The Hollywood Commandments Page 7

  Troy also started investing in Silicon Valley, and his passion for service led him to start a tech incubator called Smashd Labs and a venture capital firm called Cross Culture Ventures, both of which help young tech entrepreneurs get started. His service in these two areas has become so successful that Spotify, the $8 billion music streaming service with more than 100 million users, hired him to be their global head of creator services.

  I share this with you because I don’t want you to think that serving someone else is an anchor around your waist that’s preventing you from achieving your destiny. Let’s take a few minutes to better understand what service is.

  •Service isn’t servitude. Servitude isn’t a word you hear thrown around much anymore, but it’s relevant because it is how some people define service without even knowing it. Servitude is defined as “the state of being a slave or completely subject to someone more powerful”—it’s involuntary service that humiliates and diminishes the person who serves. It’s the slavery that was inflicted on my ancestors and the ancestors of millions of others. However, this is different from hard work and long hours for low pay, which are part of the dues we all must pay to get where we want to be, but are not servitude. Service teaches you, and in the best of circumstances, ennobles you. It can even be a calling—something that people who serve others as a career, from doctors and nurses to professional waiters and bartenders, can attest.

  There is a big difference between a service mentality and a servitude mentality. In a service mentality, you can be putting in long hours and working hard, even be unappreciated, but you know that you’re getting something out of it—experience, connections, discipline—and you’re clear about that. You know that your service does not diminish you but actually builds you up. But in a servitude mentality, you tend to forget who you are and what you were created to do. You allow your circumstances to make you doubt your ability and talent. This mentality is dangerous because you can lose sight of your greater goal and start to believe that you’ll never achieve your dreams. This, in turn, can make you resentful, negative, and at times, self-sabotaging. A service mentality will propel you, but a servitude mentality will inhibit you.

  •Service also doesn’t mean being servile. To be servile means to be slavishly submissive and lacking in originality. Someone who is servile will debase themselves to get ahead. First of all, nobody respects people who do that—quite the opposite. I found that out in my internship: when God told me to tell the office manager at Handprint about my Sabbath observance, and I finally did, she agreed to work with it. What I’ve learned in Hollywood—and I believe this is the same in any profession or career—is that people at the top respect those with the confidence of their convictions, even if they disagree with those convictions personally. Why? Because standing on your principles shows you to be a person of character and integrity, the foundational elements of high-level success.

  Many people of faith believe that pursuing success in secular environments requires spiritual people to fundamentally compromise what we believe and who we are at our core. But the opposite is true. God doesn’t want you to be servile. David wasn’t servile; he was a ruler in the making! And you are, too!

  •You can serve someone without having access to them. If you’re not able to get direct access to someone you aspire to be like, it is possible to be of service indirectly. One way is to contribute to the person you want to serve. For example, while I was at Sony Pictures, I was able to work with the great Bishop T. D. Jakes on movies like Miracles from Heaven and Jumping the Broom. But years before I ever met him, Bishop Jakes’s sermons and teachings were a major influence in my life, so much so that I bought many of his books and sermons. If you walk into my office today at home and look at my bookshelves, you’ll see almost every one of his books. For years, even from afar, I was doing what I could to be of service to him and assist him in his mission by purchasing his books and encouraging others to do so as well. That’s one way to carry a crown.

  •Service requires commitment to the process. A lot of the time when we’re in the lower-echelon service positions that are part of learning any trade, we spend all our time looking forward to when we’re the ones in power. We say, “Okay, I’m doing this now. But I can’t wait until I’m really doing the thing I want to do.” Be careful that you don’t obsess so much over the future that you neglect your work in the present. Even if you’re not where you want to be right now, you’re still being prepared, trained, and groomed to fulfill the purpose for your life. Every stage in that process matters.

  Sometimes we don’t value the time we’re serving others because we want things now. We want things when we want them. But I’ve learned that, when you are in a position of power or influence, the more you end up relying on the lessons you learned during the process you went through to get there. Learn the business by doing it. The better you serve, the better you will be served. The more you will learn, the more people you will impress, and the more opportunities you will have. The process is not just a spiritual thing but a practical thing, too.

  •Traditional ministry isn’t the only way to have a service mentality. Our churches teach that we’re here to be of service to God, to be His instruments and carry out one small part of His greater purpose. That’s all true. But sometimes, churches take that to mean we can only serve God through traditional ministry. I don’t agree with that, and it’s one of the ideas that makes people of faith fear going into the secular world and pursuing their God-given ambitions. I look to verses like Colossians 3:23 (NLT), which says, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” We serve God by serving each other. When you go forth and embark upon your career, bust your tail to give your best, and help both the company and the people in it to be their best, you are serving God. Don’t fear going out into the world and giving your best.

