The very heart of leadership is about serving other people, it’s all about adding value and positively influencing people. That is why leadership can never be about you, it is always about others. There are many excellent leadership books out there, many focus on your personal leadership, so I am; hence my own statement Live Better – Lead Better. But if it only stays there and doesn’t add value to the people around us, well that is great for you, but it doesn’t add anything to your leadership.
The instructions we get on the aeroplane is simple, put your mask on first then help others. Well if we help ourselves but then ignore to help others with our new knowledge, then it doesn’t have any effect.
When you put on the glasses that leadership is all about others, you can begin to add value in all areas of your life, in your work, in your marriage and family life and into other relationships. Research shows clearly that the best leaders and co-workers are happily married. Companies that have invested time and money into their employers’ relationships, both at work and outside have seen increased in ROI. One study found that in the year following divorce, employees lost an average of over 168 hours of work time, equivalent to being entirely absent four weeks in one calendar year (Mueller, 2005).
Marriage is the same, it’s not about you. If you are married or are in a long term committed relationship, I guess you didn’t promise to “be loved or be taken care of”, no you promised to love your spouse to add value, to take care, in good times and bad times.
When you understand that all leadership, within a company, family situation, among friends, basically all situations is about adding value to someone else, then the magic starts to happen!
It all happens in the small things.
To add value to someone else is sometimes more straightforward than you think, I believe that it all begins in the small things. One excellent example of this is the Ritz-Carlton 5/10 rule for employees. Simply explained, the 10 and 5 Rule suggests that anytime a guest is within ten feet of a staff member, the staff member should make eye contact and warmly smile to acknowledge the oncoming guests. When a staff member is approximately five feet from a guest, a sincere greeting or friendly gesture of acknowledgement should accompany the eye contact and smile.
How can you add value to today? Maybe stop at a co-workers desk and give some encouraging words or bring a cup of tea or coffee. Take your son or daughter to their favourite place, take your spouse out for dinner, or just as simple as the 5/10 rule start to smile to people around you and you will notice a difference in the atmosphere.
Let’s together make 2020 and this coming decade a decade when we focus on adding value to people around us, our spouses, families, friends, co-workers and our clients.
Live Better – Leader Better
through Purpose, Passion & Performance.
