The meaning of Awards and Recognition

Okay I admit it. I was a little, what was that feeling, jealous? when one of my competitors got noticed in the newspaper. Upon reading the article I was struck by the inaccuracy of the story, knowing the background myself. Wow , if I hire a PR firm I too can have articles written about my company thereby impressing my customers and maybe even getting more customers! Should I do it?

Why does it feel somewhat "wrong" to me especially given that my dad owned a PR firm and regularly got others noticed. Hmmm what IS that feeling. I think it might be my compass, moral or ethical as it may be sometimes called. For some reason, it seems that doing a good, no GREAT job for my customers is the best use of my energy. Will they see Artscape as a better company if it's written about in the paper? Should I ask for my awards to be published? I was always taught to believe that the best award is the one you get when you know you've done a great job. That feeling of "I did it" . It's a feeling of EARNED pride, some times a quiet, not showy, often silent reward of knowing and sharing a sense of accomplishment is way better than a picture in the newspaper.

I am not taking away any glory from any of my wonderful peers who have won awards. Their trophies and plaques are symbols of their achievements. I have a few of those too. They are in my office and I've never shared them with my customers. I prefer to just quietly go about doing my best, every day and reap the rewards from the satisfied comments and compliments my wonderful customers give to us on their own.

After all, how we choose to celebrate our successes is a very personal matter. Now about that PR firm....... not a bad idea!