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What is service mindset?
Old timers around the campfire will often tell you that serviceis not what it used to be. Service, long ago, was the product ofgenuine care and concern for consumers as people…. Sometimes,service meant giving away a product, or offering to spend extratime with a customer or person in needs. Other times, service meanttrying new things to solve individual problems, and going out on alimb without a guarantee of reward. Either way, the generalconsensus around the campfire is: "Service ain't what it used tobe." .
Chances are good that you patronize places that make you feelgood as a consumer, places that respect you as an individual, andthey may even remember your name. These people and businessesthought about what you needed as a consumer and before you asked -knew what might be of service. They thought about you when you werearound, and when you weren't. Good doctors have it, good lawyershave it - but what is the service mindset? .
The service mindset is the result of internalizing three basictruths. Once inside, they become part of who you are - likelanguage. These beliefs, like all beliefs, influence and informeverything you do. Looking around at the public servantprofessions, exempting politics of course, you can see yourlibrarians, police officers, firefighters, social service people,and volunteers exemplifying the service mindset. What are thetruths that lead to the service mindset? .
Truth #1: You aren't alone in life AND no one else iseither Look around you. Life abounds. All creatures and plants share thesame quality of being alive as you do. You share this same qualitywith every other living thing. People around you are alive,embroiled in the dramas of their own life. The quality of beingalive puts us all "in the same boat" so to speak. Being alive meansyou aren't alone - every other living thing is experiencing life,just as you are - ups and downs, turns and shifts. .
People often look for what makes us different rather than whatmakes us the same. Differences between people create uniqueness,but they also create isolation. Celebrate what is the same in you,as in everyone else. Being in service to other people, and otherliving things, requires an appreciation of sameness. .
Truth #2: You need other people AND other people needyou If all living things have life in common, then theyall have needs in common as well. Basic biological needs like food,safe environment, and resources exist across all domains of life.Even getting the basics often requires help. A baby, for example,does not start with the ability to feed itself. A baby comes withthe ability to suck, and a mother comes with the ability to nurse.When the mother can not nurse, others make formula for the motherto buy to feed her child. Biological needs quickly expand intopeople and places you do not know, and may have never been. Youneed people that you don't even know to keep doing things that youdon't know how to do. You need to keep doing what you do so thatpeople you don't know can keep living. .
Apart from the basic biological needs, skills and life lessonsare also needed. They are hard to learn, and life is not a levelplaying field. Some of us can't read, are bad with money, or don'tknow how to be accountable. On the other hand, some of us havelearned things that we can share with you. (No one was born adoctor, or with an understanding of how a checkbook works.) Otherpeople need the things that you have learned. .
Your family, friends, and even complete strangers can use whatyou have learned to thrive and make better lives for themselves andothers. Others may need time, knowledge, or other resources to liveand thrive. This need of ours to learn and grow is perpetual. Youwill forever be in need of knowledge, and forever providing whatyou know to others. The same holds true with time, love, energy,money and every other commodity upon which human life isreliant. .
Truth #3: No one is "better" than you AND you are not"better" than anyone else If all living things share life in common, and all living thingshave needs, then all needs are part of life. We all need. Becausemy need may be for discipline, and your need may be for money, ormy need may be for safety, and yours for comfort does not make anyone of those more important than any other. There is nothinginherent in the nature of ones needs that makes them greater orlesser. The nature of our neediness makes us all the same. .
There is nothing inherent in people that make them greater orlesser. People are people, needs are needs. You grew and learned ina way that made you good at math or English, they grew in a waythat made them good at social engineering, or solving problems.Everyone has a gift and everyone has a need. We are all the same -in that way - but each combination of gifts and needs is unique andspecial. Each unique individual has something that they can teachyou, and you can teach them. .
You may be smarter than someone else. That does not make youbetter than them. You may be stronger, or more emotionally capable,or more eloquent. These strengths are to be celebrated as a gift.They should not be used to demean or oppress others. Intellectualand emotional bullies are still bullies. Think of others like youwould a child who hasn't learned much yet. Their behavior is a bestguess, just like yours is in domains of your weakness. Use yourstrength to cultivate and grow others. .
The application of these truths combined with a sense ofaccountability as discussed in the article on personalaccountability demonstrate a service mindset. Going the "extramile" is what this feels like to others, but when you have theservice mindset and hold these truths as part of your reality, itwon't feel particularly special at all. These truths compel actionin ways that respect the connections between all of us, regardlessof circumstance or situation. .
Having the service mindset doesn't mean that you don't say no.Being exploited or abused is not part of the service mindsetbecause it violates the third truth. No one is better than you.Saying no, while holding the service mindset and being accountableis done in a very special way. It is a "no" that people can walkaway from and feel whole and understood. A customer is always rightuntil being right hurts someone - including themselves. .
Having the service mindset costs nothing! Cultivating a personalunderstanding of the truths above will influence your actions. Itwill not to change them completely, but it will influence them tobe more considerate, more charitable, and more understanding.Consideration, charity, and understanding, are all free. They costnothing, and they mean everything in times of need - and we allneed sometimes. .
By applying these truths in your daily you begin cultivating theservice mindset. In thinking about the truths above, think aboutsomeone who nurtured you and helped you grow. Imagine life withoutthem. Imagine what life would be like if none of these truths weretrue? If we were kicked out of the house as infants, if no onehelped pick us up when we fell down, if no one shared the secretsand gifts of knowledge with you that you now know. The servicemindset is a great part of what makes this world and societyhappen. Be a part of it. Serve yourself and serve others. (MORE)
