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Teamwork...Makes the Dream Work!!!
By Mike Hyland
Executive Director, NEPPA
About 15 years ago, I read that quote on the back of my son Erik’s high school football squad tee-shirt when he came home from his first practice of the season. “Teamwork – makes the Dream Work.” I remember laughing – kind of cliché in my mind. All teams can place motivational quotes on the back of their jerseys and practice gear – but do they work? Do they mean anything? Does it make the team play better? Do you get a better quarterback if you put a quote like that on your jersey?
As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m one of seven boys, and thus I played sports as a way of life. Football, Wrestling, Lacrosse, Basketball, Hockey, Boxing, etc. - name the sport, I probably have played it. However, I don’t remember any quote on the back of my Tee Shirt making any of my teams better. I do remember that hard work demonstrated by each and every teammate making us a better team. One coach that I played for always brought up the ‘weakest link’ theory. If you hang a weight at the end of a chain link – the chain can only hold as much as the weakest link. Each and every link can be built to hold a much heavier weight – but if just one link doesn’t do its job – the entire chain fails. The concept is simple – until we eliminate the weakest link – the concept of teamwork has no relevance. By elimination – you have two choices: 1. Develop the weakest link into a better player, or 2. Take that weak link out of your chain.
I coached lacrosse for 33 years. Like all coaches, I had good teams and bad teams, and many in between. I coached High School, Youth, and even ran a Select program in the summer. Imagine the fun we had…at one point our program had 9 teams of 25 players – 225 players in Southern Maryland entering tournaments. Finding coaches, locating practice fields, ordering uniforms, organizing Hotel Blocks, and traveling to places from Virginia to Utah made me understand that the ‘weakest link’ might not be the best theory. Rather, all who could help in any way were part of a team effort. If you couldn’t help me as a head coach, then be a team parent. Can’t commit to being a team parent, then please help with signups. Don’t have much time to help the program on a daily basis….then bring the coolers needed to hold the water. Whatever you can do – I’d take it! Success depends on everyone pitching in, some more and some less. We also found that the more parents and players pitched in to help – the better our program became. That culture of team and teamwork trickles down to the players themselves, and over the years, we produced considerably more championship and winning teams than those years below .500.
Well, those days are over for me. Lacrosse is in the rearview mirror, yet many lessons remain, and I see similar teamwork in my role at NEPPA. A couple of examples might help explain. First, we periodically require some assistance with the programs here in Littleton. For one reason or another, we could use a helping hand from the membership to efficiently complete projects in the yard or oversee our training classes. I’m amazed at how quick the membership is to offer assistance. Working foreman, buckets, whatever is needed – the call out is answered and we appreciate it!
Over the last few weekends, a number of storms have come through Northern Massachusetts and Southern Maine. Maybe a little stronger than expected, and very fast moving. Before anyone could say ‘dream work’ – the teamwork kicked in. The NEPPA Mutual Aid system is activated, and crews from Groveland, Merrimac, Georgetown, Ipswich, and Marblehead responded quickly and helped a few systems that experienced the brunt of the damage. In fact – we had crews offered from other systems that were not needed – a good sign of a deep team bench.
Just this past week I had the opportunity to be part of the NEPPA congressional office visits in Washington, DC. Teamwork kicked in, and due to the number of NEPPA representatives, we divided into two separate teams to make the most of our time on Capitol Hill.
Thus, regardless of which team theory you like best, the key is to get on the team. There’re always opportunities to get involved with NEPPA, APPA, NRECA, BEL, etc., so don’t go this journey alone, get involved. It’s teamwork that just might make your utility dream work.
-Mike
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