Jennifer Wallace

When he was a rookie, he and his crew were called to a horrific car wreck.

A woman was trapped inside, her legs were pinned under the twisted steel.

Greg's training took over.

He looked for an opening, and he found a jagged opening, slid through to put his heavy bunker coat around the woman to shield her from the glass as they worked to rescue her.

Greg promised he would stay by her side and they would get her out, and they did.

But here is the part of Greg's story that stuck with me.

After that intense experience, Greg would never know what happened next.

Did the woman survive?

Did she ever walk again?

Did their efforts that night make any difference?

It surprised me to learn that firefighters rarely hear about the outcomes of their rescues.

Over time, that lack of closure can erode morale.

fuel burnout, even cynicism.

So years later, when Greg became fire chief, he created a system to change that.

He tracked the outcomes of rescues because he wanted his firefighters to know when their efforts had saved a life or eased someone's suffering, because Greg knew something vital.

It is not enough to do important work.

We need to know our work makes a difference.

We need to know we matter.

I'm a journalist, and for the past six years, I've interviewed hundreds of people around the world, like Greg, asking them a question.

Do you feel like you matter?