  Exodus

  Serving others selflessly is the best way to learn and get ahead. However, it’s important to not get stuck on one level of service too long. Always be mindful how the current level of service (being an assistant) will lead to the next level of service (being an executive). Remember, the idea is to learn so much and grow so profoundly in mind and spirit through your service that you’re ready to graduate to the next level. To avoid staying on one level of service at the expense of your larger destiny, give yourself a target for when you feel it’s time to transition. It can be a hard deadline (“By January, I’ll have been here for five years, and if I’m not promoted, then it’s time to leave”) or a soft one (“In 2018, I will lay the groundwork for starting my business”), so long as you set it. A target will keep you focused and remind you that serving need not be a blank check.

  A PROPENSITY FOR PATIENCE

  Take another look at the story of King David. He was destined to be the next king, yet as we read in 1 and 2 Samuel, he had to endure a process of preparation. God didn’t immediately put him on the throne. Before David could be a king, he had to commit to the process that becoming the king would require. His destiny wouldn’t come about until he had gone through the process. After Samuel anointed David as the one who would become king, David didn’t become the king instantly. In fact, David was sent to serve King Saul, to play the harp, and to be one of the King’s armor bearers. Even after David defeated Goliath, he didn’t become king; he was forced into exile because King Saul became so jealous of David that he wanted him dead. Some historians believe David was a fugitive for more than fifteen years. In that time, God tested David in order to make him strong and wise, to teach him humility and restraint. Only then did he step into the role of king that he was ordained to fill in his youth.

  We live in an impatient world where instant gratification through technology has conditioned us to expect what we want at the moment we want it. This has seeped into our professional lives, so if we don’t achieve the success we desire by our deadline, we get frustrated. That frustration can disrupt or even damage the career w
e are so desperate to have. In my last book, The Wait, I talked about the value of delayed gratification and patience in relationships, but it’s equally valuable in your career and life pursuits. In life, you don’t get extra credit for doing things fast.

  Unfortunately, we’re not good at waiting, especially for opportunity. We’ve become a country of job hoppers. In April 2016, LinkedIn published a report that stated,

  Over the last 20 years, the number of companies people worked for in the five years after they graduated has nearly doubled. People who graduated between 1986 and 1990 averaged more than 1.6 jobs, and people who graduated between 2006 and 2010 averaged nearly 2.85 jobs.

  Meanwhile, New York magazine says this on the subject of job hopping:

  In most fields, employers are still wary of people with a track record of jumping around from company to company every year or two, especially once you get past the early part of your career.

  Rather than stay in one place long enough to learn how things work, there’s a growing tendency to jump ship as soon as the conditions become unfavorable. However, unfavorable circumstances aren’t necessarily a signal that it’s time to leave your job. Do you know how many unfavorable situations I had to endure on my way to the career I have today? If I had quit when things didn’t go my way, I could never have hoped to be where I am now.

  “Haste makes waste” is a time-tested adage for a good reason. You get credit in life when you do things well, not fast. I was once location scouting in Beijing and came across an amazing, newly built skyscraper. There was one problem: it was uninhabitable. The contractors had prided themselves on their speed, so they raised the building so quickly that they overlooked important structural concerns. Not long after the building was finished, the foundation began to sink, the building was condemned, and all that money and time were wasted.

  Pray against your desire for speed and pray for patience, because patience is a key competitive career advantage. When you put a destination into your GPS, you may hit detours or traffic. But do you worry that you’ll never arrive? Of course not. It might take longer than you planned, but you know the destination is locked into your system, and if you stay the course you will get where you want to go. Patience works the same way with your career.

  The truth is, you have no idea at this moment what skills, understanding, or personal qualities you’ll need at the next stage of your career. If you hurdle over steps because you’re obsessed with getting to “next” now, who knows what you’ll be missing that might even prevent you from wearing the crown you aspire to wear.

  Remember the passage in the Bible where David whines, “When am I going to get on the throne?”? No, you don’t, because there isn’t one. Impatience wasn’t even a thought for David. His attitude was, “I want to be of service. How can I help the kingdom every day?” Pressure, position, high profile—all those things, if you aren’t ready for them, will crush you. The process of patient service not only helps those you serve but also puts you in position to walk up the staircase to your success.

  Keep stepping, and bring your A game every day. Let “next” take care of itself.

  A STAIRCASE, NOT AN ELEVATOR

  When I preach, I sometimes say, “Success is not an elevator, it’s a staircase.” That means there are no shortcuts. We all want to reach the top floor of our destiny, and often we look for an “elevator”—something that can help accelerate the process while bypassing some of the work, the hard steps where we learn and grow. Here’s the thing: we want to be at the top, but the altitude feels different up there. If you haven’t built up your endurance by climbing, you won’t last. If you’re complaining about the process and the hard work you have to put in, then you won’t be in shape to compete when you reach the top, because nobody is. Everyone needs training to endure and succeed.

