When Being in Service is Really Important

Quite recently Ashara and I were working with a corporate executive to have one of his teams come out for a day-long team building event with the horses. I happen to be one of the team members so I know this executive pretty well. My teammates were really looking forward to this event.

After several discussions and his assurances that he wants our team to have an event he was unable to approve due to budget constraints. When I heard this news I felt an immediate sense of loss for our team as we would miss out on effective team connection and bonding and for Ashara since the potential income was good for the books.

More than that I felt a sense of loss because I remembered that coaching is so important to me and how I define myself as someone who is in service to humanity. The decision meant that we would not be serving this small group of people and that bummed me out for a few moments. The reason was totally understandable from the executive’s budget constraint perspective. My mind thought of all the negotiations that could happen to meet his requirements. “Best to let that go and move on” I heard in my mind.

Then as I got quiet and allowed the disappointment to subside quite suddenly the next thoughts were “what if we offered the event to my team for free?”, “would Ashara be willing to support that?” And “would my team still want to attend the event?”.

All that in the space of a nanosecond.

I asked my team if they would attend after we discussed the aforementioned decision by our exec since they were informed in our weekly team meeting. They all affirmed they would be interested.

Next, I sent a text message to Ashara, explaining the situation and asked if she would be willing to host and facilitate the event for free. [Goodwill and good experiences for everyone!] She agreed and is ready to move forward.

So, next month we shall host the event and create a fun day for the group. Personally, I’m really stoked because we’re going to build good relationships with my team, we’ll have more experience with corporate clients and we will be providing an important service to this small group of people.

Besides, I can hardly wait to see the smiles on their faces as they work with the horses throughout the day!

Money can’t buy that amount of heartfelt experience.

“A good reputation is more valuable than money.”  
Publilius Syrus

Don’t get me wrong. Running a profitable business is ultimately our goal which we have done over the past few years. This event may open many doors for us in the long run for which I would be grateful.  

Thanks for reading!

Glenn