Great Service By Jon Gordon I had the opportunity to stand on the side lines as the Jacksonville Jaguars played the Atlanta Falcons last week. Before the game I envisioned myself saying something positive and profound that would ignite a player to make a winning play. Around the third quarter it was getting hot. Real hot. The sun was blazing and the players were getting tired. All of a sudden someone was running towards me and calling my name. “Are you Jon Gordon?” A minute later there I was, holding one side of a make-shift awning above the heads of six big and tired linemen, protecting them from the sun. My job was equivalent to that of a metal pole holding up an awning. It certainly wasn’t what I envisioned….. but great service never is. We often think that great service is about miraculous, heroic feats. We envision ourselves like superman or wonder woman swooping in and saving the day, wining the new client. saving the customer from a miserable experience or transforming someone’s life. And sometimes this is the case, but more often than not, great service is about doing the every day little things that go unnoticed. It’s about losing yourself and your ego for the benefit of others and the team. When I think of great service I envision a parent that does whatever it takes to raise great kids without awards or recognition; or an unknown volunteer in Africa helping to provide clean drinking water; or a soldier in Iraq who saves lives every day and no one ever hears about it; or a sales executive that does a hundred little things to serve the best interest of their client; or a call center employee who actually calls the customer back after finding the right answer to their question; or the school, non-profit, or church volunteer that does all the menial tasks to support the mission; or the team member at work that does whatever it takes to help the team complete the project. Great service is not about rewards or accolades. Great service is the reward. I realized this as I served my role as the human metal pole protecting the players from the sun. It was certainly humbling and yet it was very rewarding. I remember holding the awning thinking, “Whatever it takes. Whatever it takes to help the team win, I’ll do it.” And in that moment it was as if I lost my ego and self importance and gained every great feeling in the world.
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