Key Takeaways

1. Constant Connectivity Creates Strain
   Leaders today are often expected to be always available, which can lead to mental fatigue, stress, and reduced effectiveness in decision-making.

2. Mental Fitness Is Often Overlooked
   Leadership training programs tend to focus on physical and tactical readiness but often miss the mark when it comes to building mental resilience and cognitive control.

3. Training Attention and Focus Is Essential
   Developing skills that improve focus, manage stress, and enhance awareness can lead to clearer thinking and better performance, especially under pressure.

4. Early Success Shows Promise
   Initial efforts to build attentional fitness in leadership training have shown strong interest and positive results, suggesting this kind of mental training should become a regular part of leadership development.

Actionable Steps

1. Practice Mindfulness Daily
   Start each day with a short routine—such as breathing exercises or mindful reflection—to improve focus and reduce mental clutter.

2. Schedule Distraction-Free Time
   Set aside blocks of time where notifications are off and deep, focused work is prioritized. Protect this time as you would a key meeting.

3. Promote Mental Readiness in Your Team
   Encourage your team to take their mental fitness seriously. Share strategies that work for you and support their use of similar tools.

4. Regularly Evaluate Cognitive Load
   Check in with yourself and your team to assess how mental load is impacting performance. Adjust workflows or expectations if needed to sustain long-term effectiveness.

5. Lead with Intentional Presence
   Show up with full attention in meetings, conversations, and decisions. Your focus sets the tone for those around you.

Summary of One Mission: How Leaders Build a Team of Teams

One Mission: How Leaders Build a Team of Teams by Chris Fussell is a follow-up to Team of Teams and delves deeper into the practical application of building cohesive, adaptable, and resilient organizations. While Team of Teams outlined how the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) evolved to meet modern threats by breaking down silos and fostering inter-team collaboration, One Mission focuses on the mechanics of how to create and sustain that kind of organizational transformation. Fussell, a former Navy SEAL and Chief of Staff to General Stanley McChrystal, draws on his military experience to illustrate how these principles apply not just in the military but across any large, complex organization.

Key Concepts from the Book

1. The Forum: A Platform for Cross-Functional Collaboration

One of the book’s central ideas is the implementation of a forum, a structured yet informal meeting where representatives from different teams come together to solve problems collaboratively. Unlike traditional meetings dominated by rigid hierarchies and one-way communication, the forum is dynamic and encourages open dialogue across all levels of leadership. The facilitator plays a crucial role, guiding the discussion, ensuring participation from all voices, and maintaining a problem-solving focus. This environment fosters psychological safety, where even junior members feel comfortable sharing ideas or challenging assumptions in the presence of senior leaders.

What makes the forum effective is that participants aren’t just passive attendees, they’re empowered decision-makers within their own teams. When an issue is raised, the group can quickly analyze it from multiple perspectives, leveraging the diverse expertise in the room to reach decisions faster. This rapid problem-solving capability contrasts sharply with traditional bureaucratic models, where decisions are often delayed due to the need to run things up the chain.

2. Empowerment Across Ranks

In the forum, input is not restricted to senior leaders. Fussell emphasizes the importance of encouraging contributions from all ranks. This flattening of communication channels ensures that frontline insights, often the most critical in understanding operational challenges, are heard and acted upon. By creating an informal, non-hierarchical atmosphere, organizations unlock a wealth of untapped knowledge and foster a culture of ownership at every level.

3. Informal Networks vs. Rigid Chains of Command

Another key theme is the value of informal networks within organizations. While the chain of command remains essential for accountability and structure, it’s often too rigid for dynamic problem-solving. Fussell argues that informal networks, relationships built across teams and departments enable faster communication, better collaboration, and more innovative solutions. The broader and more robust these networks, the more resilient and adaptive the organization becomes.

This doesn’t mean abandoning hierarchy but supplementing it with connections that cut across formal lines. In practice, this means leaders should encourage relationship-building beyond ones immediate team, fostering trust and familiarity that pays dividends when rapid coordination is needed.

