard [00.22.27]
Yeah, it brings everything full circle. When people in the fire community ask, “Why character?”—I point to history. It goes back to the very roots of organized fire services. Long before the Great Chicago Fire, Franklin was already laying the foundation for linking service and character. It’s powerful stuff.
Corey Crossan [00.22.55]
Let’s talk more about development. You’ve been on the Virtuosity program for a few months now—how has it been for you? How has it influenced your character or daily practices? And do you see ways it could support the fire service or frontline work in general?
James Rychard [00.23.22]
It’s been great. The program reminds me of what Franklin did—checking in regularly and reflecting on your character. That self-assessment piece is so valuable.
With firefighting, our call volume has increased, especially medical and behavioural health calls. The stress is real. And at 53, I’m not quite the same as when I started. So having Virtuosity there—reminders, accountability, access to resources—it’s been a huge help. I love the community aspect too. Hearing from others going through their own character journeys has been really inspiring.
Corey Crossan [00.24.39]
That theory-practice connection is so important. Your schedule isn’t exactly routine—unlike most people, your days vary wildly. We encourage daily character routines in the program, but what’s that been like for you? How have you adapted? Any advice for others who don’t have a regular schedule?
James Rychard [00.25.24]
Yeah, you’re right—it’s hard. When routines aren’t predictable, building habits like daily check-ins is tough. It’s not like brushing your teeth where it becomes automatic.
But I’m passionate about character, so that pulls me back in. Even if I miss a day or two, I don’t beat myself up. I treat it like surfing—some days are smooth, others are rough, but you stay on the board and keep going.
My advice: don’t be hard on yourself. Stay accountable, but be kind to yourself. Like with workouts—you don’t always feel your best, but you come back stronger the next day. It’s the same with character.
Corey Crossan [00.27.14]
I love that metaphor—and I totally agree. In many of our programs, people who struggle most are often the ones who expect perfection. But forgiveness is a character trait too. And like you said, you need character to develop character—it’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation. Tools like improv can help, but it’s all about stress-testing those muscles. It’s not meant to be easy.
James Rychard [00.28.05]
Exactly.
Corey Crossan [00.28.08]
Looking at time here—any final thoughts on how character impacts performance, well-being, burnout, or anything else you're passionate about?
James Rychard [00.28.26]
Yes. No matter the industry or sector, we must prioritize hiring and developing good human beings. That’s what the character framework and Virtuosity bring to the table—not just better decision-making, but better people.
When you have good people, you create psychological safety, improve morale, and boost engagement. If someone improves at work, that can ripple into their home life—partner, parent, friend—and back again into work. It’s cyclical.
Leaders especially need this. Their influence can shape how others handle stress, pressure, and unpredictability. Strong character makes organizations—and society—stronger.
Corey Crossan [00.30.28]
Absolutely. Wouldn’t it be amazing if organizations became engines for human flourishing instead of sources of burnout, anxiety, or disengagement? I think they can—and character is a huge part of that.
James Rychard [00.30.53]
I actually took a bit of a risk recently. When the Prime Minister announced the new cabinet, I posted on LinkedIn encouraging him—and his team—to go through a character-based leadership program.
There’s a mental and behavioural health crisis in our country. People are doing more with less. Housing, finances, global instability—it all adds pressure. We need our leaders to lead with character.
When leaders take this seriously, people follow. That’s how you build trust and drive change. Imagine if federal, provincial, and municipal governments embraced this. The whole system could shift. It’s a leadership doctrine rooted in moral strength. It protects not only people—it protects our nation.
Corey Crossan [00.32.59]
I love that ambition—and the fact that you reached out directly. That’s inspiring. Mary Crossan has shared similar aspirations: Canada becoming a beacon for character leadership. And I think we’re really well-positioned for it.
Organizations like the CRA, the Border Services, the Department of National Defence—they’ve already started integrating character. We now have the tools and structure to scale it nationally. But as you said, it has to start with leadership.
