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By Greta Lorge We tend not to notice when things go right – only when they go wrong. Seldom do we marvel that our paychecks arrive on time, but we certainly notice when they don’t. That’s why people who are great at their jobs often go unnoticed: all we see is the order they create, not the chaos that would otherwise reign.Greta Lazaro and Cathy Booth, joint recipients of Stanford School of Medicine’s first annual Spirit Award, create order from chaos on a daily basis. As personnel coordinator in the Human Resources Group, Lazaro makes sure that everyone in the medical school gets paid on time, among other things. Her job is a balancing act, with forms and paperwork to be processed and people coming to her with requests, questions and problems, but Lazaro likes the variety. "My job is never boring," she said.  Spirit Award recipients Greta Lazaro (left) and Cathy Booth were taken by surprise when they received their honor. Booth was unaware that the award existed and Lazaro assumed that she was exempt as a member of the Human Resources Group. As lab manager in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Booth keeps the trains running on time. She handles facilities problems, coordinates renovations and moves, sees to it that equipment is repaired, and that health and safety standards are maintained. In addition, she serves on a number of committees for the School of Medicine and the university at large. Booth asserted that on a good day she’s just one step ahead of the chaos. "Mostly I deal with problems as they come up," she said. The Spirit Award program was instituted this year to acknowledge staff members for their outstanding contributions to the vision of the School of Medicine. The letters, S-P-I-R-I-T, spell out the qualities recognized in the award recipients. These qualities are Service orientation, Positive attitude, Initiative, Resourcefulness/reliability, Innovation and being a Team player. The awards, which include a $1,000 cash prize and an "A" parking sticker, were presented by Philip A. Pizzo, MD, dean of the School of Medicine, at the annual staff recognition banquet earlier this month. Booth said she was shocked to learn she had won the award, which she didn’t even know existed. Her entire department conspired to keep it a secret from her, even hiding the program brochures. She knew something was up, however. "I was going nuts," she recalled. "I couldn’t believe my boss was keeping something from me." Unlike Booth, Lazaro knew all about the award, but because the Human Resources Group was involved in collecting and processing nominations, she thought they were excluded from the award. "I was busy planning the recognition ceremony. Of course I never thought I’d be nominated," she said. Both women credit their departments and supervisors for their victories. "I work for such a great department and my boss is wonderful at showing appreciation and giving recognition," said Booth of Shayne Frankel, director of finance and administration for the department. "I work for a terrific director," Lazaro said of Cori Bossenberry, director of human resources. "Good bosses, and a lot of support from everyone, make all the difference. When you work in a nice environment you feel good about your job." Booth said that winning the Spirit Award caused her to spend some time doing a little soul-searching, trying to find an answer to the "why-me" question. "I don’t see myself as someone who’s out there setting the world on fire and likely to get an award any minute," she confessed. But in her 22 years at Stanford, Booth has been through it all, and she has the experience to handle any situation, from a major power failure to the day-to-day problems that pop up in the lab. "If someone doesn’t know how to fix something or do something or get something, they come to me," she said. Lazaro’s philosophy is that valuing your job and making it important brings out your most positive attributes. "Every job is important," she said. "I’m sure there is someone who deserves the award more than I do." Having worked in human resources for seven years, Lazaro finds that the most challenging part of her job is trying to help people but not always having all the answers. "I just try to keep a positive outlook and be as pleasant as I can," she said.
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Stanford Report, November 28, 2001
