Leadership Law #5 - The Law of Addition

Leaders Add Value by Serving Others

Vocabulary for Law #5 Stellar - outstanding   Stellar - outstanding servant - one that serves others aspiration – a strong desire to achieve something high or great etiquette - the conduct or procedure required or prescribed by authority to be observed in social or official life competence - the quality or state of being competent. excel - surpass in accomplishment or achievement compensation - the act or process of making amends for something altruistic - showing unselfish concern for the welfare of others conventional - following the accepted customs and proprieties, especially in a way that lacks originality

What is the Law of Addition? If you desire to add value by serving others, you will become a better leader. Your people will achieve more, develop more loyalty, and have a better time getting things done than you ever thought possible.

The bottom line in leadership isn’t how far we advance ourselves but how far we advance others. What can you do for others to help achieve your goals? Are you secure in your own personal life to not be threatened by serving others?

Costco’s CEO, Jim Sinegal, believes the success of Costco comes from treating his employees well. Costco employees are paid an average of 42% more than the company’s chief rival and they also receive generous health care coverage. Sinegal shows he cares and respects his employees – he has an open-door policy. He is on a first-name basis with everyone. Sinegal’s salary is well below what other CEO’s of similar size company’s make because he is more focused on serving his employees than making an exorbitant salary.

There is one critical question: Will you make things better for the people who follow you? If you can’t answer with an unhesitant yes, then you need to rethink your motive. 90% of all people who add value to others do so intentionally. Human beings are naturally selfish. Being an adder requires you to think about adding value to others.

Adding Value, Changing Lives Truly Value Others Effective leaders go beyond not harming others, they intentionally help others. They must value people and demonstrate they care in such a way that their followers know it.

Adding Value, Changing Lives Make Yourself More Valuable To Others The more intentionally you have been in growing personally, the more you have to offer your followers. Your growth means they grow!

Adding Value, Changing Lives Know and Relate to What Others Value This can only come by listening to your people’s stories, their hopes and dreams. Learn what is valuable to them and then lead based on what you’ve learned.

Build your Leadership Qualities, one at a time. Competence All people admire people who display high competence, whether they are precision craftsmen, world-class athletes, or successful business leaders.

Competence Show Up Every Day Responsible people show up when they’re expected. But highly competent people take it a step farther. They don’t show up in body only. They come ready to play every day—no matter how they feel, what kind of circumstances they face, or how difficult they expect the game to be.

Competence Keep Improving Benjamin Franklin, all highly competent people continually search for ways to keep learning, growing, and improving. They do that by asking why. After all, the person who knows how will always have a job, but the person who knows why will always be the boss.

Competence Follow Through with Excellence Performing at a high level of excellence is always a choice, an act of the will. As leaders, we expect our people to follow through when we hand them the ball. They expect that and a whole lot more from us as their leaders.

Competence Accomplish More than Expected Highly competent people always go the extra mile. For them, good enough is never good enough. In Men in Mid-Life Crisis, Jim Conway writes that some people feel “a weakening the need to be a great man and an increasing feeling of ‘let’s just get through this the best way we can.’ Never mind hitting home runs. Let’s just get through the ball game without getting beaned.” Leaders cannot afford to have that kind of attitude.

Competence Inspire Others Highly competent leaders do more than perform at a high level. They inspire and motivate their people to do the same. While some people rely on relational skills alone to survive, effective leaders combine these skills with high competence to take their organizations to new levels of excellence and influence.