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<< back to the 2000 archive listing << Dairy, Food and Environmental Sanitation Commentary From The Executive Director There is no limit to what can be accomplished when it does not matter who
gets the credit Not too long ago, I attended the Missouri Milk, Food and Environmental Health Assoc-iation's meeting in Columbia, MO. This was an extensive two and a half-day meeting and was the second consecutive year I attend-ed. It was nice to see many familiar faces and a good number of International Association for Food Protection Members, too! The presentations were excellent, timely and certainly pertinent to food safety professionals. The program carried individual sessions on institutional, environ-mental, milk and food topics. One of the presentations, "Microbial Challenges of the New Millennium" was given by Harold Bengsch, Director for the Springfield/Green County Health Department in Missouri. Harold is a Past President of the International Association for Food Protection and of the Missouri Association. As Harold presented his inform-ation and challenges to the audience, I thought about what an excellent role model he is for health professionals in this country and worldwide. Now, with over 40 years of public health experience, his resume of experience and accomplishments would surely fill this journal. He has given willingly of his time to serve on many national task forces, working groups, state boards, association committees, and association boards of directors. All of this "volunteer" work is in addition to his daily respon-sibilities of providing the public with educational information and administering the Health Department. Upon conclusion of Harold's presentation, he left the audience with an anonymous quote. It reads, "There is no limit to what can be accomplished when it does not matter who gets the credit." What a concept! You can tell by watching and talking with Harold that he truly lives his professional life with this quote as a guiding force. He is a true leader in the public health profession. Have you thought about how you operate in a leadership role? Do you push a project through to its conclusion with help from your team, then boast with pleasure to everyone about the results that "YOU" achieved? Certainly, we all need to be proud of our accomplishments and do what is best for our own well being, but I encourage you to experiment with the power of using "WE" when speaking on behalf of a group. You will be amazed at how good it makes you feel when you share the credit with the whole team! Of course, the team will feel much more a part of the results, too. Think about the anonymous quote and how you may use it to improve your own life along with the lives of your colleagues. Over the three years I have had the pleasure of serving as Executive Director, I learned the power of "we." Working closely with our Executive Board and staff, it is imperative to share credit with the team as accomplishments are achieved. Our staff is small, only 12 in total, but what we achieve is huge! On that note, I want to make you aware of our special team of individuals who
work together each day to operate your Association. Our staff is multi-talented
and produces great volumes of work daily to benefit you in your positions of
responsibility. Donna Bahun, Julie Cattanach, Lucia Collison, Bev Corron, Lisa
Hovey, Karla Jordan, Didi Loynachan, Beth Miller, Pam Wanninger, Tanya Wheeler,
and Frank Zuehlke all are dedicated employees of the Association. Staff titles
are shown on page 408. Everyone on our staff posesses traits that make them admirable. Look around
at your co-workers. Do you see colleagues you want As this column comes to a close for this month, I encourage you to do one of
two things: (1) find a role model who you can watch and emulate, or (2) become
a role model for other colleagues. Then, as you assume leadership roles, remember
"There is no limit to what can be accomplished when it does not matter
who gets the credit!" |