Let's Hear It For The Unsung Heroes

Do you have people in your office who do a great deal of valuable work and get very little credit for it? And I don't necessarily mean that they're unappreciated by their bosses and co-workers, although that can happen.

The thought first crystallized for me during a vacation last year. My wife and I go on a cruise each January, and when people hear that I work at CNBC, they often have comments or questions about the anchors or the programming. We met a lovely couple whom I'll call Bob and Gail, since those are, in fact, their names. One of Bob's first comments was that "whoever plays those sound effects during Squawk Box is great!".

If you watch Squawk Box on CNBC, you know what Bob meant. From flushing toilets to game show buzzers to clips from "Seinfeld" - if it's appropriate to the situation, it appears instantly, as if out of nowhere.

This doesn't happen by magic. We have an amazing audio technician named John who, as someone on the show commented, "must have 14 hands". He sits in a room by himself, just off the control room, and does a very difficult job very well for three consecutive hours. And no one in the viewing audience knows about him.

Well, at least one does. I told Bob all about John, and e-mailed John a note to tell him he had a big fan. And when I got back to work the following week, John sought me out to tell me how much he appreciated hearing that.

I suppose this situation is more pronounced in the TV business, because - after all - you only see the people who are on the air. What they do isn't easy by any means. But it also takes a lot of heavy lifting behind the scenes to make it work.

Squawk Box is a good and unique show largely because of its terrific anchors, Becky Quick, Joe Kernen, and Carl Quintanilla.

But many of the memorable moments come right from people like John, who are as creative and important in their own way as the people you actually get to see.

Let's hear it for the unsung heroes!