When I got home late this afternoon from a talk I did in the Baltimore, MD area this morning, I got an e-mail from a woman I know who works for a large regional employer. Her employer has been using my book, Fundamentally Different, as the main discussion text in a leadership development course they've been running for about 25-30 future leaders. Well it seems that they just added 4 more people to the class and were desperate to get their hands on some additional copies of the book ASAP. When the woman checked with Amazon, she found she couldn't get the books as quickly as she needed, so she reached out to me.
Thankfully I keep a supply of books at my house. Within an hour of receiving her e-mail, I personally delivered the copies to her so that she could get them in people's hands by tomorrow. While I certainly had a few other things on my plate when I got home, she had an urgent need and I wanted to find a way to respond.
While this could just as easily be filed under "customer service" as it could under "kindness", in some respects, they're one and the same. At the heart of great customer service is a genuine desire to help other people. It isn't so much about policies and procedures as much as it's about a personal commitment and passion to help. And isn't that what kindess is all about as well?
In your faithful quest to complete this project, I pray that your acts of kindness remain "random" and not contrived. Random acts of kindness are awesome examples of the love of Jesus. Contrived acts of kindness are works of pride and self glorification - things we should work to avoid.
ReplyDeletePeace and Blessings on your adventure!
Arch Fisher