What Are You Working For?

Are you working to make money, or are you working to serve? It may seem like a silly question, since we all like to be compensated for our time and talent. What I'm really referring to is your mindset - your primary motivation while at work. I had the opportunity to see an amazing illustration of the power of this difference between money and service recently.

My husband and I took a wonderful scuba diving adventure to Cozumel, Mexico. The resort was all- inclusive, so all meal, drinks, and tips were explicitly included in our room charge. During our stay we generally served ourselves at the buffet. Our waiters usually just brought our drinks (bottles of water or cerveza - we were in Mexico, after all) and cleared our plates. Most of the waiters, though, would make an exaggerated show of asking us for an additional tip, trying to guilt us into giving them money for doing just the basics. In contrast, Jose was our favorite waiter. He focused on serving us and even remembered our room number after the first time (most waiters asked us 3 or 4 times during a single meal!). Jose seemed to enjoy serving us and, as a result, we gladly gave him the extra tip the other waiters tried to bully from us. Jose didn't really work any harder than the other waiters. But his focus on service first helped him earn more money - at least from us!

Isn't it wonderful to come across those people in life who seek to serve first and earn second? They tend to be more engaging, more fun to be with, and even if they have to tell us "no" (as Jose did when they ran out of my favorite: coconut ice cream!), we love dealing with them anyway. And wouldn't you rather give your hard-earned money to someone seeking to serve you, rather than to someone who is just seeking to make money?

Even if our desire to serve does come first, life can be hectic. It's easy to lose the focus on service in our daily actions. Here are some tips to help you notice whether you are working to serve:

1. Focus on what you're GIVING TO your work, rather than what you're GETTING FROM your work. For example, are you consistently looking for better ways to serve your clients or your employer; do you feel good about occasionally doing something extra to surprise and delight your customers or employer; are you continually growing your own skills and abilities so you have more to offer?

2. Take responsibility for what happens in your job or business, rather than blaming your customers, employer, competitors, the economy, or even your parents. The great thing about focusing on service is that it is ALWAYS within your control.

3. Be grateful for the opportunity to do your work, rather than taking it for granted or feeling burdened by it. If you pay attention, can't you generally tell when someone is enjoying themselves, or not, when they are working? If you can see it in others, then others can see it in you. So what are YOU showing to others about how you feel about your work? When you're coming from a state of gratitude, the mindset of service is easy to have.

4. See your work and your service in the bigger context of your life, rather than "keeping score" in the moment. I have worked with people who used a tremendous amount of focus and energy keeping an imaginary scorecard about what their employer had or hadn't done for them. Or people who kept score with their clients. I happen to believe in the old adage, "what goes around comes around" or "You get what you give." I find that frees me to just be present in my business dealings and trust that the rewards will come.

Yes, I think it's important to make money for the valuable services we provide to the world. And I think the world wants to give us a whole lot more in return when we work from a spirit of serving others. I'm going to take a lesson from my new friend Jose and see what happens. Think about your life. What are YOU working for?

Copyright 2008 Karen Van Cleve, All rights reserved.