Last week, a dear friend of mine suffered the loss of her physically and mentally disabled teenage daughter. The death of any child has to be one of the most traumatic occurrences in one’s life, but the single mom is doing pretty well, knowing that her beliefs assure her that her child is safe and finally spiritually, mentally and physically whole. My wife and I had the privilege of knowing little Amanda and will never forget spending a joy filled Thanksgiving with their family a few years ago when we first met her. Amanda was totally dependent on someone else her entire life. Through her life and the loss of Amanda last week, my thoughts on other’s needs, other’s dependence and my compassion toward others have been keenly awakened. As managers/leaders in our profession, our communities and our places of employment, we are given the chance to humbly serve others each day. Through this service, we can find our best characteristics as a leader, enhance our workplace experience, and find meaning in what we do every day.
Marian Wright Edelman stated: “Service is the rent we pay to be living. It is the very purpose of life and not something you do in your spare time.”
Each day we enter our offices, we encounter other’s needs. Someone’s computer is “frozen”; somebody’s voicemail doesn’t work right; someone doesn’t feel well; somebody’s printer is out of toner and we don’t have any on hand. The list can be endless. When these things come up, seek to serve through them. It can make the day trying at best when you are set upon by so many needs, but look at each of them as an opportunity to fulfill a need, not just as another task to weigh you down. Look for leadership development chances in these occasions. Instead of getting stressed out by these needs, use the experience to empower your employees through training and education as you meet the needs. Try not to barge into the situation by curing it yourself, but solve the problem in concert with your employee, teaching them to handle the problem independently the next time. Empowering the employee meets their need, gives them self-confidence in approaching other problems and allows them to learn from the problem. When we have inspired, properly led employees in our organization, it assists us in our leadership roles.
We usually spend between 35 and 40% of our waking hours at work. Serving others at work can build a healthy perspective into almost half of our lives if we allow it. Our workplace experience can be just about what we want to make it each day. If we feel that we work for ill tempered owners, our feelings will cause us to focus on the negatives of the owners and our focus will become a self-fulfilling prophecy in our workplace. If we feel our employees are ingrates, untrained and not loyal to the organization, our focus will cause us to see only these deficiencies and we will judge each employee under this light. On the other hand, change your focus to serve and you will see the same content in a different light. If we face our owners with an attitude of service, all of a sudden their demands and wants are not irrational and lacking purpose, they are opportunities for us to utilize our experience and training to outdo their expectations and “wow” them with our abilities to meet and exceed their expectations. If we face our employees with the servant’s heart, again, the employee problems and demands become another chance for us to lead, showing patience, character and example to our co-workers. Through serving, we find our greatest outpouring of our abilities and training and we are able to enhance our workplace experience for ourselves, our owners and our employees.
The heart of a servant in our profession teaches us to find quality and meaning in what could be a ho-hum experience. It can take the routine into new heights of enjoyment and put meaning into what others might see as meaningless. Many years ago, it was stated that when we do things for the least of our fellow man that we are serving our maker ultimately in those actions. Whether this is your motive or whether your motives lie elsewhere, we do find our best selves when we get out of our own little world and touch the world of others. Place meaning into all you do by seeking to serve. Look for the needs, they are everywhere and not hard to find. When the needs arise, face them with care, compassion and cheer. We never know when our acts of kindness today will be returned to us tomorrow when we may be greatly in need.