As “our” week closes, I wanted to reflect back on a few items. In January 2015 I found my new home at Southeast Emergency Communications. I quickly realized I was surrounded by a staff thirsty to learn, wanting to do good things and desiring some direction. They were and are an amazing group of individuals who work hard and give it their all. We’ve worked closely over the past four years to change policy, implement technology and challenge ourselves to continually raise the bar. Certifications, accreditations, letters and words of praise and lives saved indicate our direction is true. Even more, the smiles, jokes (some bad), laughter and group events speak volumes. We are a family at SEECOM!
I struggle at times with recognition as we have chosen a profession of complex service, but I fall back to my nearly two decades of experience behind that microphone to focus my efforts.
After our 2017 TC Week celebration a few employees stopped by the office and politely but firmly asked if they could take part in the planning and execution the following year. It took me a second to step back and wonder what I’d done wrong, but soon I realized that it was possible there were just other ideas out there that I hadn’t considered. Happy to delegate and providing us with yet another opportunity to develop leadership skills within our center, I passed the torch. A small group of staff put together a wonderful event the following year (2018) and this week the celebration has been second to none! All of the food and snacks found me “Chief of Grazing” spending a lot of time in the center chatting with you all.. and I rather enjoyed it!
The best part of this week for me was recognizing and presenting staff with our Public Safety Telecommunicator of the Year and our Team of the Year Awards. It’s humbling to stand there amongst my peers and present awards to some deserving individuals. It also breaks my heart to not recognize everyone as so many are deserving. The coolest thing that many don’t realize is having the ability to read through all these nomination packets. This year they contained words like: caring; selfless; customer service; dedication; teamwork; quality assurance; excellence; sharing; effort; proficient; deserving; patient; resourceful; reliable and the list goes on. How did I get so lucky to work with these folks?
While our week, National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, closes this evening, our mission, goal and focus do not. As a family and as a team, let’s continue to watch out for each other and make a difference in peoples’ lives.
SEECOM, thank you ALL for what you do as first responders! Thank you for welcoming me into your family.
J
