Pursuing Excellence
“I will walk with integrity of heart…”
--A song from an ancient seeker
Wednesday: “Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way.” --Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington, born a slave and deprived of education in his childhood, became America’s foremost black educator in the early part of the last century. His nickname was “The Great Accommodator”. This characteristic, while not highly acclaimed, is a real gift. To accommodate another is to make them comfortable in new surroundings, to make them feel at home while away from their home.
The task of providing healthcare (my field of work) means accommodating people in surroundings that are not their own. This is the work of all healthcare providers. It is a task shared with hundreds of other caregiving institutions. The challenge in my workplace is for our team to do our work in an uncommon way, to hold before one another the value of excellence. It is a task that should motivate us. We talk frequently about “compassionate care.”
Viewing this challenge in the midst of all the talk about health care reform, it would be good for each of us to become better listeners to the “voice” that stirs in our souls. What uncommon way can you perform your tasks? When we feel that inner nudge to extend our compassion in an uncommon way, then we are moving toward excellence. When we deliver our nudge, we move closer to excellence. Maybe there is something to being an accommodator.
--Ben Keckler
11.02.11
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