It may be a cliché, it may not be true at all but I’m sure most people will have heard the story of the cleaner at NASA.

The story tells how President John Kennedy once visited NASA. He came across a cleaner and asked him what his job was. The cleaner replied: ‘My job is to help to put a man on the moon.’ There is some discussion of whether this story is true or not, but what it illustrates is the cleaner’s complete alignment with the aims of NASA, and the collective mission and strategy.

Recently Lucy and I were reminded of the story when we visited The Children’s Trust here in the UK.  The Trust provides care, education, therapy and rehabilitation to children with profound multiple disabilities, complex health needs and acquired brain injury. We did some focus groups and some one-to-one interviews for The Trust and, without exception, everyone we met was totally aligned and passionate about helping children.  Might seem obvious for therapists, teachers and care staff to feel this way but what about ‘Bob from maintenance’ or ‘Maria from housekeeping’ (pictured)… same story!

Maria, housekeeper for The Children’s Trust

Maria, who looks after all the housekeeping for the site, has worked at The Trust for 28 years. When we asked what motivated her to do her job she said, ‘When you see a child start to talk or get up and walk you realise how important The Trust is and why you come to work’.