Selfless Service

Selfless Service can be defined as service which is performed without any expectation of result or award for the person performing it. The Army thought enough of this characteristic to make it one of its 7 core values:

Selfless Service: Put the welfare of the Nation, the Army and your subordinates before your own. Selfless service is larger than just one person. In serving your country, you are doing your duty loyally without thought of recognition or gain. The basic building block of selfless service is the commitment of each team member to go a little further, endure a little longer, and look a little closer to see how he or she can add to the effort.

I like to think of it this way: Selfless service is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less.

Leaders can always have confidence in their skills and abilities. They are comfortable in their own skin and know where they fit on the team. But their actions are not driven by concern for self. They don't act based on how it will impact on their own careers or if it will make people like them. They don't worry about individual statistics. They act in the best interest of the TEAM. They put others before themselves.

So how do you measure up? Do you put others first? Do you measure your actions based on how it will make you look or what it will do for your own promotion potential? Do you serve yourself or others?

The Army believes that a team of selfless servants can go further, endure longer, and become an "Army of One!" Any organization of people like this, led by leaders who embrace this concept, cannot be stopped. Selfless service is...Leader Business.