Even I Can Be a Caregiver!

When looking at the Organizing and Building Personas, do you recognize those styles in your colleagues or yourself?

I work at a middle school library, and the first thing I noticed when I started this job was how welcome I felt. Even though I was new, I felt immediately embraced by the community. This initial impression I had coming in has made a huge difference in my own attitude. I enjoy going to work every day and I try to be as kind to others as they were to me. I’m pretty sure this attitude of Caregiving is fostered by the administration in a very deliberate way. It creates a warm environment for everyone here, including the faculty, staff, and students.

I have actually been thinking about this for a while, because I am not really a natural caregiver. But I have found that working here makes me want to try harder. Because it doesn’t come naturally to me, I am paying attention to the specific actions people do to make me feel cared for.

There are a few colleagues on staff here that always make me feel particularly special whenever I see them. I figured out that what they have in common is that they always greet me by my first name. It’s that simple! So I have been consciously trying to do the same to others. Last week, I walked by one of the new teachers and I said, “Hi, Melanie,” as I walked by. I think she was surprised because I had never spoken to her before. She probably didn’t even know my name. When I walked back in the other direction, she greeted me with a quip as I passed. And the next time I saw her, she was all smiles and hellos for me.

I’m also trying to do the same to the students, if I know their names. It requires great effort from me because I am an introvert and I am always worried that I’ll get someone’s name wrong, but I think it’s worth the effort. If the students feel like all the staff on campus care about them, they will have a much better experience here as well. I like the idea of the Caregiver being an integral part of an innovation team because it’s true. When a customer or patron feels cared for and special, they will come away thinking that the company/school/library is special too.