The Client Letter
March 6, 2013
Way North of Lake Wobegon
Sunny 12 Degrees
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At a deep level, I imagine I’ve known for quite some time that we’re all actually in the service business. I mean service with a capital S.
And I’ve been studying, thinking and learning a lot lately about what it actually means to serve. (They say that when the student is ready, the teacher(s) will appear. Well apparently, I was ready. For my “teachers” who appeared, I am very grateful. I will tell you about them in the future.)
Now I grew up in an extremely conservative religious situation. The word “service” was mentioned a lot. It was taught often. Over and over again.
The idea of “service” was the foundation of just about everything that was taught to me. Be of service… be of service… be of service.
Too bad I got it all wrong about what service actually is. (I only got it wrong for about 30 years 🙂
I have to be frank, I have no idea what the intended meaning of those teachings was to the people doing the teaching back in my childhood.
I am confident, however, in my perception of what I took away from those teachings. This perception, of course, is entirely my own responsibility.
From my childhood and early adult years, I carried the idea that service meant to place yourself in a position of being “less” in order to lift someone else up to be “more.”
Writing that out, I can see just how wrong that perception is on so many levels. And how destructive it is to the human spirit.
No one is “less” unless they make themselves “less.” And being “less” is almost the opposite of what I now understand true service to be.
True service is not about you being less so someone can be more. It is about you being the BEST to help another do the same.
True service is totally selfless and completely “selfish” (in the good sense of the word) all at the same time. Each person focuses on his own self interest (Being BEST) and, because of that, ends up serving the needs of each other.
Kind of amazing really.
Today, I understand that service is leadership.
Service is not a position of weakness, but of maximum strength.
I provide no service to you if all I do is make you feel better about yourself.
I provide no service if I accept the excuses you make to yourself.
And as crazy as it sounds, I provide no service by being “nice.”
I only provide service to you by relentlessly challenging you to be better today than you were yesterday.
Why is “getting this” so important? Because the more true service you provide to the world, the more successful you are in everything.
The work we do with clients is not a sprint, it is a marathon. It is a journey of many steps.
I’ve made a commitment to be here each and every day to offer whatever guidance I can to help you on this journey.
My experience, my mistakes, my victories and defeats are here and ready for the taking.
They are my sincere attempt to serve you so that you may, in turn, serve others.
For me, it’s clear there is no greater calling.