What have you done for me lately?(Selected Topic)(credit)

What have you done for me lately? This statement sounds familiar to all of us, but the real question is, have we asked ourselves what we truly have done to assist stakeholders in our lives? Whether we recognize it or not, this is a question which assumes a servant relationship with the inquiring mind. That's right, I used the "s" word. Boy, even the sound of that word, "servant" invites a HR discussion.

Our democratic society emphasizes equality. Although gender-specific, you may recall our constitution proclaiming "all men are created equal." A mental conflict occurs when we consider ourselves as a servant to another person or persons. Yet, many servant relationships exist. For example, the credit department serves customers, shareholders, management and the sales department. Additionally, you may also have obligations with professional, social and religious organizations. Generally, the more involved you are with any organization, the more fulfilling and enjoyable the experience. Involvement indicates a level of commitment and service to an organization, entity or person. Be it sales, our customers or senior management, the more committed we are to serve, the greater the reward.

A true servant leader can assist stakeholders iii a number of ways. For example, one of the most rewarding parts of my professional career was to perform a monthly "Lunch and Learn" for about 20 credit analysts that worked with me in a large public company. The format was to provide a one-hour lesson on some aspect of financial analysis, industry performance, management issues, etc. for the pure benefit and education of the team.

I round the time to be a wonderful way of raising the overall performance of the department as well as maintaining a connection with employees with whom 1 normally had little contact. Mentoring bonds were formed, managers were developed and friendships endured, all because I served this selection of personnel. From this humble beginning, our management team also discovered a need for collection and reconciliation personnel to get together on a monthly basis for educational purposes, lead by one of my senior managers. In this rising tide of knowledge, all boats floated higher, and I believe the company benefited accordingly.

Another selfless act you may consider is to start to send other members of your department on customer visits. Yes, they may not handle the customer exactly the way you have in the past, but they will be learning, and your company will benefit from the depth of experience. Opportunities present themselves, if you look for them.

Remember that large public company I mentioned earlier? Well, at one point, our credit department was given the opportunity to send a credit person down to Puerto Rico to help develop the territory and, of course, meet the major customers. Now, I have never been to Puerto Rico and would really have enjoyed the culture and people, but I do not speak more than tell ...