Adopting A Mailroom Mindset To Help Co-Workers

We roll our eyes every time we hear the story about the top-level exec who started his or her career in the mailroom, but there may be something to it. The mail is a great metaphor because it represents a great equalizer – a necessity, something everyone needs every day, without regard to position or role or level in the organization.

Getting the mail to where it needs to go every day, without regard to its content or the identity of the sender or recipient is an example of a mission that puts the needs of the organization first, above any departmental, team or individual agendas.

“A leader is not an administrator who loves to run others, but someone who carries water for his people so that they can get on with their jobs.”

— Robert Townsend

The concept of Service, as it appears on Performance Appraisals, should be expanded beyond what you do for customers and your boss, to include service to the people who report to you, your peers, their peers. Everyone around you.

Innovation and disruption in your industry has brought changing dynamics to the roles in your organization. People are starting to realize that regardless of what business you’re in or how your company is structured, it’s the situation that determines the kind of actions and behaviors needed at any given time. And rapidly changing situations give rise to constantly shifting roles — leading then following, teaching then learning from another, coaching and being coached.

This calls for a new kind of flexibility and adaptability to the demands of a new role when you find yourself in it, and to be alert for opportunities to help somebody with their piece of the work, as and when the need arises.

What can you do today to help “deliver the mail” — help someone in some new way? In addition to helping that person and the organization, as an added bonus, you’ll put yourself in a position to learn some new things about the work that’s going on there.

No matter where we are in the organization or how we got there, each one of us can benefit from the perspective you can get from the mailroom. Why should customers and your boss be the only objects of your helpful energy? Think about everyone in your organization — your peers and the people who report to you — what they need and want to accomplish – and how you can help them.