The Power Of A ‘Live To Serve’ Mindset (And How To Nurture It In Others)

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In the early days of my career, I underwent restaurant management training in a KFC in Delhi as part of my role as a business leader at YUM! Brands. I had never worked in the front of a fast-food chain before, and as I spent day after day marinating and breading chicken, it hit me how hard this work is – and how much of it is about service to others. Later, during my work with teams worldwide, I witnessed how the most successful restaurant managers nurtured their teams as family. One of their mantras was “Always leave a team with more energy than you found it.”?

At Amway, my 14,000 colleagues and I wake up every morning with the goal of empowering micro-entrepreneurs as they build their health and well-being communities, offering solutions for healthy weight and fitness, and healthy aging and skin. Along the way, as each of us makes an impact in our roles, we look to these principles to guide us in serving others. They may be useful on your leadership journey, too.

Harness the culture?

When I joined Amway five years ago, one of the first things I undertook was a global listen and learn tour. I knew that to lead effectively, I had to understand our micro-entrepreneurs' pain points and challenges. And for me, that meant going to where the rubber meets the road and hearing it from them directly.?

As I traveled, I had the opportunity to meet a cross-section of our colleagues working on our organic farms, in manufacturing and in markets from Seoul to Sao Paulo. I admired the strength of the team’s commitment to serve, and we made it one of the three pillars of Amway’s Founders Growth Mindset culture and leadership behaviors: Live to Serve, Love to Learn, and Lead with Heart.

Some of the brightest moments came several years ago during the lows of the pandemic. Across the organization, leaders harnessed the culture and commitment to understanding and alleviating people’s challenges. As our China team struggled to keep production up and running amidst stringent lockdowns, Amway China’s president, Frances Yu, went the extra mile to offer genuine support for colleagues and their families when many people’s safety and livelihoods were threatened.?

Amway teams led by Frances went so far as to deliver care packages to Amway employees locked down at home. Her empathetic care inspired numerous acts of ‘heroism’, including a group of employees who camped out in our manufacturing plant to ensure business continuity and product availability for our entrepreneurs. Afterward, the employee engagement rating at Amway China hit 96% – a world-class level – and the region has been Amway’s fastest-growing market since then.??

‘Walk the talk’ as a leader

As a parent with boys in college, I have learned some valuable lessons about parenting teenagers – and they apply to business leadership too. Our boys won’t always listen to what we tell them to do, but they will observe our actions and absorb the family values embedded within them. So it’s important to always walk the talk.

Similarly, when Andrew Schmidt took on the role of managing director for Amway, North America, he had already observed the power of walking the talk, having started his journey as a consultant with Amway Japan just days after the devastating earthquake and tsunami. There, he witnessed the team spring into action to support a community in need. He learned quickly that Amway not only espouses its values, it also lives them day in and day out.?

Schmidt brought these values with him years later as he took on responsibility for serving our North American entrepreneurs. He listened to their challenges – in particular with Amway’s e-commerce system – and took it upon himself to address their pain points, partner with the technology team and create a more stable and frictionless experience. His actions not only made our entrepreneurs’ work easier, but they also gained him immense credibility in his new role.?

Build your own resilience and health

To put others first, we’ve got to have enough energy available to help them take on their challenges – in addition to managing our own. For me, that has required committing to a set of wellness habits that include daily movement, a mostly plant-forward diet, and small micro-habits that ensure I’m building the physical and mental stamina needed to serve others effectively. As a leader, we need a reservoir of energy and positivity, and it starts by taking care of ourselves as we serve others.

In our various leadership roles, we all have the responsibility to meet business goals, set metrics and stick to budgets. In my experience adopting a ‘live to serve’ mindset can be an effective way to build a great culture and nurture leaders who reinforce a virtuous cycle of behaviors that can help everyone be successful in achieving business outcomes.

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