James Rychard [00.34.08]
Exactly. And the origin of this whole movement came out of the 2008 financial crisis. Dr. Crossan, Gerard Seijts, Jeffrey Gandz—they found that organizations that survived and thrived did so because of character.
Well, we’re in another kind of crisis now. So why wouldn’t we go back to what works? We don’t need to reinvent the wheel—we just need to implement it.
Even starting with a character-based leadership onboarding program would help. It would give people confidence—not just in their education or titles—but in their ability to lead ethically and wisely.
Gallup’s research shows followers look for four things in leaders during a crisis: trust, stability, hope, and compassion. Character leadership provides all four. And when government leaders model this, it filters down. They become ambassadors, and it spreads across sectors. It could transform our national leadership model.
Corey Crossan [00.36.26]
Yes—and that Gallup research is so relevant. Hope, or in our framework, optimism, plays a major role. We didn’t use the term “hope” explicitly in the leader character framework, but optimism covers the same ground and resonates better in the business world.
And you’re right—optimism without a plan can feel delusional. But with the tools, structure, and science behind the character framework, it becomes powerful and strategic. It’s not just aspiration—it’s a roadmap.
James Rychard [00.37.30]
That’s great to know. I didn’t realize that about the terminology—makes a lot of sense.
Corey Crossan [00.37.34]
Okay, as we wrap up, I always ask guests to share their score from the Character Quotient. For those listening, this is a quick 10-item assessment Mary and I designed. It covers awareness, development, and application of character. It helps people see where they are and how they're showing up in the world.
So James, what was your score? Any insights from taking it?
James Rychard [00.38.27]
I scored 68%. Not exactly proud of it—but I’m being honest.
My awareness was very high—I live and breathe this stuff. But development and application? That’s where I struggle, especially with our 24-hour shifts. It’s tough to fit in consistent routines.
So my goal now is to bring more of that development and application into my shifts—make it more integrated. The awareness is there; now I need to translate it into action more regularly.
Corey Crossan [00.39.25]
That makes sense—and honestly, I think a lot of people are in the same boat. If character hasn’t been prioritized in your organization, and the tools aren’t there yet, it’s hard to go it alone.
But you're doing the work—you’re leading, you’re advocating, and you’re helping build the path for others. And I’m hopeful those development and application pieces will keep getting easier over time.
James Rychard [00.39.55]
Thanks, Corey. I appreciate that.
And one last thing—Dr. Dacher Keltner at UC Berkeley talks about the “power paradox.” As people gain power, the very skills that got them there—like humility, empathy, and openness—often decline.
That’s why character is so important. It balances power. Power should be used to uplift and influence positively—not to control or diminish others. Character helps ensure that power stays aligned with purpose.
Corey Crossan [00.41.02]
Yes! And there’s research showing the same—leaders often lose humility as they rise. It’s a big wake-up call. People assume character just naturally strengthens over time, but it doesn’t—it can atrophy, especially under the influence of power.
That’s why we need ongoing character practice, organizational support, and systems that reinforce it. It’s tough to do alone. But together, it’s absolutely possible.
James Rychard [00.41.54]
That’s well said.
Corey Crossan [00.41.57]
Any last thoughts? Or did we cover it all?
James Rychard [00.42.03]
No, I think we’re good.
Corey Crossan [00.42.05]
Awesome. I know you just came off shift and were probably exhausted, so thank you so much for being here. Your insights around performance, well-being, and character's role in firefighting—and across all sectors—are so valuable.
And I’m excited that we share the same bold aspirations for character leadership across Canada. Thank you again for joining us!
James Rychard [00.42.38]
Thank you very much, Corey. It was an honour to be here. I appreciate your time.
Corey Crossan [00.42.42]
You’ve just finished another episode of the Virtuosity Podcast. If you have questions or want to connect, you can reach me at corey@virtuositycharacter.ca. I’m also on LinkedIn—let’s connect there.
As always, thank you so much for listening. Bye for now.
