Adding Value to Others in Your Leadership Role

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN

My students often ask me how successful leaders have advanced in their careers. The paths to success are varied but there is one consistent theme that I have seen in leaders that I observe – they always look for ways that they can add value to others in their role. Leadership guru, John Maxwell has observed that the bottom line in leadership isn’t how far we advance ourselves but how far we advance others. Great leaders are value adders, not takers. They have learned that being incredibly generous can have an enormous payback because ultimately leadership is about influence.

How Leaders Add Value

Leaders who add value to others look for opportunities to develop the talents of others through key opportunities and additional responsibility. They pick up the phone and expand the network of others by making introductions. If they have a creative idea that would be of benefit to someone else, they share it and provide critical new insights. They understand that results matter and look for ways to ensure that good outcomes are achieved whether or not it ultimately benefits them. Leaders who add value are early adopters of change because they understand the importance of role modeling, innovation and a willingness to be a risk taker.

Leaders who add value to others will accept responsibility if something is not working and look for ways to move forward. They don’t blame others and they show up even when they may not want to. Leadership has been compared to gardening – if you nurture others and cultivate the seeds, you see people blossom and grow. To add value, you need to understand that every interaction with another person creates an experience that leaves a memory of you and your work. Leaders who add value use these opportunities to develop others and amplify good work.

Why Some Leaders Don’t Add Value to Others

To add value, you need to have an abundance and not a scarcity mindset. Too many leaders believe that if they share what they know and add value to others, they will lose power. Nothing could be further from the truth but this is a lesson that some leaders never learn. In every interaction, we have an opportunity to either add value to others or subtract. We can make the lives of our followers either better or worse. At some point, leaders who subtract find themselves alone.

Be intentional in adding value to others in your leadership. Look for those opportunities to help even when there is nothing in it for you. This is one of Maxwell’s 21 irrefutable laws of leadership – the law of addition. Do this and you will become the leader that everyone wants to work with.

Read to Lead

Maxwell, J. (2007). The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.