Traits Of Irresistible People (TIP) # 4: Servant Attitude

We live in a time where people are so used to being served than serving others. The technological advancement has fueled this need to have things done for us instead of we getting things done for others. It is popular for people to affirm and even demand their rights in both small and big ventures. I am amazed at how easily we feel offended when we are inconvenienced in one way or another.

We all appreciate help in one way or another and whoever consistently offers us the most needed help becomes a valuable asset in our lives. Servanthood requires a mental shift, a change in your attitudes. People will always be more interested in why we do something than in what we do. Attitudes count more than achievements.

People with a servant attitude focus on others, not themselves. This is true humility: not thinking less of ourselves but thinking of ourselves less. Someone said, ‘Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand’. This is what it means to "lose your life"- forgetting yourself in service to others. When we stop focusing on our needs, we become aware of the needs around us.

Thinking like a servant is difficult because it challenges the basic problem of life: we are by nature, selfish. I think most about me. That’s why humility is a daily struggle, a lesson I must relearn over and over. The opportunity to be a servant confronts us dozens of times a day where we are given the choice to decide between meeting our needs or the needs of others. Self-denial is the core of servanthood.

We can measure our servants heart by how we respond when others treat us like servants. How do you react when you’re taken for granted, bossed around, or treated as an inferior?

Servants don’t need to cover their walls with plaques and awards to validate their work. They don’t insist on being addressed by titles and they don’t wrap themselves in robes of superiority. Servants find status symbols unnecessary and they never measure their worth by their achievements. 

People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. It is not what you do that stands out for people but rather how you make them feel. We all have the capacity to serve if we choose to be that way. Servanthood is a matter of choice; it is not designated for some people only but rather a choice that anyone can make.

The person who serves the most will soon become indispensable. We lean on people for different things and you can become that person that people count on to come through when they need the help. Serving can take on different formats from offering a listening ear to offering a helping hand or even supporting others on their projects. Whatever the need is that is before you, you have a choice to make about how you will respond.

Servants are leaders and they are simply irresistible because of the magnitude of their impact in our lives.