Lead the Field Part 4 of 4: Service
November 4, 2009 by dr. lam
A very short story but one that affected me none the less involved Nightingale overhearing some young adults talking in a cafe in Monterey, California. This group of young adults had moved from a small town in Iowa to beautiful Monterey because they wanted to find a job out there to enjoy the pastoral charms of the picturesque California coast. One young man sighed, “No one has given me a job so far so I’m going back to Iowa.”
Nightingale listened in on this comment and realized that this young man had it all wrong. ”Give me a job?” How about “what can i do to serve you better in your company?” Many times our attitude dictates how well we succeed in life. Many individuals are in it for “what is in it for me?” Of course, so is the company. However, when we begin to think how can we better serve the customer, friend, colleague, family member, or whatever, we will shift our perspective to hopefully one that will help us tremendously.
Remember no one will pay you for something they don’t need. It is not a job that someone is giving you. It is a service that you are giving for which you get paid. If there is no service that you can render or you cannot think creatively how to render that service no matter how good or bad the economy is, then you might not have a position.
He likens a company to a ship. When the ship is sinking, the first thing the captain will jettison is the cargo never the crew. If you are currently unemployed, when you should get the next job think constantly about how you should be the last one laid off. How do you become so integral to the crew that you cannot be let go. Don’t be the cargo. Be the crew. Of course, many times lay offs occur because of terrible economic times, downsizing, bankruptcy and other untoward events. But if we follow service mentality first to possibly acquire the job, then follow the service mentality again when we secure the job, we may not be released when times get tough. Because if the ship sinks, everyone on board sinks.
In fact, in my mission statement that I have all my staff memorize: SAM LAM stands for Serve Always Mentality (which is for our customers) and Laugh Achieve Mentor (is intended for themselves, i.e., the crew or staff). I hope that this blog was not offensive but was enlightening to both those who have jobs and those who are seeking them.
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Excellent point about attitude dictating our success; that is very true! Great story! I really liked your cargo and crew mentality and the mentality even works if someone doesn’t work for a big company. I have a line of clients that I work for and even during economic hard times, I haven’t had to do any advertising to get more clients even though I charge more than everyone else, in fact, I have to be choosy. It is all based on service, trust, quality work and word of mouth. I think that if someone has the mindset of taking pride in his/her work and serving others and if there is a need/desire for the service, that s/he doesn’t have to worry too much about being “cargo.” Of course, there are some situations where that doesn’t apply.
Cool and creative acronym, Dr. Lam!!!
thanks heather. glad you are doing well!!!