Most people think of their legacies as how they will be remembered for their lives in entirety – both personal and professional. But our legacies are the totality of each chapter of our life, the stories we create through our families, our friends, organizations we belong to, projects we work on, teams we join, associations we keep.

Every day, through each action we take, we make the world better or worse. Some actions make a big difference; most are not very consequential. But through each action we are either adding or subtracting. Our impact is cumulative and is created through each of our lives’ stories. It is never too early to start building our legacies. Legacies are additive. The good we do is additive.

Actions that make the world better are additive. They make people happy; they create value and shared prosperity.

Actions that make the world worse are extractive. They make people unhappy; they destroy value and wellbeing.

Be Kind

Every day we can be additive through acts of kindness. Individually these acts are small; cumulatively acts of kindness make a big difference. If we practice acts of kindness every day, they become habits. They become who we are. Acts of kindness can include smiling, being positive, recognizing the good in others, being charitable, demonstrating decency, listening, appreciating our blessings and privilege, and showing humility.

Be Impactful

The people who make the biggest difference improve and influence many lives. The most additive people are productive and their actions are scalable. To be scalable we need a multiplier. We can create our own multiplier, which is what entrepreneurs do through the companies they create. Or we can leverage existing platforms, such as social media.

The characteristic that enables people to be much more impactful than animals is our ability to cooperate. Together, we can build institutions that facilitate being scalable. These institutions include companies, religious and spiritual organizations, and charities.

Impactful people may or may not be out front. Scientists, researchers, analysts, and grassroot organizers are all very impactful and additive even if not often recognized for their achievements. People who create great works of arts and advance the human condition are additive, whether they become famous or not.

Leaders in business, politics, sports, and other areas of social influence often have more opportunities to be additive (or extractive). The key is to strive to improve the lives of all stakeholders in the leader’s sphere of influence. The greatest leaders understand that they can be a force for good and see themselves as servant leaders.

If their wealth is created through additive enterprises, the wealthy can be even more additive if they use their wealth and influence to create more prosperity and improve the lives of others. Wealth is not inherently bad. But the most honorable wealthy people act out of sense of duty; they are not philanthropic so that they will be admired.

Be Courageous

Extractive people are parasites. They extract the value created by additive people. Extractive people in business use their power for personal gain instead of growing the business for the benefit of all stakeholders. In politics, extractive people use misinformation and disinformation to manipulate their constituents instead of advancing society and the institutions of government. A bully extracts happiness created by people who are kind. A thief lives off the wealth stolen from others. Without additive people there would be no value to extract, and extractive people would not exist.

Extractive people exist because not enough additive people are willing to stand up to them and hold them accountable. Standing up to extractive people requires enormous courage, especially by those who are not in a position of power or means. When we stand up to extractive people we put ourselves at great risk. Because extractive people are often ruthless and not honorable, by standing up to them we could lose our jobs, opportunities for advancement, or money. We will not always be appreciated for doing the right thing. Through manipulation, the extractive people we are opposing could damage our reputations.

Because extractive people create so much damage, having the courage to stand up to extractive people is perhaps the most additive thing we can do. And almost certainly the most honorable.

The most meaningful lives are the most additive; the most destructive lives are the most extractive.

Additive people are driven to improve the world. They may acquire wealth and/or power, but wealth and power are not the motivators of their behavior nor their primary goals.

Extractive people are driven by ego and greed. Their goals are usually to acquire wealth and power, especially as compared to their peer group. Extractive people will often go to great lengths to “win,” including threatening, suing, bullying, manipulating, and intimidating. It is difficult, exhausting, and risky to stand up against extractive people. As a result, most people capitulate, and extractive people often achieve their goals. Unfortunately, ‘what goes around comes around’ usually is not the case. The world often is not fair. Extractive people often become wealthy and powerful – and in doing so create great damage.

So why not be extractive? To the additive person, the answer is simple. Extractive people have no honor. Their gains are ill-gotten. At the end of the day, it is a question of values. The most honorable people do not behave additively to save their souls or for recognition. Additive people behave additively because being additive is what they believe in and is how they choose to conduct themselves.

Few companies have the potential to be as additive as recruiting companies. The essence of a recruiting companies is to get people jobs, which enables them to support themselves and their families.

Back in the Middle Ages, the scholar and philosopher, Maimonides, contemplated eight levels of charity. According to Maimonides, the highest form of charity is to help sustain people before they become impoverished by helping them find employment so that it is unnecessary for them to become dependent on others.

Getting someone a good job often creates value beyond sustaining a person. In the United States and many other countries, our status is often tied to our jobs. As a result, our jobs affect our self-image, confidence, and happiness. When a recruiting company gets people good jobs, it transforms their lives.

Putting people into good jobs also helps make the companies where they go to work more profitable. As their profits grow, these companies hire more employees and purchase more products to run their business, helping other businesses grow. The employees of these companies spend their money by purchasing more goods and service, which helps even more businesses grow.

When we work in recruiting, we are in the center of an ecosystem of creating prosperity. We create self-sufficiency along with a higher quality of life. The capacity to transform lives is a superpower, great responsibility, and enormously fulfilling. For someone who wants to be additive, there are few more noble professions.

Companies, like individuals, can be either additive or extractive. Whether a company is a force for good is determined by its values, the nature of its business, its business operations, and its work culture.

The most impactful companies build scalable business strategies, processes, and systems that enable their employees to be more productive than they would be working as individuals. Profits are critical, as they enable the company to grow and extend its reach.

Noble companies strive to be profitable and do good. Work culture is the multiplier. In an additive work culture, employees – individually and as teams – are proud and feel accountable to build a better company and world. Additive work cultures are the most productive and sustainable. Companies with additive work cultures attract better and more loyal employees, customers, and business partners.

Be Additive exists to collectively bring value and prosperity to everyone who interacts with our business: our clients, candidates, employees, and society.