By Teresa Cutts
Jeremy Moseley is an invisible hero. Who is this guy and what exactly is an invisible hero? Well, Jeremy is a young, rising executive (promoted as Wake Forest Medical Center’s new Project Administrator of Community Engagement). He doesn’t exactly fit the usual corporate mold. Don’t assume he isn’t a super executive; Jeremy is exquisitely intelligent, impeccably professional and highly suited for the corporate world. But, his added qualities embody the exemplary spirit of all of FaithHealthNC leaders. And it’s exactly those qualities that we think of as “invisible heroism.”
Typical heroes wear bright colored capes. They’re hard not to notice and get lauded in the media and by others. They’re really “out front,” in the limelight, saving damsels in distress, keeping monsters from smashing cars.
No Bright Colored Capes
An invisible hero is the opposite of that mythology. This hero embodies a humble spirit. Jeremy never seeks out or takes credit for successes alone. He is the ultimate team player, always lifting up others in the work. And, many times, he may be responsible for 80 percent of the work behind initiatives. Often, he will craft the first draft of notes from meetings or to-do steps—critically important to keeping the work moving—but always does so without being asked.
On a recent bus tour of Winston-Salem, for the FaithHealth staff to truly “see” the under-served neighborhoods where many of our patients live, Jeremy drafted four pages of beautifully categorized assets and shared them with all of us by day’s end. That occurred while the rest of us were leisurely soaking in the landmarks.
And Jeremy is the first to raise his hand or craft an apologetic e-mail if things don’t go smoothly. He never backs away from saying that he dropped the ball, even if others fumbled alongside him on the team. He shares a forgiving spirit for those of us who might have to reschedule meetings or take another assignment when we have offered to present or represent the group. He focuses on sowing peace among team members, not complaining about tough problems. And he works tirelessly within the team to make that happen, in ways that most of us are unaware. He is deeply respectful and tries to copy transparently almost everyone who could be impacted by an issue, offering solutions in ways that smooth any potential friction. Because of these efforts, the team trusts and believes in Jeremy.
Connect the Dots, Fill the Gaps
Besides a humble and peaceful spirit, an invisible hero steps up to connect the dots and fill in the gaps for care or work. Jeremy works as a critical staffer in Supportive Care Services (formerly Care Transitions, the clinical staff responsible for decreasing readmissions and supporting high-risk patients as they transition from the hospital to community settings). In those rounds, every Tuesday and Friday, Jeremy works like a front-line scout, taking furious notes, drafting e-mails to access resources and transparently share with others outside Supportive Care who could help better care for the patients’ issues. Fore example, he’ll look for a child-sized wheelchair for a petite frail elderly person (it may be in a medical equipment closet at a church or social service agency) or help a patient get a state-subsidized phone so she can be better connected to the team. Jeremy never sits still in that meeting, constantly networking and making these contacts/requests, but somehow, at the same time, he’s impeccably polite and makes us all think that our conversation with him is the only important issue with which he needs to attend at the moment. He also can “speak the language” of a wide variety of people, communicating well with everyone from Sr. Vice Presidents at this academic medical center to Environmental Service Staff, community partners, and residents in the community who may need additional support. Now that’s a skill marking an invisible hero.
An invisible hero also focuses on “doing the right thing” just because it is the right thing. Jeremy wants (like all of us in FaithHealthNC) for everyone to have access to healthcare, personal safety, food security and an abundant life, whether based in tough zip codes in Winston Salem or other areas across the State and region that have various levels of healthcare and community-based resources. This often requires Jeremy to go beyond the call of duty, in terms of work hours, travel and time. I can’t count the number of times that Jeremy sends highly detailed e-mails to the team, well after eight in the evening, after a long day of back-to-back meetings. And, he does this quietly, without complaint or need for praise, while taking care of his family and tending to the rest of his life. That’s the sign of an invisible hero for sure.
So, join me in welcoming Jeremy Moseley formally to our FaithHealth team. He is a hero to us all. I suspect that you may have the makings of an invisible hero or may already be one, yourself. If we all take on Jeremy’s characteristics and our personal “invisibility hero’s cloak” of work in our own ministry or landscape, we may get to the point where we achieve God’s Beloved Community much, much faster.
