To be to others what we would they would be to us.
Just as in the rest of life, treating others the way you’d like to be treated goes a long way in the workplace.  We’ve all experienced the nagging co-worker, the sullen boss or the snarky customer.  And while you can’t control how others act, you can certainly control how you respond to people and situations.  That doesn’t mean that we should allow others to walk over us in their quest to get to the top – or to the mailroom.  But rather that we should strive to be pleasant and polite no matter what the day throws at us. If you treat others in a courteous and professional manner, you’ll reap the rewards.  People will want to work with you because you don’t make them feel bad about themselves.  Clients will want to deal with you because you make them feel good about doing business with your company.

And management remembers how employees act, whether that’s at review time or when bonuses are being handed out or if there’s a promotion available.  For the most part, those who do their job aptly and with a minimum of drama are the ones rewarded at these times. Throughout my career, I have worked to recruit and develop people.  All else being equal, the nicer person gets the job or receives the promotion.  Why?  Because no one wants to work with a pain in the neck.

Being steadfast in every duty, small or large.
There is nothing too small to not be given your best effort.  When I was a coordinator as we launched Fox News Channel in 1996, I handled everything from assembling PCs (thank goodness for Gateway’s illustrated instructions!) to preparing ratings reports to answering the President’s phone when his secretary was away from her desk.  One time, a call came in a few minutes after 5pm on a Friday as I was getting ready to leave.  I didn’t have to, but I took the call and assisted the caller with delivering something to the President.  A letter arrived a couple days after, thanking me for my efforts and copying the President.  When senior management went to Los Angeles a few months later to unveil the network at a trade show, I was asked to go along to assist – and get exposure to the people and processes that were shaping our business. 

While we shouldn’t go through the workday expecting to be extraordinarily rewarded for doing our job (because that’s what we get paid for), being consistent and diligent in everything you do really does help you stand out from the rest of the employees and can open up possibilities that otherwise wouldn’t exist. Your diligence not only ensures that the company fulfills its underlying mission - whether that’s to create widgets or market those widgets or make those widgets into stars - but ensures that you will flourish.  You will learn new skills, perfect those skills, teach others those skills and then take those skills with you when you leave for another job, where the cycle continues.  Everything you do, small or large, allows you to progress to the next step and everything you do well gets you the positive recognition that opens the door. 

Believing that our given word is binding.
In a company, every job depends on another job.  When one employee doesn’t do their job, another employee has to pick up the slack or eventually the whole house of cards comes tumbling down.  When you accept an offer of employment, you enter into what’s called the “employment agreement.”  That basically means that you’ll do the job for which you get paid and will abide by the company’s policies and procedures.  It’s a commitment to act a certain way and do certain things.  Too often we work with people who say they’ll do something, like create a report or return from lunch on time so that someone else can go, and then don’t.  Or, who are expected not to do something, like steal from the company or take credit for someone else’s work, and then do.  Either way, their actions affect others in the workplace.  Taken to the extreme, we’ve seen recently that large companies have been brought down when their management has not believed that their word was binding and their actions caused irreparable harm to the companies and to those who depended on them for their livelihoods.

The bottom line is that when we have a job, we’ve been hired to perform that position’s basic duties and responsibilities.  It’s how you accomplish these tasks that determine how you progress in your career.  And when you know that you’ve done what you’re supposed to do, in the manner in which you should do it, and to the best of your ability, you’ll find that not only are your efforts rewarded, but that you’re staying true to the meaning, spirit and reality of Phi Mu.