Sam Lee Mohan, Founder & CEO at GBC, 4 min read
How generous should you be as a leader?
Leadership is not a position but a privilege and, being a good leader is not an easy task. A leader is saddled with the enormous task of serving those being led by him/her – who sometimes are leaders themselves. In a business/work environment, a leader is directly responsible for whatever achievement they get, and he/she is also responsible for the setbacks too. It is therefore important for a leader to make his/her people as proactive and productive as possible. Now, the question is how is a leader to achieve this? There are many ways leaders can get the best out of their people, and one of such ways is through generosity.
I have had the opportunity of serving in several leadership positions, and I have observed many things while working with those under my leadership. Have you ever wondered what the significant difference is between a well-loved leader and a loathed leader? Well, the answer is simple and by no means a surprise: it’s generosity!
One of the most misinterpreted words in business environments is generosity. A lot of people think a leader being generous means he/she is giving out money or other material resources. However, in the course of serving in several leadership positions, I have come to realize that most people do not want, even though it would be nice, the material resources of their leaders, nonetheless, they want them to be generous. A lot of us as leaders say we care about our people, and yet we cannot even practice the simple act of generosity towards them; many a leaders do not even understand generosity in this context.
Being generous with your people could include simple acts like granting them unrestricted access to your office, sharing important tips and ideas with them, being concerned about their personal lives and development, etc. generosity with staff involves a lot of things, and it is very significant to the growth of any business. All because of a little generosity, we can move our company forward and make our people feel like integral parts of the company – no matter how small it is. The way you want your employees to feel about their work will affect the way they do their work. This makes it imperative for leaders to open up their work space and make it “people friendly” through their generosity.
I believe in a healthy work environment; I believe in a place where workers have each other’s back. A lot of leaders today try to create a competitive work environment where their employees are made to gain the boss’ attention and favor through outdoing other colleagues. I believe such tactics are bad for business especially ones that are fighting for survival in the market. When staff are made to compete against each other, they see themselves as competitors instead of seeing each other as members of the same team pulling in the same direction. There was a time as a leader when I was also using the tactic of competition with my staff, eventually I saw that it was not working and that it was time to change tactics.
Generosity takes nothing from a leader, and it offers a lot for him/her. It will quash your selfishness, and in turn, you will get more than you ever expected.
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