As those of you know who have been to India, rickshaws are everywhere— ever ready to take anyone from a single passenger to a (shockingly large) group of people from place to place.

In Mysore, India, my friends and I feel lucky to have known Mahesh since he was a boy. Now a grown man, Mahesh is a rickshaw driver whose business card reads, “Mahesh for Everything. Flower Selling, Rickshaw Driving…”
(Please note the “…”)

Because while Mahesh does sell flowers outside our yoga school and drive a rickshaw, he is also the person students call when they have a fever and they need eight coconuts brought to their house; or when they need to find the best butter dosa in Mysore; or when they (gasp) are looking for a beer and all the shops have closed for a holiday.

No request appears to be too unusual—and every effort is made to ensure customer satisfaction.

Interestingly enough, this can-do mindset is the same one required to be hired at the Four Seasons.

Isadore Sharp, Founder and Chairman of the Four Seasons hotels and resorts, believes that while competence can be taught, attitude can’t. He has stated that this hiring mandate is among the reasons The Four Seasons has become the world’s leading luxury hotel chain.

How can this apply to you? I think it applies anytime you (or I!) tell ourselves that something is ‘not in our job description’. More insidiously, it manifests anytime we leave a meeting without having taken ownership of any piece of the action simply because no one asked us to do so.

But the same way Mahesh’s can-do attitude ensures his number is programmed into our phones—and his business thrives accordingly– your can-do attitude can ensure you are the first call people make when something needs doing now—and you can thrive accordingly.