It seems to me that there are those of us bonding as a team here to improve the fire service, which is pretty cool when you think about the fact that we're spread all over the country and some of us have never met. It made me think about teamwork and what composes a team, and about the inner workings of teams that make them special.

Teams like the Patriots and the Giants (for some of you, these are football teams) and their trip from the beginning of the season that culminated in a trip to the Super Bowl lent a lot of interesting "non-fire service" literature toward the subject. (It's nice when I can claim reading my Sports Illustrated classifies as "work").

In the Patriots' case, coach Bill Belichick used a classic approach to bring together his charges: "None of us is bigger than the team". According to any number of articles I have read, he has been able to bring his personnel together under the premise that each person contributes to the whole, and that the synergy they create by working together is much more productive than working to serve one's own needs (And given some of the personalities we are talking about here, that is no easy feat, but Coach Belichick has been successful in doing so).

Do you have some of those personalities on your team? I suggest that just because they are extremely talented, doesn't mean they are a productive part of your organization. A friend and colleague of mine used to say, "Give me someone with a good attitude over talent anyday; I can easily teach you to be good, but it's much harder to teach you to have a better attitude".

In the Giants' case, they rallied around several issues in their organization (the danger that coach Tom Coughlin might lose his job, the ragging they were taking in the media, etc.) and won some very hard-fought battles over the remaining days of their season. I have always been a fan of Coach Coughlin; years ago I had hoped he would coach at Notre Dame after leaving BC, but he did the next best thing to me, which was to go and coach the Jaguars. Then of course, he moved on. But I digress; I feel that the discipline he instills in his personnel has been critical to his success. However, he has also realized (according to several articles I read online and also an article in Sports Illustrated) that he needed to be a little more flexible in his approach, a little more likeable, and a little bit more of a mentor than master. It also apparently worked; they are this year's Super Bowl champion.

An article by Mark Beech in SI (Feb. 4, 2008) gave a wonderful example of motivation that really put things in perspective: Teammates must come together in times of adversity, even at the risk of putting our needs below those of the team. Lt. Col. Greg Gadson, a former linebacker for Army, lost both of his legs after an IED attack in Iran in May 2007. Several months later he spoke to the then 0-2 Giants about commitment, that "being on a team means you put yourself second". "That", he said, "is what I learned as an Army football player".

There are certain elements of a team that stick out to me that illustrate being "one as part of a team", that no one individual is better than the rest of the team. One of the many things I think is special about Notre Dame football is that the players don't have their names on their jerseys. There are other teams like that in college ball, but not many these days. At Notre Dame, it is all about "God, Country, and Notre Dame".

In the Marine Corps, teamwork is integral to success. Although there are obvious leaders and a hierarchy, ask any leatherneck and he/she'll tell you, "Every man's a rifleman". They are all part of a more complex organism; they have a calling, they have devotion and dedication to one another.

We've all heard the story about the chicken and the pig in relation to the difference between a contribution and commitment (if you haven't, comment, and I'll tell you) and we need to ask ourselves are we contributing to the team, or are we committed?

Being part of a team means sacrifice and devotion. It's not without pain sometimes, but the rewards of building a cohesive team are significant. I have often heard the statement, "Morale is a force multiplier" in regard to battle preparedness and no different than the military is our need to be one when we are fighting a fire or cutting someone out of a grinder.

The attitude of putting the team's needs ahead of self is hard to do sometimes, but necessary for your team to achieve levels of trust and respect with one another. If your teammates percieve your willingness to put their needs ahead of your own, they will be more willing to do the same when the chips are against them. This is why teams that go through "bonding" experiences do so well; they see what your "real" attitude is under pressure and while being signficantly challenged.

I ask you, what have you done to prove you are part of your team? What example have you set that causes others to believe in your commitment? What can we do to improve the morale and foster a collaborative working environment around our job?

As leaders (which I hope you are if you are reading this) you are challenged to make this difference and to bring your troops together to fight the good fight. After all, ours is one of the few professions where the "bad guys" are so clearly bad guys. Our battle is to fight fires and to protect others from death and injury. What better reason can we have to form cohesive teams and train for excellence?