Often my friends and I discuss our personal mottoes or favorite quotes as they relate to our careers. I have a few favorites posted right by my desk that continually inspire me to do a better job:
Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.
Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.
Commit yourself to quality.
Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.
As trite as it may sound, having these quotations nearby remind me to answer the phone smiling even if I am in the middle of 3 other projects and I have two interns in my office asking questions. They remind me to focus on even the trivial side conversations that I have with docents and volunteers - because their interaction with me colors the way they feel about the museum. And finally, the quotes remind me that I am here to serve teachers and their students, and the public at large. My job is to help bring them in and ensure they have a quality experience here.
When it comes down to it, positive interactions and pleasant relationships are at the heart of the customer experience and any individual's experience within an organization. I recently stumbled across this quote from Margaret Wheatley, who, not surprisingly, studied organization behavior, which I always enjoy learning more about.
"In organizations, real power and energy is generated through relationships. The patterns of relationships and the capacities to from them are more important than tasks, functions, roles, and positions."
This quote has the power of a Jenny Holzer truism -- though unfortunately it is not quite as pithy!
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