“Try not to become a success, but rather try to become a man of value.” Albert Einstein

In my management development program, “The New Management Reality,” I lead participants through a simple exercise. I ask them to name:

  • The highest paid CEO’s of the past 3 years
  • The winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Literature over the past 3 years
  • The last 3 winners of the The Academy Award for Best Actor 

No one has ever gotten them all right. In fact, they can seldom name even one in each category and, if they do, they get the year wrong! Few of us can remember yesterday’s famous (or infamous!) people past their 15 minutes of fame. What was reported on all the news channels and featured in full-color entertainment magazines quickly becomes yesterday’s news.

The second part of the exercise is to create a different list altogether. I ask them to name:

  • 3 teachers who had a positive impact during your school years
  • 3 people who have been there for you during difficult times
  • 3 people who make you feel valued, loved and appreciated

Ah, this is a much easier task; one we all have a wealth of experience and knowledge to draw from. The reason is very simple: the people who have the most profound and lasting impact in our lives are rarely the ones with the most money, the biggest names or the largest entourage. Instead they are those who saw something of value in us and made it their responsibility to bring it to fruition.

Great leaders have the ability to bring out the best in the people around them. They know that no one succeeds alone, that the journey, task or project is greatly enhanced with collaboration and mutual benefit. Rather than settling for infamy, they count the cost of the quick win or a sullied reputation and consider that cost too high. The greatest leaders are those who both provide value to and derive value from those they serve.