Who Do You Serve?

We are all in service to someone or something.

When I work with leaders in organizations, I often notice that they have to be in service to four people/groups.

In no particular order, these people/groups are:

1. Clients

2. Team

3. Organization

4. Self

Take a minute and score yourself out of ten, with ten being the highest in service and one being the lowest in service. You are not allowed to use seven—it’s safe and keeps you from truly knowing where you stand.

What do you notice? What is your highest score? Your lowest? Based on your job, which of these scores should be the highest? Which low score may be impacting your ability to lead or perform? Lastly, what actions and steps can you take to ensure that you are serving the right people?

Create a service plan for each group. Think about what gets in the way of serving the different contingencies. Often, we neglect to serve one group, and that neglect can have a ripple effect on the others. Fill your service buckets with intention and those you serve will be grateful you did—heck, even your “self” may benefit the most!