Secret Customer Service Mr Bond?

I’ve just returned home after watching the new Bond film Quantum of Solace. Very good it was too and it got me thinking about the Bond character.

Imagine if he had chosen a different career to the Secret Service. What if he had chosen customer service instead? How would he treat his customers?

Whilst he might be tempted to shoot some of them I suspect he would probably treat them with a calm professionalism. After all that is the way he behaves in all of the books I have read and all of the films I have watched.

Here is a character who in one scene is engaged in a life or death struggle with one or more villains. He barely escapes alive and lesser mortals would retire to a quiet corner licking their wounds.

Not James Bond! A few minutes later and he is fully composed and ready for his next conquest whether that be a beautiful woman or doing battle with another arch villain. No matter how bad the day he has had the next person Bond deals with would have no way of knowing that. His smooth sophisticated mask is never allowed to slip no matter what.

The question is whether we are always as good as Bond when doing our own jobs. Everyone has bad moments and we all have days when nothing seems to go right. And yes, we all get that customer who just rubs us up the wrong way. However, that should not become the problem of the next person we deal with. He or she deserves our best. That means a calm welcoming and professional response.

Everyone we deal with deserves the same level of service. Mr Bond would know that and would be sure to behave in the right way. Do we always do the same or could we learn from him?

You may not be a Bond fan but are there are fictional characters you admire? If so, what are their qualities? Imagine them in your job role and think about how they would perform it. What could you learn from this and how could this help you become even better than you already are?