If You Must Serve, Serve Someone Good

It is better to serve principles rather than people. But in work life, even the most independent and stiff-necked of us have to serve others. Employees (to some degree) serve bosses and managers. And even entrepreneurs are in service to customers and clients.

If there can be no freedom from service itself, there can be a freedom to choose whom to serve. And if you must work for someone else, it’s pretty important that you work for a person or group of people you respect.

The burden of working under a genuinely good man or woman is light. On the other hand, working for a lousy person is sheer torture – a disservice to you and to them.

This doesn’t just mean that you should pick someone who treats you well. You should pick someone who treats other people well, who abides by the Golden Rule, who speaks truthfully. You should pick someone you aspire to be like at your best moments. If you do, you will find that in serving your boss, you will be serving your principles.