Adding Value to People

Well, let’s start the week off together talking about leadership. (Tuesday is the start to our week since we take Sabbath on Mondays) Regardless of whether or not you see yourself as a leader, I think this post will apply to everyone. But the content is a mark of every great leader.

John Maxwell, a leadership guru in our country, is approaching the later years of his life and is kind of "passing the baton," if you will, to other younger leaders. In his talk at the Catalyst Conference earlier this month, he did this once again.

As always, I felt like John was saying the same thing. Even after I have heard it so many times, though, I still walk away reminded of the significance of adding value to people. In John’s talk, he said the following:

"The older I’ve gotten the more things I’m less certain of. But the few things that have remained certain, the one ones I am more certain of than ever, are:

~God is very trustworthy and I’m very human.
~Intentionally add value to people every day. (Jesus added value to people everywhere He went)
~The greatest sin of a leader is to put yourself first.
~Leaders naturally see more than others see.
~Don’t worry about reaping, just sow. Help people. Add value. (People who add do so intentionally. Why? Because we are naturally selfish. We are by nature subtractors.)

John Maxwell then went on to flesh out 4 ways to add value to people.

1. Value people. You can’t add value if you don’t value people.
2. Grow. Make yourself more valuable. A leader has to be able to give what he has… and you don’t have anything to give if you’re not growing
3. Know and relate to what other people value.
4. Do the things that God values. The things that God values have eternal consequence. See people as Jesus sees them. Lead them as Jesus leads them.



Those are great words to live by today, friends. Those are great words to live your life by. Jesus put it like this:

“I have come not be served, but to serve.” (Mark 10:45) As we become servants of Christ, we learn to lay down our lives for people. In doing so, we add value to people everywhere we go.

My prayer is that as we follow Him this day, we might add value to everyone we meet along the way.

Peace...