Most of us have been to Chick-fil-A and received our order with a smile and "My pleasure."  Other companies have trained their employees to utter the same syllables, but often I have been left unconvinced - "Is it really your pleasure?"

Each day I get out of bed loving my work and the clients I serve.  That isn't to suggest that there are never difficult moments, but that I recognize an essential principle underlying my work: "I choose to serve."  More specifically: "I choose to serve these people in this way."  They don't owe me employment, it is my job to earn their trust and to serve them with excellence.

I recognize that not everyone has this same attachment to their work.  Some people get up each day and go to a job that has been selected because it allows them to pay the bills.

Somehow Chick-fil-A trains it employees to say, "My pleasure," in a convincing fashion.  They appear to enjoy their work and serving me, their customer.  Jimmy Carter said about Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A: "I hope that people will learn from Truett Cathy the virtues that have brought him remarkable success in life.  He has dedicated himself to service in the broadest sense, following Christian principles, not only in his personal life, but in his relations with his customers and employees."

When I started Julian Consulting nearly nine years ago, I determined that each time I met with someone I would keep two words in my mind: "Serve" and "grow."  I wanted to serve that person during that interaction as best as I could, not holding back until I was hired or offering teasers.  Additionally, I wanted to come away from each interaction having grown.

Once I went to lunch with a man who had developed a successful business and we were discussing possible opportunities for partnering.  He told me: "Recently I came to the realization that I was working to fund a lifestyle rather than being committed to developing a sustainable business that I could sell to someone else one day."  That distinction was helpful to me at a time when I wasn't sure if Julian Consulting was my new calling or simply a transition to my next calling.  I walked away recognizing that for me at that time it was enough that I was funding our modest lifestyle.  I had done my best to serve this businessman and walked away having grown.

Recently I met with a group of Customer Service Associates who had concerns about their roles.  I told them, "We have chosen to serve."  I see the opportunity to serve others each day as a great privilege.  That people allow me into their lives and pay me to care for them and their needs is humbling.  I don't know if you will agree with this statement, but I believe that many people chase goals that are unworthy of a human life.  Serving others is a high calling and done well it is greatly rewarding.