Want to Grow Your Career? Serve, Don't Sell

Since so many subscribers have joined since I first launched this newsletter, today I am re-publishing my second issue because it captures the essence of what I want to convey to you...

Video transcript: Hi, this is Bruce Kasanoff with another Mountain Minute from Park City, Utah. The philosophy that underlies everything I do in business is "serve, don’t sell. "

This means that you simply try to be of service to other people. You use your talents—what you do best—to serve other people. If you do this, you don't have to worry about marketing or sales, you don't have to worry about how you present yourself to the world, because if you use your best skills to serve other people, people will seek you out. They'll come to you.

You don't have to self-promote. You simply say: how can I use my talents to be of service to other people? "Serve, don't sell." It works for individuals. It works for companies. Stick to it. You have to do it every day.

A bit more background: Many?professionals move through life trying to sell something:

• I want a job
• I want a better job
• I want you to buy my product
• I want you to pay me more because, well, I want more

No one likes to be sold. No one wants to be a funding source for what you want. No one wants to help in your job search and then have you forget them.

But...

People?do?want connection. We want to find others whom we like and respect, and who feel the same way about us.

For example, if you are trying to "network your way" into a job at a company, are you genuinely interested in building relationships with the people you meet along the way? In many cases, job candidates treat such new connections as little more than stepping stones to what they want (i.e., a better job and more money).

This is no way to run a career.

"Serve, don't sell" is a simple?philosophy, but it takes years to deeply integrate it into your career and life. Every single day, you encounter opportunities to serve others. The more of these opportunities you embrace, the more you will build and nurture true human connections. No single one of these good deeds may result in more money or a new job for you. But collectively, they will lead to a rich and rewarding career.

"Serve, don't sell" also works for employee engagement. It works for customer engagement. It works to power revenue growth. It works with anything and everything that includes people.

Using your unique talent and expertise in a genuine effort to help others is by far the fastest way to strengthen your relationships—and cultivate valuable new ones.

One last point: the harsher and more strident our world becomes, the more welcome it is to come across a person who is genuinely interested in helping others. Let that person be you.

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Bruce Kasanoff?is a social media ghostwriter for entrepreneurs.