Combat Search and Rescue, and the resources our nation's armed forces dedicate to them, is a perfect example of the Golden Rule. We expend literally billions of dollars on the off chance that one of our servicemen ends up behind enemy lines and needs a rescue. In the grand scheme of warfare, that situation is common but represents a very small portion of the overall fight. And yet we vow to never leave someone behind. That feeling is unquantifiable gold.

I trained as a Combat Search and Rescue Mission Commander while flying the A-10, the hardest role I ever fulfilled. Never did it in actual combat, but it was one I would gladly have jumped at were the need ever to arise while I was deployed. No way I would sit by idly while one of our own was left unprotected and in danger. That is the way we all felt, and the way a large portion of our armed forces feel. Time and again, men and women gave their lives to locate, protect and recover another. Even when we were just recovering their remains. It matters that much.

There is something extraordinary about US forces and their willingness to go the extra mile, to put themselves at risk, to attack when the odds of success are not mathematically in their favor. Part of it is training. Part of it is resourcing and a confidence in our abilities. But a large part of it has nothing to do with math, nothing to do with quantifiable science. It has everything to do with the mindset that every life is worth the sacrifice. We value each other more than just because of statistical force analytics. We value each other with the assumption that we are also valued and worth the risk.

For good reason, in business and many aspects of our lives, we attempt to quantify everything, put a number on it so we can conduct a value comparison between competing interests for our resources. We ask what the ROI is, when we'll see a return on our initial investment. And then comes the Golden Rule, which breaks all of these paradigms. And yet it is more valuable than any measure of success.

"Do unto others as you would have other do to you" is an old English way of saying that we should treat each other in ways that we ourselves appreciate. If we wouldn't want others to talk to us in a certain way, we don't talk to them that way. If we want people to be honest with us, we are honest with them. If we like an honest effort on our priorities, we in turn give an honest effort to the priorities of others.

You want your team to go to great lengths to do your bidding? Do the same for them. Ignore the numbers. Ignore their 'value' on the balance sheet. Just give to them the same level of commitment that you want from them. Live the Golden Rule.