Habit 3 – Giving value

Habit 3 requires you to create and give value to others.

As Winston Churchill once aptly stated, “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”

There is nothing more fulfilling than knowing you have made a difference in the lives of other people. It motivates us to live and contribute to society.

Value creation is an activity that produces a benefit for people. It is about creating outputs that are more valuable than inputs.

Goal achievement implies value creation. When you achieve goals that improve the lives of other people, you are creating value for them.

This where Habit 3 of effective execution comes in – Creating and giving value to others.

So, are you creating more value for your customers than the payment you are currently receiving? Or are you creating more value for your employer than the salary you are currently receiving?

People will only pay for the actual value created

When you buy an item from a shop, you exchange money, or the price paid for the item purchased. Value is what a customer gets in exchange for the price paid. Raising or lowering the price of the item does not change the value of that item.

Rather, it changes the customer’s incentive to purchase that item — i.e., the difference between value and price equals the customer’s incentive to purchase. The gap between value and price will determine the consumer demand for your services and products.

Value creation by corporates

The purpose of a business is to create value, sell or trade it to customers, and capture some of that value as profit. Customers are not just customers, but they are people with needs to be met by the business.

Community service organisations create and give value by promoting, providing or carrying out activities, facilities or projects for the benefit or welfare of the community.

For example, if your business is a small retail store, think about the impact of an eCommerce site. By expanding your customer base from local customers to worldwide customers, you are creating bigger, better value for your customers and shareholders.

Value creation by individuals

In the workplace, the price paid by an employer is the employee’s salary. In return, the work that is performed by an employee is the value that is given in exchange for the salary received.

When the value given or created by the employee for the employer is much greater than the salary received, there is an incentive for that employer to continue keeping that employee on its payroll. There is employment and job security for that employee.

Therefore, how have you managed to make money for your employer, reduce costs, or make efficiency savings? Have you increased profits, streamlined processes, or saved money? Have you done more than what is required?

Perhaps you have taken on new responsibilities, started to supervise other people, or getting involved in major projects. Do you do your job better or faster than anyone else, or better than your predecessor?

Maybe you have learned something new and valuable or solved a problem that will benefit your employer in the long run.

Or if you meet someone who tells you he is unemployed and can’t feed his family, do you go to the store and buy him groceries? If so, you have given him and his family something of value with no expectation of return.