St. Jude Values

The "values" for any institute are defined in the early days, found on the company website, and occasionally changed according to the current political environment. More or less, higher management keeps mentioning it in the town hall, and new hires get it in a nice-looking booklet during orientation.

When I joined St. Jude, I heard about "Living our values" - a program where St. Jude employees can nominate coworkers, and St. Jude selects 40-50 individuals who live by the values and celebrates each year. Although I was impressed, I thought, you must display extraordinary achievement to get this honor.?

To my surprise, when I received an email that they selected me for this honor, I didn't know who nominated me and for which value. It was after a few months, during the ceremony, I figured that it was Colleen, one of the newest team members who joined during the pandemic has nominated me for the value "Always be respectful to coworkers, patients, their family, and visitors to our campus." Thank you, Colleen, for the nomination. During crazy times, it's easy to bury yourself under a pile of workload. But it takes courage to remove some time and be grateful to people who help you. I have to learn that from you!

I have to say, St. Jude has proved me wrong on multiple occasions. No matter how small your contributions are, St. Jude recognizes and celebrates them. During the past challenging years, St. Jude has provided comfort, motivation, and peace of mind not only to work and meet deadlines but to live our values. It's easy to compare St. Jude to a book with a great cover. But as you go through the pages, you realize that each page is not just filled with ground-breaking research but also with inspiring stories.

When I say St. Jude, people generally assume it as some higher entity that powers the mission. But if I have to give a face to that power,?It's Dr. James Downing. To reflect on what Dr. Downing represents, let me tell you an incident. When I joined St. Jude 3 years ago, we had a town hall during the first week. From my past experiences, town hall gives me a chill. It always had come with some bad news, either failed projects, restructuring, or lay-offs. I decided to attend it with some presumptions (at least not getting fired during the first week). And to my surprise, Dr. Downing was greeting everyone at the door of the auditorium. With no idea of what to say, I greeted him and dashed into the hall. Soon I realized what St. Jude means. Starting with Dr. Downing showing photos of his grandkids, he discussed every topic with ease and comfort like a storyteller, with the audience laughing and enjoying. All my preconceptions have already left in the first 10 minutes. I was already mesmerized by his personality before I left the hall. From that day, he is no less than a celebrity for me. People might think you get accustomed to the celebrity culture if you spend enough time in St. Jude. But when I got to know that I would get a chance to get a photo with Dr. Downing, I jumped with the excitement of a kid who received a ticket to Disney World!