Desire

For the last few days I can’t get the similarities out of my mind regarding the Patriots and the fire service. Here, seems to be a perfect example of the basics.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

You don’t have to be a football fanatic to have heard something about the success of the New England Patriots this year. For a team that forecasters were saying would be lucky to reach .500, the team clinched a playoff berth on Dec. 23rd with a record of 10 and 5.l What happened to account for the pleasant, surprising results? Coach Belichick answered that question this way: "We have people that want to play football". When you look closely at this team, there aren’t any super stars, and the talent is average. So it appears, at least with this team, that attitude and desire have taken the team this far. Coach Belichick adds that regarding those people who didn’t care to play, acting as anchors to progress, "We graduated them last year". Belichick, a candidate for Coach of the Year, has shown us another example of the common principle of leadership – our principle resource is not only people, it’s the ATTITUDE of those people.

Putting this concept into fire station sociology and organizational effectiveness, let’s start with a mission statement that describes who we are and something about our standard for excellence. Then bless me with a staff and members who want to play the game. Give me people who are self-motivated, committed to self-improvement and accomplishment, and I'll give you a playoff team – one that the community will have confidence in and be proud of.