Would you like for your workplace teams to be more caring, cohesive and collaborative? Are individual egos eroding the synergy needed for superior teamwork? Dick learned the value of precise teamwork as a Marine sergeant, including elite duty as a security guard at the American embassies in Warsaw and Rome. His interactive teamwork sessions reveal this truth from Dr. Ken Blanchard: “None of us is as smart as all of us.”

What The Marine Corps Taught Me About Teamwork

By Dick Biggs

From Marine boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina in 1964, to an honorable discharge as a sergeant in 1968, I earned a four-year degree from “The School Of Hard Knocks.” The curriculum didn’t include academic courses such as calculus, chemistry, physics, economics, English literature, philosophy or sociology. Instead, I was taught more practical skills like leadership, honor, discipline, organization, courage, loyalty, persistence, commitment, and especially teamwork.

The U.S. Marine Corps is the world’s elite fighting force because it’s composed of “a few good men” who work together as a cohesive unit to fight battles and win wars. Yes, each Marine is valued highly, but the Corps succeeds because it’s a team of highly skilled men and women who are usually the “first to fight” in any campaign.

Marines are known for their esprit de corps, which is defined as “the common spirit existing in the members of a group and inspiring enthusiasm, devotion, and strong regard for the honor of the group.” It’s a special brotherhood. “Once a Marine, always a Marine” isn’t just a catchy phrase. It’s the embodiment of a team spirit that traces its roots to November 10, 1775 when the Continental Congress established the Marine Corps to fight in the Revolutionary War.

Here are the three teamwork principles I learned as a Marine:

• Independence – Every Marine is fiercely independent. That may sound contradictory to the team spirit, but personal pride plays a major role in the overall success of the Corps i.e., a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. All these years later, I still stand at attention when I hear The Marines' Hymn. It ends with these memorable words: “We are proud to claim the title of United States Marine.”
  
  Zell Miller, a Marine veteran and former U. S. Senator from Georgia, says it this way in Corps Values: “A Marine knows that pride is the bedrock upon which he will lay the foundation of his life, and on that foundation he will build the structure by which the worth of his existence and the measure of his accomplishments will be judged.”



• Dependence - The Marine Corps is masterful in molding a diverse group of people into a synergistic team. Individual pride is encouraged, but excessive ego isn’t tolerated. Each Marine is dependent upon the team to accomplish the mission of the Corps.
  
  In Firing Up The Front Line, an article in the May-June, 1999 issue of the Harvard Business Review, authors Jon R. Katzenbach and Jason A. Santamaria write passionately about what corporate America can learn from the Marine Corps. On teamwork, they conclude: “In a real team, no individual member can win or lose; only the group can succeed or fail."



• Interdependence – The Marine Corps is the smallest military branch. It’s the ground force of the U.S. Navy. Navy SEALS often go in ahead of Marine recon units. The Navy provides transportation, air and big gun support, engineers known as Seabees, medical personnel called Corpsmen, and a host of other essential services. It’s also necessary to coordinate battle plans with the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force. Without an interdependent team attitude among all of the armed services, our military forces would be vulnerable and less victorious.
  
  In The 17 Indisputable Laws Of Teamwork, John Maxwell puts interdependence in the proper perspective: “If you want to do something big, you must link up with others. One is too small a number to achieve greatness. That’s the Law Of Significance.” Thousands of individual leathernecks have achieved greatness and significance for the Marine Corps and America over the past 230 years and counting.

In summary, a Marine is the ultimate team player—fiercely independent and proud; totally dependent upon the Corps for mission success; and respectfully interdependent on the other military branches in preserving the many freedoms of our nation.

Perhaps now you have a better understanding of the Marine motto: Semper Fidelis or “Always Faithful.” Marines are true to themselves; faithful to the Corps; and loyal to the United States of America, a nation that understands that freedom isn’t free. The next time you see a Marine attired in his sharp “dress blues” uniform or clad in her desert fatigues with that familiar globe, anchor and eagle emblem, be sure to say how much you appreciate their service to America and the Marine Corps team. You’ll make their day and brighten up yours, too!