JFK and the Janitor

Guest Correspondence

In 1961, President Kennedy was touring NASA headquarters when he asked a space center employee mopping the floor “What is your job?" Without hesitation, the employee responded “My job is to help put a man on the moon.” It's no wonder our goal to get to the moon in ten years was accomplished. 

Kennedy announcing our moon landing goal, the flash of rockets and Neil Armstrong bobbing onto the surface of the moon in 1969, remain the breath taking visuals we've all seen. Although authentic leaders and heroes can be vital to pushing boundaries, it also took thousands of others performing millions of mission supportive actions, including those of the janitor, to successfully get Armstrong to the moon and back.    

The Kennedy and the Janitor story highlights the undervalued and often overlooked power of not only goals, but teamwork and the many, many indiscernible acts of quiet, dedicated people going about their work, that resulted in “one giant leap for mankind.”

The commitment to appropriate goals and teamwork to achieve them adds difference making value to almost any endeavor worth doing in any field. 

As some of you may know, my youngest son Connor plays professional football for the Philadelphia Eagles. He tells me that the biggest lesson he has learned from competitive sports is that great players and a little luck are helpful, but real teamwork, team spirit and team chemistry is the difference maker.  

On Connor's championship teams, the DNA of teamwork flowed through all involved. As he tells it, from the equipment manager to the cafeteria staff, groundskeepers, trainers, players, coaches, front office staff, secretaries and even facility security, mission-oriented teamwork was the magic. Giving your personal best, teamwork and unity of purpose is the combination that leads teams to championships and satisfaction. 

Our moon shot from City Hall, which is our team effort, is designed to partner and work with everyone we can toward building one of America's great “quality of life” cities. A community which is safe, attractive, enjoyable, diverse, accessible, economically viable and sustainable, with lots of quality choices of things to do for all, is work worth doing.

In partnership with our residents, we're striving to build and maintain the infrastructure, the space, the place and spirit where our residents and each and every organization in town can pursue their mission, their dreams, their passion, their loves, their repose and/or their moon shot. 

To help deliver, the City Commission last Monday gave final approval to next year’s city spending plan of $206 million. They've added some resources to deal with our growth and evolution with small supplements to our planning, sanitation, landscaping, recreation, police, finance, utilities and city management efforts. Activity, interest and aspirations for our city have been picking up momentum during this era of record growth and we are positioning to take advantage of it.      

But like the original moon shot, like a championship sports team, like everything worth doing, community building requires the best efforts of everybody involved.   

So, if a President visits our beloved corner of spaceship Earth, and asks a city staffer or citizen for that matter, “What is your role here?” I hope your role and potential as a fellow team and  community builder comes to mind.

Thank you for taking the time to read this month’s column. Forward any thoughts you may have on this or related subjects to: thomas.barwin@sarasotagov.com.

Tom Barwin is Sarasota city manager.

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