By : James G. Bohn, Ph.D.

But we all may need to take a step back and look at the value we bring to our organizations. From my vantage point, I see six ways leaders should value their value.

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Your experience - Whether you've been a leader for six months or thirty years, your experience has value. Whatever you've been through in life has created a framework for seeing the world. You're alert to dangerous situations because you've 'been there; done that'. You've also experienced situations outside the workplace - volunteering, in sports teams, in educational settings, and in non-profit organizations. That means you've worked with people ... and working with people is the heart of leadership.

Your counsel - When other managers come to you asking for advice or input or insight, your counsel has value. In the very act of counseling others you are limiting some of their distractions and helping them focus on their goals. Through the questions you ask, through your body language and through your warnings and encouragement, your counsel helps others achieve things with less heartache and headache.

Your judgment - Judgment (the older sister of opinion) is built on your experience, your education, your track record, your failures and your exceptional achievements. Judgment is a thing of beauty. When you state something in very clear terms such as "In my judgment, this isn't going to work because ..." you've opened a door to dialogue by putting a stake in the ground - a point to argue from. Even if people continue to go in a different direction after you've made your point, know that you helped them assess and assize a situation, simply by communicating the strong convictions that arise from judgment.

Your influence - Influence is a strange, ghostlike power that some leaders bring into a room sheerly by their presence. For some of you, influence is so powerful people can sense it in your speech. The legends of your accomplishments precedes you and people know who you are, even though you've never met them. Influence comes from persona, charm, conviction, experience, brilliant communications, careful negotiation, and a willingness to hear other points of view. And sometimes, your greatest influence is those awful projects no one else took on for fear of failure - - - but you did, and you achieved the impossible.

The power of your network - The people you can contact within your organization are worth thousands, even millions of dollars. Think of it this way. You've developed relationships with people through time. You know what they can do. You know their strengths, weaknesses, and THEIR networks. You know when to engage them, and when to only ask for advice. That's valuable stuff readers. I recently spoke with a person who just started at a company. He knows the uphill battle to gain a powerful network, but he also knows the value. And so he will continue to work at increasing the power of his network.

Your ability to get things done - Beyond the five values listed above (and largely because of them) you have value in your ability to get stuff done. After all the PowerPoint slides and presentations are long forgotten, your reputation to get things done is your supreme value.

Your value is powerful. Build it. Take pride in it. Enjoy it. Don't rest on it. Grow it.

P.S - Notice I did not say self-absorption or self-aggrandizement.

What do you think? Is this something you can benefit from or do you have a few tricks up your sleeve that are just as powerful? Make your voice heard by leaving a comment below. Don’t forget to hit the share button if you know others who will find this post useful.

I.C. Collins ~ Author, Educator, Trainer and President: Has One Simple Goal: Improve a Million Automotive Sales Consultants Lives with our ebook "How to Succeed in the Automotive Sales Industry"

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