They Are Lying To You

Name three activities you do every month, if not every week, to serve others. Here is why:

In a way, the world is a great liar. It shows you it worships and admires money, but at the end of the day it doesn’t.

It says it adores fame and celebrity, but it doesn’t, not really.

The world admires, and wants to hold on to, and not lose, goodness. It admires virtue.

At the end it gives its greatest tributes to generosity, honesty, courage, mercy, talents well used, talents that, brought into the world, make it better. That’s what it really admires.

That’s what we talk about in eulogies, because that’s what’s important. We don’t say, ‘The thing about Joe was he was rich!’

We say, if we can … ‘The thing about Joe was he took good care of people.’

This is from two slides that Tom Peters discussed on February 15th of this year at the National Business Growth Summit in Sydney, Australia said. He credited Peggy Noonan, “A Life’s Lesson,” on the astounding response to the passing of Tim Russert, The Wall Street Journal, June 21-22, 2008. (I changed the formatting for emphasis.)

This is one key reason why we work to have a great company culture. Improving the lives of our coworkers, clients, vendors and community, which in the process positively touches our personal relationships. What are you doing to make certain this is what you and your company are known for?

The commitment to serve others is one of the most important you can make as a leader, whether your responsibilities are that of an executive managing others or an individual team member. 

Here are some ideas for how to apply this wisdom:

1. First “look in the mirror.” How are you doing in this area? Take a break on your own. Tech Out (turn off all technology - let your people/family know in advance where you will be).
   • List the names of the primary 3-10 people you want to positively impact. (If you can serve them effectively, then the habits you develop will help others too.)
   • What specific activities are you doing weekly or monthly to serve these people - consistently and systematically?
   • How are you helping them think better and learn how to make great decisions on their own, rather than just giving them the answers?
   • Are there activities you could be doing that would have more impact than these?
   • How can you schedule time to make certain you are preparing for and doing these activities to the best of your ability and on a consistent basis?
2. Ask your people to do the same thing (#1) on their own.
3. At your next meeting have each person share what they learned and what they are doing. Encourage people to make suggestions to one another on how to improve in these activities, and people to be open to considering their suggestions.
4. Commit to “pilot” a more consistent schedule of actions you will take to improve the lives of others for 30 days. Have a check-in where people share how they are doing. Possibly extend the “pilot for 60 more days.