I don’t know how many times I’ve thought, “My life may have been much different if I had read this book a long time ago.” It happened again when I started reading The Influential Leader, by John Edmund Haggai.

Here’s an excerpt from the author’s preface:
I have circled the world more than a hundred times. For 60 years I have been observing leaders … heads of states and heads of corporations … to study top leaders and determine what makes them great … This book … will help ignite the kind of thinking and the kind of action that characterizes the world’s great leaders.

And here’s an inspiring excerpt from “Decide to Invest Fearlessly” in chapter seven:
In 1981, I returned to the lovely island of Bali in Indonesia. Since rooms were tight, I did not stay at my usual stopping place, the Bali Intercontinental, but instead secured accommodations at the Bali Hyatt.

When I arrived and started up the steps to the entrance, the head bellman said, “Welcome to the Bali Hyatt, Dr. Haggai. We’ve reserved the Presidential Suite for you.”

I protested that I had reserved a minimum rate single room.

“The general manager insists,” he said. “He wants you to charge everything to the room — your laundry, dry cleaning, meals, telephone — everything. You are his guest.”

At the registration desk an assistant swept me through. “Oh, no, that’s already taken care of,” he said. “Let me escort you to your suite.”

It was one of the most elegant accommodations I had seen in all of my world travels. Within minutes, the general manager, Michael Ou, arrived to greet me. Stunned, I tried to express my thanks.

“You don’t remember me, do you?” he said.

I had to confess I didn’t.

“In the 1960s when you stayed at the Singapore Intercontinental, I was a bellman, hustling bags. Every time you came, you treated me just as grandly as you treated your friend, the general manager, George Milne. I have harbored a secret dream for all these years that someday I would run my own hotel and be able to show you gratitude for the encouragement and inspiration you gave me.”

The Bible tells us, “Whatever a mans sows, that he will also reap.” It’s just a fact. What do you want? Invest the same thing, and you will receive it back in quantity. Do you want friends? Invest friendship. Do you want love? Invest love. Do you want respect? Invest by respecting others.

You receive back what you invest. How much you receive back depends on how much you invest. If you invest little, you will receive little in return; but if you invest a lot, you will receive a lot.

An influential leader invests habitually. He does not do this because he expects a reward, but because he knows that rewards flow from this kind of behavior. When Michael Ou was a bellhop at the Intercontinental, I had no idea I would ever meet him again. Still less did I calculate that he might do me a handsome favor 20 years down the road. I just knew that politeness made life more enjoyable for everyone, and that this was a win-win outcome at almost no cost to me.

The point is, you don’t need to fear investment of any kind. Investment represents a visionary decision to give freely, as often as you can, within the bounds of sound discipline and good sense. Remember also, that you set the tone as a leader. If your leadership is characterized by love, humility, and self-discipline, you will reap loyalty and devotion from the people you lead. If they recognize that you invest your very life for their good, they will more readily follow your leadership and example.

Adapted from: The Influential Leader. Copyright © 2009 by John Edmund Haggai. Published by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR. Used by permission.

John Edmund Haggai is an internationally acclaimed author and lecturer and the founder and president of the Haggai Institute for Advanced Leadership Training. His practical formulas for winning over worry, pain, loneliness, and impossible situations have helped many thousands of leaders. And his institute has trained more than 50,000 people in over 175 countries.