Putting Others First

Putting Others First is the next quality that Brady and Woodward include in the Trilateral Leadership Ledger's factor of Relationships.

The Collins Online Dictionary defines putting others first as: If you put someone or something first, you treat or consider them as more important than anything else.

"...you treat them ... as more important than anything else." is the epitome of the effective leader having others as his/her priority.  A plethora of leaders and organizations advocate 'people first' but sadly, when it comes right down to it, it is only rhetoric.  The actions do not match the words.

The effective leader puts action behind the sentiment and truly puts others first. There is an alignment between what they are saying and what they actually do.  The old adage "actions speck louder than words" definitely applies here!  People will watch to see if you truly mean what you say.  If you don't, then you have lost all credibility and trust and you have a very long road ahead of you.  If, however, your actions do match your words, you are on your way to building very strong relationships that will last and will give you the ability to lead, achieve goals, and really support the team and its members.

Effective leaders know that putting others first is the right thing to do and when they do, the results will be staggering! 

Chris Brady & Orrin Woodward: "Launching a Leadership Revolution."  Business Plus. New York. p.97