Icons in Our Lives

In any culture and for any individual there are events, places, ideas or tangible things which are immediately associated with particular moments of time, hopes or dreams.

You might use the word “Smithsonian” and there is no doubt that we’re talking about America’s most famous museum. The Eiffel Tower and France, Red Square means Russia — the list goes on.

The more passionate you might be about a particular field of study or hobby, the more excited you can get about the chance to visit an iconic person or place — one whose very name or identity means a very great deal to you personally.

The Royal Greenwich Observatory — a physical icon of the world of astronomy and home to the prime meridian — was such a physical location for me.

This observatory was commissioned in 1675. It predates the instruments of mass observation that are found in modern observatories.

Its main function was to create an accurate timekeeping system, consistent across oceans, for superpower England’s worldwide trading activities. Later England’s largest telescope would be housed there and still is.

I got to stand under the main dome and look up at the 1893 instrument which helped make the science I am passionate about come to life. How ironic, I thought looking up at this huge instrument, that what I have in my far smaller personal observatory, allows me to see clearer and better than the best equipment of that past time.

Passionate service in public administration also includes iconic figures — people who serve as mentors or career development heroes.

In my 40-year career as a director of human resources in two counties and two cities as well as a leadership consultant and coach, I certainly came upon such heroes.

They helped shape my career, perhaps without me even being conscious of their impacts. 

One such iconic figure was William “Bill” Danielson who served as director of human resources for California’s Alameda County and the cities of Berkeley, Sacramento, and Oakland.

He also served as president of the California County Personnel Administrators Association and worked for the Ford Foundation helping the Kingdom of Nepal create its HR system.

His iconic status derived not just from the offices he held, but also from his extraordinary willingness to reach out to others and help inspire the next generation of HR directors.

So, it was when brand-new county HR Director Phil attended his first meeting of the California group for which I later, following in Bill’s footsteps, had the honor to serve as president.

I knew who Bill Danielson was though we had never met. He came up to me, welcomed me, asked me to sit with him during the meeting.

He offered me more than my fair share of his time, wisdom and humor as key elements in career success. It became clear that I had a new and most wonderful friend.

I decided at that point that someday perhaps I might be able to play a role like that as a coach or a mentor, or just a friend to public administrators at the beginning of their careers. 

Whether I have succeeded in that hope is for others to judge.

However, the form of “passing the torch” which Bill so profoundly demonstrated is a real mark of a career and a life well lived.

That willingness to be a positive and caring influence also makes for success as a spouse, parent, neighbor and member of our species.

Not a bad thing for any of us in government to think about and act on regularly.