It was a Christmas morning several years ago. We were driving from Ohio to Florida for Christmas and made it as far as southern Georgia. So, we spent Christmas Eve in a Courtyard by Marriott. The room came with breakfast.
We show up in the dining area in the morning and things are in a somewhat chaotic state. It seems there was a death in the family of the person running the kitchen, so she (of course) was not there and it was not running as normal. They didn’t tell us that when we approached the counter to order.
The young women working the desk and the dining area were so apologetic and helpful. One says she can fry an egg, would we like that? They went out of their way to provide service. And we would have understood the unusual circumstances.
I subscribed to the blog of Bill Marriott, chairman at the time. So, I felt like we were friends, well sort of. So I wrote to him through the blog and told him of the extraordinary lengths they went through to serve a customer.
He sent them a note and also the general manager, who sent me a nice note, also.
I just finished listening to this month’s episode of the Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast. He was interviewing former Southwest Airlines VP of Human Resources Ginger Hardage about corporate culture. Reinforce a positive corporate culture by “catching” someone doing good, thanking them, and publicizing it to the company (or organization).
Being critical comes so easily to most of us. Watching for good things and then complimenting changes your outlook on life—and that of the other person.
Make that today’s discipline—look for someone doing good.
Faith Venture 
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