We were in upstate New York at a retreat center — without television. Somebody set up a computer so we could watch the Inauguration. In between classes, we had time to watch THE speech and not much else. You know how a great presenter can deliver the same message and yet have it mean different things to different people depending on what they most need to hear? Well, to me some of our President’s most powerful words were about service. Reminding us we are all in this together. He used the words “A Spirit of Service”. I loved that!

I’ve written recently about customer service and the connection between service, life purpose and success. I’ve written about customer service with Heart. And what does all that mean? To me there’s definitely a spiritual side of service. When we truly serve, whether as part of a job in a customer service department, sharing our gifts as an entertainer, actor, business manager, teacher or motivator … when we truly from our hearts serve someone else or something bigger, we are uplifted. We become more. We grow. We are prospered. We are freer. We are inevitably and beautifully changed.

This is why I love to do training on customer service. To inspire. To connect staff to the mission and purpose of their companies. To connect people’s hearts with the work they do and the influence they have every day on the lives of others. To help people be more aware of the power in their customer service work: power to influence other lives for the better.

How does true service with heart feel? Watch, turn up volume, listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZonmQZG0GQ 

 

To me, President Obama’s call to service is a great gift. When he calls on us to join together and serve, to pitch in, he is positioning us for success. He is calling us to look at what we have and from that place of fullness and gratitude to look ahead and move forward together.

“Your own story and the American story are not separate — they are shared. And they will both be enriched if we stand up together, and answer a new call to service to meet the challenges of our new century … I won’t just ask for your vote as a candidate; I will ask for your service and your active citizenship when I am president of the United States. This will not be a call issued in one speech or program; this will be a cause of my presidency.”— Barack Obama, Speech in Mt. Vernon, IA
December 5, 2007