If you have ever wondered how to be the best version of yourself, I would suggest the following. Look for opportunities for service over status, choose character over your own comfort and make the word we, more important than the word me.

Service over status – Whatever your job or task is, take the attitude and willingness to serve, not lead. If you take this mental mindset, you will have the respect of the people around you. Lean more into the roll of the job versus your title for the job. When a person is always looking for a better status/ title, it is generally a career killer. People want to promote people who care more about the job than a new and bigger title. Throughout my life I have held many titles, but the two most dear to my heart are, husband and daddy. All the fancy titles in the world pale in comparison.

Years ago, when I was in the restaurant business, we were having some new coffee equipment installed by Standard Coffee. I got to talking with the equipment installer and about life and work. The equipment installer had the same last name as the chairman of Standard Coffee so I asked him about it. He told me he was his son. I asked him why he was installing equipment instead of other executive roles in the company. What he said, left an impression on me to this day. He said, “If I want people within the company to respect me, I need them to know I was willing to start at the bottom.” What a leadership attitude.

Character over comfort – There is a saying that is so very true. Whatever you compromise to keep you will eventually lose. You just cannot compromise integrity and expect it to not have an effect on you. When you do compromise your ethics, it peals a piece of your soul off with it. Its impossible to remain the same person after you compromised yourself for some short-term gain. If you are asked to do something unethical, and you refuse, you may lose the temporary gain but those people around you will respect you and in my humble opinion, you will come out better over time.

We over me – So much in the world today is about me. It turns my stomach to see all the self-centered, posts, blogs, news feeds, articles about people that only care about themselves. The best advice anyone can give is when you are asked “how did you do it?” is to say, “it was team effort, and we did it together.” That answer makes you look real, honest, approachable, and transparent. If you personally take all the credit, it just makes you look small.

So, look for opportunities for service over status, choose character over comfort and make the word we, more important than the word me. KT