The sustainability of your leadership is primarily built on your continual ability to add value to people. Think about it, if you are not adding value to the lives of others, not improving their current circumstances, not helping them get to brighter tomorrows, not helping make their dreams come true, why should they follow you? If you cannot do those things, they will simply follow someone else who will.
One of my go-to resources for leadership growth is the CoachTheCoaches twitter feed. I cannot recommend this site enough. This feed is a “resource for coaches to help them add value to their student-athletes, while maximizing the strengths and minimizing the weaknesses of their teams.” Recently, they provided the following tweet which caught my attention.
Be the type of leader that people want to work with. Be a true servant leader. Want more advice for young leaders? Check this out: https://t.co/TCF0DHKfuc via @AlanSteinJr pic.twitter.com/teMb3WuAap
— CoachTheCoaches (@WinningCoaches) August 29, 2018
As I read the quote above and broke down its contents, I gleaned 11 Lessons On How Leaders Can Best Add Value To Others:
- Leaders Can Best Add Value To Others By Committing To Adding Value – “Commit”. Adding value to others is a choice. Leaders must make the conscious commitment to add value to those they come in contact with.
- Leaders Will Either Add Value To People Or Extract Value From People – “adding value”. Leadership is not neutral. You cannot straddle the fence on adding value. You will either make people better or worse.
- The Responsibility Of Leadership Is To Add Value To EVERY Person You Meet – “to everyone”. Adding value is non-discriminatory. You cannot choose who you add value to. It is the stewardship of opportunity.
- The Responsibility Of Leadership Is To Also Add Value To EACH Organization You Are In – “and everything”. Every room a leader walks in should get better because they are there.
- Leaders Can Best Add Value To Others By Connecting With Them – “you come in contact with.” Many people think “love” is the most important word in the English language. It is actually “relationships” because relationships are the tracks love runs on. Adding value is a relational decision.
- The Most Successful Leaders’ Primary Focus Is On Adding Value To Others – “Focus”. Adding value to people must be intentional.
- Adding Value To Others Makes Their Lives Better – “on making everyone around you better”. A leader’s success is found in the success of others.
- Leaders Can Best Add Value To Others By Putting Their Interests Above All Else – “by putting their interests”. This is an act of generosity. It is a sign of kindness and consideration.
- Leaders Can Best Add Value To Others By Knowing Their Needs – “their needs”. Leaders must know what their people laugh about and cry about.
- Leaders Can Best Add Value To Others By Knowing What Their Goals Are – “and their goals”. Leaders must also know what their people dream about. As Zig Ziglar famously said, “If you help people get what they want, they will help you get what you want.”
- The First Responsibility Of Leadership Is To Add Value To Others – “first.” Adding value is why leadership exists.
I have a question for every leader reading this post, what is one thing you can do to better add value to people?
My latest eBook is available for download. The Top 65 Leadership Quotes Of 2022 Part 1 is a resource every leader should have. Great quotes bring clarity and put into words who we intuitively feel as leaders. They give us wisdom and insights which advance the mission and vision of our organizations. This eBook includes thoughts and insights from leaders like Warren Buffett, Nick Saban, James Clear, Dawn Staley, Jurgen Klopp, Jerry Seinfeld, and even Ted Lasso. This resource will take you about 10 minutes to read but a lifetime to apply. You will want to stop and ponder the implications of each quote. Click HERE or on the image provided for immediate download!