  Taking the stairs gets you in shape to thrive on every floor you stop at on the way to the top. Stop waiting for an elevator and start climbing right now toward your goal. As you get stronger, you’ll start being able to take the steps two at a time. After a while, you’ll be in shape to start running. Everything you’ll learn along the way will build your strength and endurance—your ability to manage where you’re going. Let the elevator go. Start taking the stairs. Now.

  SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLES, SECULAR SUCCESS

  So maybe you’re saying to yourself, “DeVon, this is all great. I understand that service is a goal in itself and that it’s necessary. Awesome. But how do I use it strategically?” Glad you asked. I’ll tell you what I’ve done in every position I’ve ever had: looked for the unfilled need or the neglected opportunity, or as I call it:

  Look for the seam.

  If you’re a football fan, you know that a “seam” in football is a vulnerable spot in the downfield defense where the quarterback can slip in a sharp pass and hit a receiver for a big gain. In a garment, the seam is the spot on a piece of clothing where two pieces of fabric are sewn together. It’s where you can take the garment apart and change it. In your career, a seam is an underserved or underexploited part of your company or industry. It’s an area of tremendous opportunity if you can identify it and come up with a plan to meet whatever needs aren’t being met.

  I’m always looking for the seam, even now. When I’ve achieved success, it was because I looked for the seam, asking, “Where can I create change?” When I was a studio executive, I identified a seam at Sony Pictures and devised a plan to exploit it. I saw that there were millions of moviegoers of faith who weren’t being offered high-quality major motion pictures that reflected their values. So, I presented a plan to the heads of Sony. I told them that I believed that if we made great films with universal storylines, high production values, and major Hollywood stars, we could unearth a new revenue stream for the company while inspiring millions of people at the box office. They were intrigued by my proposal, and because they knew that I was authentically a person of faith and I had experience making movies they trusted, they had confidence that I could pull it off.

  This led to a string of faith-based hits: the romantic comedy Jumping the Broom (made for $6 million and grossed $37 million at the box office), Heaven Is for Real (made for $15 million and grossed $101 million worldwide), and Miracles from Heaven (made for $15 million and grossed $73 million worldwide).

  Looking for the seam means being opportunistic even while you’re serving. Nothing prevents you from being of service and at the same time being a savvy mover and shaker in your industry. In fact, when you’re serving someone higher up the food chain, you’re often in the perfect place to see the seams because you have access to tremendous amounts of information. Believe me, I learned more about the entertainment business driving Benny Medina around than I learned in business classes at USC. And the education I received while serving Will and James at Overbrook Entertainment was in many ways more valuable than my undergraduate degree.

  Serving someone else can be the greatest opportunity of your life if you take the initiative. Get hungry. Get aggressive. Even today, I’m always saying, “Where’s the seam? Where can I be effective? Where can I provoke change or create value? What is no one else doing?” Even while you’re serving, look around. Find the unmet need of your company, your job, or an individual, and meet that need with excellence.

  Away from the Workplace

  If things aren’t going well in your life or you just feel discouraged, I have two suggestions. First, pray. Second, get up and go serve someone in need. Helping others is a fantastic mood lifter, so go serve food at a shelter for battered women, lend a hand with a charity that repairs the homes of the elderly and handicapped, read to children in school, mentor a disadvantaged student . . . there are a thousand ways to be of service, and every one of those ways will give you hope, restore your faith in people, and bring you closer to God.

  HOW TO LEVERAGE THE POWER OF SERVICE

  One of my favorite quotes about service comes from the late Muhammad Ali, who said, “Service to others is the rent you
pay for your room here on earth.” Service is an obligation, not just something you do as a stepping stone. Learn to take joy in serving well and giving your best. People will notice, and that matters. Because the reality is that no matter where you are in your career, you and a lot of other people are trying to move up the ladder at the same time . . . and it’s easy to think of those other people as obstacles in your way. When you focus on your competition, you lose focus on the quality of the service you are providing. If your employer has not experienced the uniqueness of your work and the integrity of your service, you’ll become just one more face in the crowd. When an opportunity arises, you’ll be passed over because there’s nothing distinctive about your work.

  But when you go above and beyond the call and lean into your service, seeing it rightly as part of God’s calling on your life, then you excel. You do things others can’t (or won’t). You stand out. You get noticed as somebody who cares and works hard—a difference maker. Serving to the best of your ability should become your primary goal because when you help other people get what they want, they will help you get what you want. Here are a few other strategies that can help you turn service into opportunity:

  •Be positive. People want to work with people they want to be around. So, don’t serve begrudgingly. The Bible says, “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7, NIV). So does everybody else. When you have a positive disposition, when you are easy to work with, when people like being around you, they’re going to give you more opportunity. It’s important to really look at your personality and the vibe you’re giving off. I have seen so many people get opportunities not because they were the smartest or most qualified person in the room, but because people liked working with them. This one piece of advice could help unlock the power of your entire life! Smile!