Mississippi Department of Revenue Service Recognition Speech

Good afternoon.

First, thank you for inviting me to be here today. It is an honor to join you as you recognize the men and women who have given so many years of service to the Mississippi Department of Revenue.

I attend a lot of events where we recognize accomplishments, but I think there is something especially meaningful about recognizing service.

Today, some of you are being recognized for 15 years of service and I know many in this room have served much longer than that.

Think about what 15 years really means.

It means showing up on the easy days and the hard days.

It means adapting when laws change, when technology changes, when leadership changes, and when the way we do our jobs changes.

It means becoming the person that newer employees come to when they have a question because you have probably seen it before.

And most importantly, it means spending a significant part of your career serving the people of Mississippi.

That deserves to be recognized.

Those of us in the Legislature probably see the Department of Revenue a little differently than most Mississippians do. We pass laws in the Capitol, but those laws eventually have to be implemented. Someone has to answer the phone. Someone has to process the paperwork. Someone has to explain the rules. Someone has to solve the problems.

That work is done by people like those sitting in this room.

And most of the time, nobody sees it.

People generally don't call a state agency just to tell you everything is working perfectly.

You probably hear a lot more about the problems than you do about the things that go right.

So today is a good opportunity to say something that probably isn't said often enough:

Thank you.

Thank you for the years you have given to the State of Mississippi.

Thank you for the institutional knowledge you have built.

Thank you for helping train the people who came after you.

And thank you for continuing to show up and do your job well, even when no one is standing there to recognize it.

We are also recognizing Employees of the Month today.

Those awards are important because they recognize something beyond simply being present. They recognize people whose work stood out to the people around them.

Whether it was going a little further to help someone, solving a difficult problem, helping a coworker, or simply doing your job exceptionally well, somebody noticed.

And then we have those receiving the Excellence in Leadership Award.

Leadership is something we talk about a lot, but I don't think leadership is always tied to a title.

Some of the best leaders in any organization are simply the people others trust.

They are dependable.

They treat people fairly.

They stay calm when things get difficult.

They are willing to teach somebody instead of simply telling them what they did wrong.

And when there is a problem, they don't spend their time trying to figure out who to blame.

They start figuring out how to fix it.

Those qualities matter in government just as much as they matter in business, in our churches, in our schools, and in our communities.

I have spent most of my career in the private sector, and one thing I have learned is that you can have a great building, great technology and a great plan, but at the end of the day, an organization is only as good as the people who show up every morning and make it work.

Government is no different.

Behind every department and every agency are people.

And today is about those people.

So to everyone receiving an award, congratulations.

To those celebrating 15, 20, 25, 30 or even more years of service, thank you for the years you have invested in Mississippi.

To our Employees of the Month, congratulations on being recognized by your peers and leadership for the work you are doing.

And to those receiving Excellence in Leadership Awards, thank you for setting an example for the people around you.

I hope you leave here today knowing that your work matters and that your service is appreciated.

It is an honor to be here with you, and I am grateful for the opportunity to help recognize each of you.

Congratulations, and thank you for your service to the State of Mississippi.