4. Alignment Through a Shared Purpose (The One Mission)

The book also stresses the importance of having a clear, unifying mission that aligns all teams. In the military context, this might be defeating a common enemy. In business or public service, it could be serving customers, improving public safety, or advancing a specific goal. When everyone understands and buys into the larger mission, it becomes easier to align efforts, even when teams have different immediate priorities or cultures.

Applying One Mission Concepts to Albuquerque Fire Rescue (AFR)

Reflecting on the lessons from One Mission, I see clear opportunities to enhance how Albuquerque Fire Rescue operates, especially in terms of decision-making, collaboration, and communication. Here’s how I’ve thought about applying these principles within AFR:

Transforming the Monthly Chief’s Meeting into a Collaborative Forum

Currently, AFR’s monthly meeting with the Fire Chief, Deputy Chiefs, and Battalion Chiefs operates as a top-down communication channel. The Fire Chief disseminates information, and Battalion Chiefs can raise concerns from the field. However, the structure is rigid, and decisions aren’t made in real time. Due to time constraints and the formality of the setting, many Chiefs hold back their input to avoid prolonging the meeting.

Drawing from One Mission, I believe we could significantly improve the effectiveness of these meetings by restructuring them into a forum-style environment. Here’s how this could look:

Empowering Decision-Makers: Each Battalion Chief should come to the forum not just to report issues but with the authority to make decisions affecting their teams. This shifts the meeting from a passive reporting session to an active problem-solving environment.

Role of the Facilitator: Appointing a skilled facilitator, not necessarily the Fire Chief can ensure discussions remain focused, inclusive, and solution-oriented. The facilitator’s job would be to manage the flow of conversation, encourage participation from all voices (regardless of rank), and prevent any one perspective from dominating.

Encouraging Open Dialogue: By fostering a more informal atmosphere, we can create psychological safety where Chiefs feel comfortable speaking candidly. This doesn’t mean abandoning professionalism, but rather reducing the formality that stifles honest feedback and innovative ideas.

Building Time for Discussion: Adjusting the agenda to prioritize dialogue over presentations will allow space for real-time decision-making. Instead of merely noting issues for future consideration, we can solve problems on the spot when the right people are in the room.

The key benefit of this shift would be increased speed and quality of decision-making, as well as greater buy-in from Chiefs who feel their input directly shapes outcomes.

Fostering Informal Networks Across AFR

Fussell’s emphasis on informal networks resonates strongly with my own experiences. Throughout my career, the relationships I’ve built across AFR have often been the key to getting things done efficiently. A perfect example of this was in 2018 when I stumbled upon a medical treatment podcast from Austin EMS. I casually mentioned it to a colleague in our paramedic training division, which ultimately led to the creation of AFR’s own medical podcast.

This success wasn’t the result of a formal directive, it grew organically from informal connections. Because I had a strong network, I could quickly share ideas, get buy-in from key stakeholders like the Medical Director, and pull together talented paramedics to contribute. The podcast became a valuable resource, blending real 911 call audio with expert discussions on treatment protocols, making it both engaging and educational.

To formalize the benefits of these informal networks within AFR, we could:

• Encourage Cross-Departmental Projects: Just as the podcast brought together people from different roles, we should create more opportunities for collaborative projects that span divisions.

• Mentorship and Shadowing: Facilitating mentorship programs and job-shadowing opportunities across ranks and specialties would help build personal connections beyond one’s immediate circle.

• Informal Gatherings: Hosting informal meet-ups, workshops, or networking events where Chiefs, Captains, and frontline firefighters can interact outside of high-pressure environments fosters trust and breaks down silos.

The broader our internal network, the more agile and adaptable we become as an organization. Problems that might otherwise get bogged down in bureaucracy can be solved quickly through personal connections.

Conclusion

One Mission offers a powerful blueprint for transforming how organizations operate, particularly those like AFR that rely on coordination across diverse teams. By adopting forum-style decision-making, empowering leaders at all levels, and nurturing informal networks, we can enhance our responsiveness, foster innovation, and create a culture where every voice contributes to our shared mission.

The challenges we face in the fire service whether operational, medical, or administrative, are too complex to be solved through top-down directives alone. By embracing the principles from One Mission, we can build an AFR that’s not just a collection of Battalions but a true team of teams, aligned in purpose, connected through relationships, and capable of adapting to any challenge.