To Serve is the Noblest Profession

The highest calling is to serve another person. Think about that. A soldier serves the people of his country, unselfishly, and sometimes makes the ultimate sacrifice in their service to us. I would like to use a politician as an example, but I can’t. If there were any Statesman serving, I could.

How can I segue to this article without demeaning those soldiers. I can’t. I ask for their forgiveness in advance and their understanding in trying to rally others into the cause of serving others, be it grand or trivial, serving is serving.

As a whole, Americans have almost lost the concept of service. Internationally, we are called ‘ugly Americans’ and mostly for our actions not our looks. When I was growing up, I joined the Explorer program, and was taught a bit about command structure and service and as a young employee, I was taught the art of customer service.

I am in my mid fifties and I must say that it is RARE when someone truly serves me. There are exceptions, but 90% of those that do a fair job to “serve” are doing it with a financial return for a motive.

What I am talking about is to truly serve another person. To do it without expecting anything in return. To truly serve, one must set their own issues aside and commit to making another persons life better. Again, this can be a grand service or a trivial service. Some of the most memorable service that I have received have been absolutely trivial but they made the most impact on me.

Here is an example, it cost them under $20 but the result was priceless; I used to travel a lot to and from a particular city and I used to stay in one particular Hotel just because they understood service. They were sneaky about it too. During my initial visit, the young lady that took my reservation asked some benign questions. Actually she was interrogating me, I just did not recognize it because she was GOOD at SERVING me. She asked where I was from and somehow she got the information from me about the local coffee shops and Pubs in Oregon (I am a coffee and beer snob, I live in Oregon!) and determined which brand of coffee I usually drank. The next time I stayed I had dinner at the resident eatery and the server asked me if I would like a cup of Allan Brothers coffee (My Favorite Brand!). I asked them when they started using a brand that was exclusively Oregon and he said that it was ordered just for ME! I was very surprised. He then asked me how I normally made my coffee, weak or strong? When I got up the next morning I saw that they put custom size coffee bags of my brand in my room so I could make 2 cups when I awoke in the mornings.

This small gesture was appreciated and it did not go unreported to the management. Someone in the hierarchy understood service.

To serve another is the noblest profession. Learn the art of service, and teach it to others. If you are a small business owner and you master the art of serving, your business will grow faster than you can imagine.

As you can see, I am rebuilding my company as Prehistoric Geek, I am re-pleding myself and my company to service, join me.

Tagged as: To Serve is Noble