The book The Wounded Storyteller: Body, Illness and Ethics by Arthur W. Frank is about the deep relationship between bodies and narratives. It’s a book about healing on the surface but so much more upon closer inspection. After taking a peak, what did I find: a lesson in ethics that is pertinent to the way I pledge to do my business.

Frank talks about a service as a matter “not of being nice but of recognizing that one’s own lack can only be met by the others’ abundance of need.” He then goes on to describe empathy as something not that one  “has for” another but “is with.”

When I think about the nonprofit sector, which has been at the center of my professional life, I find too many examples of people and organizations that have empathy for their clients (what I could call sympathy) rather than (true) empathy with them. They have lost the true meaning of “service.” They walk away feeling superior because of a perceived asymmetrical relationship based on the asymmetry of their work.

As someone going into the service business, I pledge never to forget that the people who come to me for guidance, or an “experience” are not there only to learn but to teach. My hope is that I and those who work with me will never forget this and empathize with retreat-goers and their search for meaning in their life – and in the process gain insights into our own lives.

My business will be built on this definition of service. That will be coupled with a commitment to “give back” but not in the old-school charity way of doing something for someone less fortunate but in my way: reaching across the table to others who might not be able to afford a retreat to invite them into a space wired for deep inner inquiry. Today, I discovered that line between for-profit and social enterprise has become a bit blurry for me – and it’s just the way I like it. What a fine way for me as a “sector switcher” to bridge my old social world to my new business world.