To Serve well

Serving with Excellence for a Life of Excellence

Leadership

Be a force for love

I’m attending a leadership “edge” program this week so I’m going to keep this super short. The whole week is focused on wellness. The idea is that by focusing on wellness, we might find our own “edge” in being the best in this life. I’m pretty stoked about that idea. 

Being a force for love requires energy. I love this photo because it conjures up thoughts of a team working together – in unity – building optimal energy for their sport.

The sport of life is no different. Getting ourselves to a strong base level, and then locking arms with a team or community to unify around a goal, is perhaps the most profound work we can do as human beings.

The goal may be…

  • Raising up the next generation;
  • Teaching, coaching, advising;
  • Sharing our story with the hope of being in service to others; and
  • Creating innovations that help our communities thrive (including infrastructure needs and aging, providing healthy transitions from one season to the next).

So many opportunities to be a force of love. But first, optimizing our own health and wellness. We must start with finding our core strength: mind, body and spirit, and build from there. 

Have such an amazing week.

BETTER

I am always fascinated by what makes a place “all of the rage.”

You know, those cult-like places where folks like us stand in line for hours waiting for our share of their awesomeness. In KC, there are several of these, but my favorite stand out right now is an ice cream place called BettyRaes.

(Photo creds: Canva)

It is SO HOT that Trip Advisor named it a top 50 “ice cream shops worth traveling for.” And it’s only a few years old, if that. Believe me, folks do travel for it and most days the line is out the door. But why? (Other than the s’mores sundae with coffee ice cream — pretty much is the best thing I’ve ever had…)

My perspective: It’s better. As in truly better.

It has created a unique offering via it’s menu. The service is better. The shop is community focused.

As Seth Godin, the famous marketer, would say: it’s achieved the notion of BETTER.

As we think through how we serve better, let’s think about what else we can do better. Be kinder, more focused on those around us, more open minded, more giving, more courteous drivers, more patient (that one resonates with me!), etc…

If you are in business — profit or non-profit — how can we be deemed “worthy” of a line out our door? We start by looking in the mirror and identifying areas where we can be better, and then we dive deep to get to worthy… and ideally, sustainable.

Your ideas are welcome!

(Here’s a song to get you in the mood and the mindset!)

Rewind: What is your pain?

(Rewind: This is a relevant post from 2016. Enjoy!)

I was on a flight back last week from Seattle and had a great conversation with my seat mate. Those of you who know me well may think I would normally “chat it up” with a passenger, but truthfully I am the one to throw on the headphones (even if I don’t have anything on) and try to relax and think and maybe even take a nap! Not really a big fan of plane conversation.

Anyway, I’d been flying all week and this was one of the last legs, and she was really great. We got to talking about how we are currently in the process of selling our home, and I was sharing with her the inspection report and subsequent negotiations. In short, the new owners want to take a bit more out off of the price to deal with some minor issues and that I didn’t really think was fair, but also didn’t want to upset the apple cart so to speak and ruin the deal. Her response was great and WORTH SHARING.

“SO, WHAT IS YOUR PAIN….?”

I didn’t get it right away, but ultimately it was PURE BRILLIANCE. We all have our own pain points. How much pain are we willing to endure…to experience?  It can be emotional or physical dollars as in this case. It can be both of course. I had to think through this with her. In this case, if the deal fell through because I didn’t concede, I would be out perhaps a couple or more months of a mortgage payment, on top of my new payments relating to the move etc. Once I thought of it that way, their ask didn’t seem too much and would quickly add up to the amount they were asking for.  Decision made. Once I realized the amount of what my pain could be, it wasn’t hard.  (Side note: Why in the world had I never thought of this process?)

Some after thoughts I had or other possible scenarios…

What if you have someone at work that is a challenge… What is your pain? What happens if you address it or not?

What if you need to make a big purchase, a new refrigerator, or something expensive… What is your pain if you do or don’t do it now? It may help you to understand if you just can’t tolerate the pain level, you may need to consider other options, perhaps a Craigslist fridge for now….?

What if you have a friend or relative that is about to make a bad decision… What is their pain? Can you help them out by using this as a problem solving mechanism to frame up the real issues they may have based on their choices?

I hope this resonates with some of you all!  I thought it was a tremendous insight and worth the time to think on for a bit… I will be using this now when confronted with a decision.

(Photo Creds:  I’m not sure…It’s been on my “reel” for awhile..)