Doing What Needs To Be Done

I was reading Seth Godin's book, Small Is The New Big when I came across a story, We Don't Have To Care.

In it, he writes about encountering some people along the way from JFK airport to San Francisco and how there was a certain "couldn't care less" attitude exhibited by these people.

This entry is not merely about Seth's experience, but rather, it reminded me of a book I was once marketing, as a publishers' rep in Singapore. Please Don't Just Do What I Tell You, Do What Needs To Be Done discusses taking action even if it is not in your job description, in order to make your workplace a more rewarding place to be.

Seth's entry and the book also reminded me of a story my father once told me, about an experience at the airport. There was a long line of passengers waiting to clear the security check-in counter, just before boarding the plane. People were crowding around the only open security gate, causing massive jams. (Editor's note - There are usually two security gates per boarding area)

One security officer took the initiative by opening up a new security gate and asking some of the passengers to go over to her end, thus easing congestion. She's probably not being paid a lot, it was probably not in her job description and her superiors probably never told her that this is what she had to do. However, she took the initiative to do what needed to be done, to ease the congestion and speed up the process. She could have just stood there with her colleagues doing what the others were doing, because it was not her job to do otherwise. But, she did not. She did what needed to be done.

How many people these days do that? Do you do what needs to be done, or are you doing what you are told to do?

Got a customer service experience to share? Email me to get your story published! Do remember to read the submission guidelines and how we rate establishments before submitting.