Nellie Williams
In the mid-80s, I worked as a banking officer for a financial services firm in Atlanta. Small as it was, my office was located in the executive suite of the building and every day, I had the opportunity to watch and observe how the captains of industry conducted business. As a junior executive, I walked past the row of executive offices occupied by the chairman, CEO, and president of the institution, hoping to glean nuggets of wisdom and leadership acumen.
This lesson in leadership, however, does not come from the men who held meetings in those offices, but from the woman who cleaned them—Ms. Nellie Williams.
To most of the firm’s employees, Nellie was just the “cleaning lady,” but to me, Nellie was the face I saw most often when I worked late. After several years of building up a relationship with the only other person of color on the executive floor, Nellie stopped me one evening to share how proud she was to see me there and that she had observed my success with great interest.
She went on to say that while she was cleaning in my office, she noticed a fundraising memo on the desk. The memo was to raise funds for a scholarship at my alma mater, Morehouse College, in memory of my parents. She took my hand and leaned in to express her admiration for the project and that she wanted to contribute. I was deeply moved by her desire to help others to get an education that she was unable to have, but certainly did not expect her to give from her meager salary. The thought alone caused my eyes to well up with tears.
The next day, as I was leaving the office after another late night, I found Nellie waiting for me at the elevator with her hands in her apron. She slowly pulled out a cashier's check for $1,000. There was no concealing my emotion this time. I embraced Nellie as tears streamed down my face, overwhelmed by this unexpected and profound act of generosity. Nellie the “cleaning lady” who had no great title or position of authority modeled a leadership lesson for me that day that has left an indelible impact on my life.
“Nellie’s unassuming leadership might be rare in the c-suite but it is the kind of which I have been the beneficiary of my entire life.”
Nellie wanted no notoriety for her generous act of kindness. She did not expect an award or to have her name engraved on a building. As a widow, mother, and grandmother she lived a quiet life of faith, teaching and serving others. She modeled a life of humility and simplicity that touched the lives of her family, community, and countless others, including the recipients of this scholarship.
Nellie's unassuming leadership might be rare in the c-suite but it is the kind of which I have been the beneficiary of my entire life. It is the humble, intentional acts of leadership from people in my family and community who went out of their way to lift up others in word and deed. Simply put, they led by example.