Inspiration and Life

Serve Your Way to the Top

A better mindset for your work

Do you see yourself as a leader or a follower? What if there was a third way to view yourself? There is, and it can breathe life into your work. This alternative perspective is to see yourself as someone who serves.

Those who serve operate at an entirely different level from the typical boss or worker. To serve eclipses positions and titles, making work itself take on an altogether new meaning.

Let’s explore this different way of working for a company, someone else, or even yourself!

A different perspective

What comes to mind when you hear the word “serve”? Is it serving tables, serving in the military, “to protect and serve” as a police officer, or some other way?

In this article, I will share the secret that took me from a laborer’s position as a young man to the CEO of a multi-hundred-million dollar organization. I served in business for several decades, with many successes and some failures, and found the easiest way to succeed is wrapped up in one word — serve.

One of the most honorable things a person can do in their life is to serve others.

“The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.” Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910)

Sadly, many of those called to serve the people only serve themselves. Have you noticed how many in politics, the entertainment industry, and those in the media fall into this category?

The most accomplished people in history found their way to greatness by serving others. Why should it be any different for us in our personal or work lives?

Think about the environment created by a leader who has everyone else’s interests at heart. Don’t think they are pushovers. They genuinely care for people. Such a person usually possesses great resolve and tenacity, accomplishing much more through people than any tyrant could.

There is something about a good leader that makes people want to follow them. In a nutshell, it is this — they treat others as people, not as objects to serve their purposes. They do not see people as a vehicle to get what they want, as an obstacle in their way, or as irrelevant. They see people as people, as fellow human beings, deserving respect.

Those who serve

An example of a person who had a heart to serve, not just those around Him but the entire world, is Jesus Christ. He once said:

“Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” Jesus Christ in Mark 9:35b

Plenty of others followed the same philosophy of serving. Some of them include Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Albert Schweitzer, to name a few. Their significance came not through their desire for greatness, fame, power, or fortune. It came through their heart to serve others through selflessness and humility. They saw the value in other people and did not devalue them.

“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” Albert Einstein (1879–1955)

The self-serving

The opposite of a person who serves is the self-serving individual. They want to be served rather than serve. They do not value people as individuals but rather see them as a means to get what they want, as being in their way, or they don’t see them at all.

There have been many people in history who fit this category. Some became notoriously famous because of their terrible deeds. Committing widescale murder, Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, and Mao Zedong alone had more than 150 million deaths attributed to them. These people were completely selfish and self-serving. They greedily sought fame, honor, and fortune. The only one they served was themselves and their evil desires.

“The shortest short-term investment is to serve ourselves.” Craig D. Lounsbrough (1963-present)

Which do you choose?

The contrast between the two extremes of serving and self-serving people in history is stark. On one side, you have those who serve others selflessly, like Jesus. Yet on the other side, you have those that serve themselves selfishly, like Hitler.

Regardless of what you do for a living, with which type would you rather work? The one that serves others, or the self-serving one?

The one who serves creates a welcoming, open, less judgemental atmosphere. Self-serving people create the opposite, with an atmosphere of tension, conflict, strife, and harsh judgment.

The good thing is you can personally choose to act in a serving manner, regardless of where you live or work. There is no lasting benefit to acting in a self-serving way. Ever. Yet there is plenty to be gained by acting in an other-serving manner.

It is a straightforward choice, is it not?

“Our rewards in life will always be in direct ratio to our service.” Earl Nightingale (1921–1989)

Serving your way to the top

A fundamental truth in life is that you inevitably come out on top when you choose to serve. To start on the serving path, simply take steps in the right direction. What is the destination in that direction? To become an employee or manager that is other-serving and not self-serving.

The following steps will take you in the direction of serving, which will lead to accumulating significance and success in life.

• Be Positive. Maintain an optimistic, upbeat outlook each day. Nothing drags a workplace down like an employee with a bad attitude. And nothing motivates those in a workplace more than an employee with a great attitude. You get to choose which way to be daily. Choose the positive and not the negative. Choose the good and not the bad.
• Help others. Whenever possible, help those around you. You become a model employee when you maintain an attitude of being at work to serve.
• Be consistent. Little is more valuable than a disciplined employee you can count on daily. They are always on time, follow through on their tasks, and pitch in to help others, making them respected, appreciated, and practically invaluable.
• Appreciate your work. When you value your work and the workplace, the organization will place more value on you. Always remember that what you appreciate appreciates not only to you but also to those around you.
• Maintain a serving heart. When your heart is at peace and set on serving others, rewards naturally flow. There will be something about you that will be different from the typical person. Others will likely see you as a model to follow.
• Serve with humility. Being humble with humility is not the same as being weak. It takes far greater strength to be humble than to be selfish. When your intentions are well-placed, you are far from a doormat.

Should anyone attempt to treat you poorly, they are playing the self-serving game. It will catch up with them, and in due time they will fail.

Do what you can to help such people learn a better way. If they are unwilling to learn, set boundaries, and stay away from them if possible.

“It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.” Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

If you are in management and can promote someone, choose those with a heart to serve others. You will rarely go wrong in doing so. Suppose you are an employee and desire a promotion. In that case, you will easily stand out from the crowd by taking on a heart and attitude of serving others. The more committed you are to this way of being, the more you will reap the rewards of more opportunities, promotions, and greater earnings.

Final thoughts

The level you are at in an organization is where your current thinking has placed you. To move up the ladder, continue to grow, and change how you think. This new and improved thinking can take you right to the top. Your rise can be rapid when you understand and experience the benefits of serving others.

The choice is clear. You can choose to be self-serving or choose to serve others. Choose the better way. Choose the path to greatness.

One final note on serving. It is not only valuable at work. Serving those you care about, such as your spouse, family, and friends, will tremendously benefit your life. Little else can bring you the caring, peace, respect, and love of serving others.

I challenge you to take to heart the wisdom of a man of peace who served greatly and apply it to the remainder of your life.

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” Martin Luther King (1929–1968)

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Bill Abbate Leadership Writer and Editor in ILLUMINATION

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