Generosity is key to success. Here are some acts of kindness—given with no expectation of return—that will transform your personal and professional life.

By: Maria Williams

When Generosity Wins—written by business leader Monte Wood and health and human rights strategist Dr. Nicole F. Roberts—first hit shelves last November, one of its biggest takeaways was that altruism breeds success.

The book—which sits on USA Today’s Top 100 bestseller list—highlights 12 high-achieving leaders, from Leigh Steinberg to Will Little, who have experienced the power of generosity in both their personal and professional lives. Generosity—which the co-authors define as any act of kindness that is given with no expectation of return or reciprocity from the recipient—can come in many forms. As the book takes readers into the thoughts of these industry leaders, we learn the many ways generosity can manifest.

Whether you’re just starting out in your career or you’ve been grinding it out for years on end, here are five simple ways you can turn generosity into your superpower.

Show Humility

“Generosity involves humility, mentoring, not stepping on someone else to get ahead,” says Jack Pannell—a Social Impact Entrepreneur and Education Founder—in his chapter of Generosity Wins. “It’s being nice to someone even if it’s Monday and you’re in a bad mood, or smiling and showing a new hire around the office when you have a pile of work on your desk.”

Being kind, even in the difficult moments that Pannell describes, is a clear act of humility. 

When we let our mood dictate how we greet someone, or we ignore their needs because we’re busy with “more important” work, we communicate that our needs supersede theirs. Is that someone with whom you want to spend your time? Not really.

If we get caught up in how stressful our lives are and how many responsibilities we have to deal with, we miss opportunities for collaboration with others. Humility goes a long way!

Collaborate

“A culture of generosity, where both employees and customers feel sincerely valued, promotes trust, and business thrives on trust. I can’t stress this enough.”

This bit of wisdom comes from Andre Durand—the Founder & CEO of Ping Identity. As a software industry leader focused on customer features, Durand’s world centers around collaboration, another great example of generosity put into action.

When we meet him in the pages of the book, Durand spends some time speaking about trust as an expression of generosity. Trust lies at the heart of collaboration—to work with others, we have to believe in their ability, even when we’re investing resources, time, and our own effort into the project. To be collaborative, we must be generous.

That trust goes a long way—and in the end, you’ll have a team of people excited to tackle goals together.

“It doesn’t take much encouragement to get most people into a zone where helping is natural. It means putting the team ahead of your own contribution, collaboration over competitiveness.” 

Encourage Others

Dr. Beth McQuiston, now an esteemed Medical Director, experienced the generosity of encouragement firsthand.

“I had friends who were doctors,” she recalls in the book, “and I started learning from them and what they did. I read books like Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine for fun at home, and one day Jordi [McQuinston’s first mentor] said to me, ‘You know, you can do this in real life if you want to.’”

Along with encouragement from her twin sister, this was the push McQuiston needed to go to med school, putting her on the path she’s on today. The Medical Director, who has become an important advocate for women in STEM, has chosen to give back by encouraging the next generation of scientists and doctors.

Encouragement is a net positive in our world. How many leaders would have never stepped up to create positive change if no one had ever shown them what their potential was? This is a simple act of generosity, one that will bring you the joy of mentorship.

Mentorship

Mentorship is an act of generosity embodied throughout Generosity Wins. While the stories and wisdom shared by the 12 featured leaders all come from their real experiences, the book is told from the perspective of Emily, a young executive interviewing them to learn more about generosity and success. As Emily is mentored, so are we!

Mentorship, in many ways, is humility, collaboration, and encouragement rolled into one. It combines the gifts of time, wisdom, and confidence. 

“By mentoring young people early in their careers and lending them a helping hand,” explains legendary sports agent Leigh Steinberg, “they may remember that someone helped them, and thus, they will help the next person. You set up a system in which each person has individual responsibility to make our world a nicer world.”

When you look at what you want to accomplish in life, isn’t a nicer world a great thing to aspire towards? Generously mentoring others will get you there.

Self-Generosity

It should go without saying that to be kind to others; we must first be kind to ourselves. But so often, we’re kinder to others than we are to ourselves. Along with all of the ways that Generosity Wins teaches us to project generosity outwards, Wood and Dr. Roberts are also adamant that we must direct some of that altruism toward our well-being.

So what does this look like? Buying ourselves a new pair of shoes? Taking the afternoon off and relaxing on the couch with a bag of potato chips? Not quite.

“Self-generosity is any action one takes that moves them closer to becoming the person they aspire to be,” Dr. Roberts says. “Overindulgence is not self-generosity.”

Self-generosity starts with the way that we talk (and think) about ourselves. It’s about defining what we want to achieve in life.

“When you are effectively generous with yourself,” Wood adds, “you are more capable of being generous with others.”

So if you want to become a better version of yourself, and need some mentorship to help you get there, why not gift yourself a copy of Generosity Wins?

Published by: Martin De Juan