Journal of Sacred Work

   The announcement blared twice over the PA system: "Code Blue – Room 4014!" I rose from my chair & started down the hall. Thirty-one & a brand new hospital leader I should be helping.

   By doing what? I was trained as a trial lawyer not as a doctor or nurse. 

   Back in my office, shielded (as leaders can choose to be) from the suffering of the sick & wounded, I wondered about my new role & yearned to be back in the courtrooms where I had practiced my profession for seven years.

   That afternoon I studied an ER nurse tending to an accident victim. Again, I could only watch.

   "You took great care of that patient," I told the tired nurse later. "I am impressed." 

   "Wow," she said glancing at my badge, "that's the first compliment I've gotten from any leader in months. I feel a whole new energy," she smiled.

   That nurse accidentally taught the lesson every leader should practice. Employees are the leader's "clients." Leaders impact patient care by how they treat their clients. 

  Forty-three years later, that lesson is my key teaching: The leader's most important job is to take care of the people who take care of people. 

  -Erie Chapman  

"Sacred Work" art by Liz Wessel