I taught at one of my child care centres. A beautiful purpose-built space full of windows letting in tons of natural light, high ceilings, under-floor heating and filled to the brim with fabulous equipment and beautiful things. My students were "oooooing" and "aaaaaahing" as they toured through each room. And indeed it is a fantastic space and we are blessed to have it.
BUT
I truly believe the space is NOTHING without the people who work in it. As I pointed out all the things in each of the rooms as we toured the centre I was again aware that thing are just things until caring, engaged and professional people bring them to life. The "stuff" works because the people make it work in creative and innovative ways.
I felt SO proud of my amazing colleagues who do a challenging job with such passion and dedication.
They could do this in a mud hut, or church hall or basement and the program would be great because THEY are great. They know they are blessed to work in a great space and they don't take it for granted. And I do not take them for granted.
I think this is true of so many workplaces and professions -it's the people more than the place that makes the whole "thing" work.
There is no denying a beautiful space is no small blessing........and big and small humans are very deserving of beautiful places to spend their time in.
All totally true and wisely said.
ReplyDeleteWhere we work is a place, what we do is work or a job or a career, but to be good at what we do means we need to feel comfortable to strech out beyond our own comfort zones, to be challenged and inspired and all of that means we need a strong leader and that my love is you!