Everybody can be great, because everybody can SERVE
Here's what I realized about embracing the mindset of service. Title quote courtesy Martin Luther King Jr.
Hey,
Welcome to this edition of Clarity Canvas Weekly - a newsletter that goes out to nearly 2700 leaders, learners and change-makers. In this edition, we delve into the power of cultivating a mindset of service.
We often fall in the trap of seeing our work as a transaction. We learn and apply our knowledge with a sole focus on external factors that includes money and status among other things.
I believe that while money, status and such are by-products of doing good work, the prerequisite of really scaling your impact is to adopt a mindset of service.
Many years ago, I was reading the newspaper when the title of an editorial struck me, “Service is the highest form of self-expression.”
In a post that I wrote as a result of thinking about that title (in 2017), I expressed,
But why is service the highest form of self-expression, you may ask?
Because mindset of service subdues the ego and real self-expression (and also learning) cannot happen when you wear a mask of your ego. And the truth is, real service is not about you, it is about purpose and people. And when you think about purpose and receivers of your service, YOU become the medium and not the source. Ego and entitlement must take a back seat if you are truly set out to serve others and when that happens, the whole foundation of your engagement with the cause is transformed.
This thought completely transformed the way I approached my work as a corporate leader. Seeing the self as a “medium” rather than a “source” was the most transformational mindset shift for me.
Everything I attempt to do now is fundamentally based on three questions:
What change do I want to see around me as a result of my work?
Who will this serve and how?
How can I become the most potent medium to serve them through a combination of my skills, competencies and attitude?
Another thing that I have realized lately is that offering a real service requires a mindset of abundance.
All our work is about expressing ourselves fully through the pursuit. When people focus on constraints (they’re always around), they step into a survival mindset of doing what is necessary to stay afloat, often at the cost of delivering real service to customers/stakeholders. Doing “necessary” things takes precedence over doing “right” things.
Survival is about the self. Abundance mindset includes others. It is about finding possibilities to make a difference amid constraints. It seeks better ways of seeing, solving and serving.
Gandhi said it right,
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in service of others.”
Serving through your whole self
In this context, I found the quote that
shared from Rachel Naomi Remen’s book “Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories that Heal”:Serving is different from helping. Helping is not a relationship between equals. A helper may see others as weaker than they are, needier than they are, and people often feel this inequality. The danger in helping is that we may inadvertently take away from people more than we could ever give them; we may diminish their self-esteem, their sense of worth, integrity or even wholeness. When we help, we become aware of our own strength. But when we serve, we don’t serve with our strength; we serve with ourselves, and we draw from all of our experiences. Our limitations serve; our wounds serve; even our darkness can serve.
Till this point, I saw service as something we do with whatever strengths we have. However, I realize that we also serve through ourselves, our being and our sharing. Read the extended thought that Sunni Brown shared in her recent post.
From my Sketchnote Friends:
I love how
brings the ideas alive through his sketchnotes. See his recent post to know what I mean - both in terms of insights and its representation.If you are into visual thinking and sketchnotes, you will love
’s post Three Keys To Better Sketchnotes.
From my Journal
Be fluid with your knowledge. Let it flow and grow. Keep an open mind. Let your perspectives evolve through diverse experiences. Explore multiple disciplines. Blend. Share. Learn continuously.
Visual Leadership Pack of 90+ HD Sketchnotes
If you liked the sketchnote summary above, check out the Visual Leadership Pack of HD Sketchnotes – a compilation of high-resolution sketchnotes with 90+ powerful (and timeless) ideas to elevate your leadership and learning game.
That’s it for this edition. Thank you for subscribing and reading.
Until next week,
Thank you,
Desireless action (Bhagavad Gita) - strips you of motivation.
Karma Yoga, as taught by Swami Vivekananda and expounded in the Chapter 4 of the Bhagavad Gita, is a path of selfless action performed without attachment to the results. It emphasises the idea of offering one’s actions to a higher power or the greater good, without seeking personal gain or being affected by the outcomes. Karma Yoga is a way of spiritualising all actions in secular life; work, relationships, mundane activities, entertainment are all to be offered to Divinity and everything that results is to be taken as Prasāda. Chapter 9 of the Bhagavad Gita delves into the concept of Prasāda as the fruit of action offered with devotion. It emphasises the importance of recognising the divine presence, surrendering one’s actions, and experiencing the transformative power of divine grace in one’s life. Desire less work, knowledge and devotion to the cosmic force must be seen as complementary practices.
Thank you so much for the shoutout Tanmay! As a huge fan of your work I was so happy to find you here too.