Seek to Serve

The people we meet every day fall into two distinct categories. There are those who focus on serving others, and others who focus on being served. It doesn’t take much effort to uncover who’s who. Many times something as simple as watching a person’s interaction with a waiter or waitress at a lunch meeting can be very telling.

We shared a bit about our core values in past blogs. They define OrangeBall as an organization. As we walk in the doors each morning, they tell us what we should be striving for, and at the end of the day they provide an easy way to measure if we were successful or not. Of all the core values we’ve shared so far, this one stands out.

Seek to Serve.

Our culture tells us that the one with the power is the one who makes the rules and that possessing the power requires taking a position of strength and domination. Service is not often equated with power. But, consider this… Do your clients, teammates, family, and friends want to feel dominated and overpowered? Or do they want to feel supported and cared for? The act of serving is the best gift we can give them.

Serving others starts with our teams and coworkers, on the inside. If we don’t embrace the concept of serving and caring for our employees and partners, we can’t possibly do the same for anyone else. What does this look like within our workplace? Some days it’s as simple as asking a coworker how they’re doing or taking the time to check in. Other times it’s seeing that a coworker is overloaded or stressed and asking where you can help. In our office on Thursdays, it’s taking turns to make lunch for the team. Serving is never about me – it’s always about them.

Shifting to the relationships we have with our clients, Seek to Serve is just as important. Pulling a thought from a conversation we had this morning, our clients are human beings. They all have things going on in their businesses and personal lives, positive and negative. We have the ability as a business, and it’s why we exist, to step in and serve them where they’re at. Some days that means building a website that will help them grow their business, and some days it means taking the time to sit down when they’re overwhelmed with too much to do and helping them create a plan. Serving is never about me – it’s always about them.

It doesn’t end at 5:00. Seek to Serve goes home with you, to your relationships with your family and friends. This whole concept of serving is really about relationship building, and digging in deep with the people in your life. Again, we meet them where they’re at and figure out how we can make their day just a little bit better, and then we take action and do it without any expectation of anything in return. Serving is never about me – it’s always about them.

Want to go a step deeper? Look around your community. Opportunities abound to give back and to serve. Be the hands that dish food at a shelter. Volunteer with a non-profit. Do pro-bono work within your business. Find a way to create a lasting impact where you live. Serving is never about me – it’s always about them.

Call-to-Action
Don’t just read this and move on with your day. Slow down, take it in, and look for ways to serve wherever you are – in your teams, with clients, at home, and in your communities. Right now, write down one thing you’re going to do to serve one person, and then do it. The ROI of serving without expectation will blow your mind!