Humility: Now Hiring
There’s a strange thing happening in America: nobody seems to want to serve anymore.
Not in the military. Not in faith comunities. Not in restaurants, agencies, hospitals, or anywhere that requires you to wear comfortable shoes and smile at other humans. Somewhere along the way, “service” became a dirty word, synonymous with being less-than or subservient.
Enlistment numbers have steadily dropped for the past 40 years. Only 148,318 people enlisted in the US armed forces in 2020, a 59% decline from 1980. In 2020, only 47% of U.S. adults belonged to a church, synagogue, or mosque, a significant decrease from 70% in 1999. Even the self-described customer service roles are expected to decline 5% per year.
We’ve glorified leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship, but not the distinctly unsexy act of carrying a tray, cleaning a table, taking a blood pressure, or freelancing on a design project. The media presents these honorable jobs as either entry level positions or the domain of losers that can’t get “real work.”
And this is a shame. Because service jobs are not just good for society — they are good for the soul.
The Humility Dividend
Here’s the part no one tells you: when you serve others, you gain something most leadership seminars can’t teach you; humility.
Real humility. The kind that comes from doing work that’s necessary, not flashy. The kind that comes from looking someone in the eye and saying: I’m here to help you, not to impress you.
I’ve worn a uniform. Military service will straighten out your understanding of purpose very quickly. For the past 20 years I’ve worked in client services, building companies that made their living by helping others succeed. And I’ve waited tables, mowed lawns and driven limos. All in the service of others.
Want to know someone’s character? Watch how they treat the Uber driver, the waitress or the orderly at the hospital waiting room. I’ve heard of companies taking candidates out to lunch at a busy restaurant, just to see how they treat the waitstaff.
On the other hand, if you want to know who has humility? It’s not the influencers, billionaires or the thought leaders on stage with headsets. It’s the EMTs, the veterans, the waitstaff, the nurses, the agency project managers who smooth over the impossible client requests without breaking a sweat. These are the people who have spent time in the trenches of service.
You Are Not Less Than
Serving someone does not make you less than them.
In fact, it’s one of the quickest ways to increase your value. Both to yourself and to others. You build empathy, patience, resilience. You learn to really listen, not because you’re being polite but because it’s required. You learn how to be helpful without expecting a standing ovation.
And you don’t lose your voice when you serve. On the contrary, you learn how to use your voice more effectively. The best service professionals I know, whether they’re agency leads or hospital staff, have opinions and perspectives that are shaped by being up close to human needs. They don’t posture; they contribute.
The Global Perspective
Ironically, this cultural allergy to service is not universal. In many countries, service jobs are treated with genuine respect.
In Denmark, teachers are national heroes. In Japan, waitstaff take enormous pride in delivering an exceptional dining experience and society honors them for it. In Germany, tradespeople and truck drivers are considered indispensable and are paid accordingly. In Finland, nurses rank consistently among the most trusted and valued professions.
And in many nations where national service is required, it is viewed not as a punishment or a distraction from one’s career, but as an honor. An opportunity to contribute to something larger than oneself.
When a culture recognizes that service sustains the whole, everyone benefits.
Serving Is Self-Interest (In Disguise)
In America we’ve developed a cultural allergy to service. We hold a misguided notion that being of service is about self-sacrifice or martyrdom. Service others is apparently giving up on yourself.
But, counter to this mythology, serving others is not about diminishing yourself, it’s about improving the whole system you live in. When you serve your community, your clients, your country, you are ultimately serving your own best interest. You’re investing in a world where people help each other.
The alternative is a culture where no one wants to do the necessary work and we all lose.
The Case for Humble Work
So here’s my simple request: if you haven’t held a service job at some point, you should.
Several years ago I found myselg “between jobs.” I had gone from being the CEO and cofounder of a venture funded startup to being an unemployed stay-at-home dad of an infant. Tucking my pride in my pocket I canvased the neighborhood and asked for jobs mowing lawns. It was humbling but I had mouths to feed and sitting around waiting for a job that was equal to my experience was a waste of time.
You should wait tables. You should volunteer in an ER. You should teach, coach, mentor, manage a thankless client. Not because it will look good on your resume. But because it will do something more important, it will make you a better, more grounded human being.
And if you already have? Then honor that time. Carry its lessons forward. And remind those around you that service is not beneath us — it’s what holds us up.
