Adding Value to Others by John C. Maxwell

How can you turn your focus from yourself and start adding value to others? You can do it by:

1. Putting Others First in Your Thinking
When you meet people, is your first thought about what they'll think of you or how you can make them feel more comfortable? At work, do you try to make your coworkers or employees look good, or are you more concerned about making sure that you receive your share of the credit? When you interact with family members, whose best interests do you have in mind? Your answers show where your heart is. To add value to others, you need to start putting others ahead of yourself in your mind and heart. If you can do it there, you will be able to put them first in your actions.

2. Finding Out What Others Need

How can anyone add value to others if he doesn't know what they care about? Listen to people. Ask them what matters to them. And observe them. If you can discover how people spend their time and money, you'll know what they value. And when you know people's value, you can add value to them.

3. Meeting That Need with Excellence and Generosity

The final step requires concrete action. Once you know what matters to people, do your best to meet their needs with excellence and generosity. Offer yor best with no thought toward what you might receive in return. President Calvin Coolidge believed that "no enterprise can exist for itself alone. It ministers to some great need, it performs some great service, not for itself, but for others; or failing therein it ceases to be profitable and ceases to exist."

Blogger Note: This is an excerpt from John C. Maxwell's book Failing Forward: Turning mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success. I highly recommend reading this book! It has opened my eyes to many things that I can change in the way I view myself, others around me, and the way I view working my business. No matter the phase of life you're in or how you choose to make a living, you can benefit from this book. It will definitely make you want to be a better person, and it encourages you to keep going no matter how many mistakes you make or how many times you fail.