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Mission Reflection

Mission Reflection is a series of easy-to-read, inspirational stories and messages to help us connect to God, to our deepest selves, to our work and to Creation.

The goal of these reflections is to foster greater humanity, authenticity, and sense of spirit in the workplace by providing thoughtful messages that can be read in a few minutes. It is our hope that we will come away assured that who we are and what we do at Catholic Health is of immense importance.

August Message

An architect stopped by a job site and came upon a crew of bricklayers at work. He stopped and asked the first one, “What are you doing?” The bricklayer looked up, shrugged his shoulders and answered, “I am laying bricks.”

The man continued along until he encountered another worker. He asked her, “What are you doing…and the worker replied, “I’m putting up a wall.”

The man walked on until he met a third worker. He asked the same question: “What are you doing?” and the worker replied, “I’m building a cathedral.”

As part of Catholic Health, directly or indirectly, we are all bricklayers. We see patients, we set budgets, we design programs, we go to meetings, we support and develop our staff, we mentor and coach people, we advocate for the poor and the vulnerable, develop future leaders and so on.

Taken one step at a time, these are small and simple acts – just laying bricks. But when these small and simple acts are combined with those of thousands of others, you build a health system, just as surely as you build a cathedral – brick by brick. Part of our vision statement reads, “We will lead the transformation of healthcare in our communities.”

The important thing is to remember the wisdom of the third bricklayer, whose work was meaningful to him because he worked with the consciousness of the greater purpose behind his task. This third bricklayer had an attitude that he was contributing to something that was important and that made a difference.

In spite of an explosion of communication tools over the past decade, there are still many organizations that communicate to their associates like the cathedral makers communicated to the first bricklayer. Associates are told to lay bricks and lay them well. But, without knowing why they are laying bricks, bricklayers like the first are unable to make much of a creative contribution to the organization. How can they suggest ideas when they hardly know what the organization is doing?

Today, far too many organizations treat their associates like the cathedral makers treated the second bricklayer. Associates know their place within their department. They know they are part of a team, building a wall. But they are unclear as to why they are building a wall or where that wall fits in the big picture. Although bricklayers like these can contribute creative ideas, their ideas are largely limited to making better walls. While such suggestions are useful, it is worth bearing in mind that cathedral walls are different to house walls.

A precious few organizations communicate to their entire workforce the way the cathedral makers communicated to the third bricklayer. But, those insightful cathedral makers who do fully communicate their plans and strategy will be richly rewarded as long as they open their ears to the bricklayers, concrete pourers, diggers, scaffolding makers and others involved in building the cathedral. That's because bricklayers are so much more than bricklayers. They are multifaceted human beings with experience, knowledge, compassion and pride.

Whatever our particular roles in the bricklaying scheme within Catholic Health may be, as sponsors, members of the board of directors, administrators, management, physicians, associates, volunteers and so on… but more importantly as stewards, we need to reflect every now and then on the reasons behind the work we do. As we continue to serve the mission, we are building a health system that will improve the health and quality of the people in our community. Each day that we do our jobs well, we are building a healthier community.

Our purpose has not changed since our founders St. Elizabeth Seton, St. Vincent de Paul, St. Louise de Marillac, Mother Catherine McAuley, Mother Colette Hilbert, Father Nelson Baker, and Bishop John Timon arrived several years ago to care for the sick, the injured, the dying and the poor. By working with others and always keeping the greater purpose in mind, these founders built the foundation for Catholic Health.

So if, at times, a particular brick gets too heavy or a task seems overwhelming, take a moment to refocus on two key areas: our ability to see the big picture and our attitude.

• Ability to See the Bigger Picture: Being able to see the end result, rather than just the task, eliminates obstacles, focuses our energy, and provides motivation to excel. A great quote by Alvin Toffler to reflect on, "You've got to think about big things while you're doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction."
• Attitude: Our attitude towards whatever we are doing determines our ultimate level of success. As Brian Tracy said, "You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you."