“Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.” –Martin Luther King, Jr.

Last weekend, I went to dinner at Urban Plates. It’s a casual, order-at-the-counter restaurant where you walk away from the cash register with your tray of food. It seems like an unlikely place to encounter excellent customer service but that’s exactly what happened.

We were greeted at the door by an enthusiastic, young worker named Jess. He immediately let us know he could help us with anything, and then went on to do just this after we were seated and eating. He offered us condiments during our meal and was quick to clear our plates once finished. We were so taken with his service that we pulled aside the manager to let him know how impressed we were.

The attitude and enthusiasm Jess displayed for his minimum wage job at a casual eatery was something I marveled at and walked away inspired by.

I don’t know where you are with your job or career. Maybe you’re staying at home now to take care of littles or kicking ass in corporate America. (It can be argued which one is more difficult!) Maybe you’re content with a 9 to 5 that you leave at the office. Or, maybe you are working around the clock to launch an idea. Some of you are still figuring out what you want to do when you grow up.

No matter what stage you’re in, we can all take a lesson from Jess. Work hard. Serve with excellence. Generally speaking, kick butt.

And here’s a little encouragement from my friends at Briefcase Studios who made an awesome short film a couple of years back. WATCH THE TRAILER HERE.

p.s. I know I’m a little late for both MLK Day and Black History Month, but better late than never, right?!

[Photo: This is NOT Jess; Photo by Petr Sevcovic on Unsplash]