If, as many philosophers believe, generosity is the key ingredient to becoming your best self, then how a leader gives to others exerts a powerful influence on how they develop and grow.
There are a myriad of ways to give to others: time, money, creativity, connection, ideas, and opportunities. But for leaders, it is the generosity of sharing their talents and skills with others that creates a chain reaction of expanding and maximizing potential both for themselves and for those on the receiving end.
When leaders apply and share their talents and skills outside of the workplace, their generosity makes others better. It is this idea, making others better, that is the cornerstone of what leadership is all about.
Busy leaders often don’t find the time to share their talent and skills with anyone other than family, friends, and colleagues. This doesn’t make them bad people or less generous. But when they extend themselves and become generous with their knowledge and skills, they grow as people.
Finding new venues and opportunities to apply their skills to the betterment of others is how leaders give back. For some leaders, this is about serving as a mentor to those outside the workplace. Others get involved with projects, applying their skills in powerful ways to help others build or create. Involvement, not money or advice, reflects the generosity they offer and feel.
Of course, the best leaders don’t stop with themselves. They promote the idea of sharing talents and skills with others, often encouraging colleagues to do so and giving them the time away from work to get involved.
When we think of charity and being charitable, we often think of people and organizations that give time and money to great causes. Good leaders expand this idea to include bringing their talents and skills, and not just their financial wealth, to important causes large and small. Leaders become rich when they give of themselves. How wealthy are you?
