Service is often conceptualized as a means to an end. I think this is especially true with customer service, in the sense that serving customers is a part of getting and retaining their business. Service "for its own sake" is associated more with altruism and charitable works, and may not have any definite objectives.
Between the two concepts, however, could be a way of thinking about service as a behavior intended to change something specific, but without the idea of recompense for the one serving.
For example, managers could envision their service as a way of opening possibilities and new ways of thinking for the team members. A president could use his term in office to provide new services to the country. A waiter could take each new guest as an opportunity to transmit peace and well-being through his service. It seems to me that any position involving service implies a huge opportunity to change things.
Sometimes the spirit of this kind of service alone is enough to promote change. When people feel that another is giving of him or her self without any idea of receiving, there is a subtle shift, a sense of potential, a possibility for inspiration.
Between the two concepts, however, could be a way of thinking about service as a behavior intended to change something specific, but without the idea of recompense for the one serving.
For example, managers could envision their service as a way of opening possibilities and new ways of thinking for the team members. A president could use his term in office to provide new services to the country. A waiter could take each new guest as an opportunity to transmit peace and well-being through his service. It seems to me that any position involving service implies a huge opportunity to change things.
Sometimes the spirit of this kind of service alone is enough to promote change. When people feel that another is giving of him or her self without any idea of receiving, there is a subtle shift, a sense of potential, a possibility for inspiration.
