Beyond Self-Interest: The Significance of Service for Individuals and Society
Do you remember hand-me-downs? Can you recall zipping up the same jacket your older sibling or cousin used to wear or watching your younger family members wear the same t-shirt that used to hang in your closet? Regardless of your age, you needed those clothes at some point, and eventually, you passed them along to someone else who fit them. Service works the same way; we can all benefit from someone's service and in turn benefit someone else. My name is Josh Mitchell, and I get to serve as the Vice President for Leaders of Today. I want to challenge and encourage you as you read this blog to imagine how and why you serve. Though it may sound simple, many leaders underachieve because they misunderstand and undervalue the significance of service.
Our goal as an organization is to equip leaders to better serve their communities, and to do that, we need a proper definition for service itself.
Three of the main roadblocks that hinder our service are definition, drive, and direction. If we have an inaccurate perception, a shallow or ineffective motive, or a misguided aim for our service, we will not succeed, but tweaking our focus can make a world of a difference. Service is simply any act of giving to benefit another person or group. Regardless of personality type or style, all great leaders serve. Think of service like a fountain. Water springs up from it so people can drink, but there is a hidden tube at the foundation constantly funneling water to shoot up again. Think of that as the water others can drink. Many people restrict the definition to grand observable acts like volunteering at a soup kitchen or tutoring young children, but service does not need to be seen, it just needs to be experienced. Picking up trash in a neighborhood, holding a door open or greeting people at the door of a church, giving someone a ride in your car- these are all acts of service, these are all your "water," but your funnel has to be in place for you to pour out.
One of the most common pitfalls for leaders is burnout. I am studying to become a licensed social worker, and I'm constantly warned about burnout and how depleting a profession of social work can be. Why is that? Social Work is service, dispersing resources to people in need, often in crisis. It is not the job itself that causes burnout, though, it's restlessness that often follows. If service is giving of oneself, it is futile when the person is empty. How can you give someone a ride if your car has no gas? How can you teach and tutor if you have yet to learn the lesson yourself? The funnel makes the fountain; without the funnel, it's just a well or a drain. Many leaders serve as wells, pouring out their talents and resources like water from underground. Others are like drains, carrying a myriad of responsibilities and assignments people have poured onto them. Both courses of action are noble in theory, but they become dangerous when the leaders are not restored. Ask yourself who and what is pouring into you. Do you rest? Do you have a habit of taking time to yourself? Do you have a mentor? A creative outlet? These are the makings of your funnel.
