In last week’s blog post we looked at the damaging effects of leadership that is based on always taking and not giving to others on your team. Leaders that tend to take from others inflict this career damage upon themselves – all because of their poor treatment of the people they work with. Unfortunately these leaders often don’t recognize the long-term effects of their behaviour until substantial damage has already been done to their career and interpersonal relationships at work. This week we’ll be looking at the flip-side of this leadership paradox – the leaders that choose to give first.
The Surprise About Giving
Givers, as opposed to the leaders that take, generally don’t strike people as those who will attain what corporate life considers success. They put the needs of others ahead of themselves, sometimes helping colleagues with their tasks instead of focusing on their own. Giving leaders are more prone to add value to their people than worry about what they receive personally.
By traditional standards, givers are viewed as inefficient or slow achievers. This unfavourable impression is a result of not spending enough time on their personal tasks. Thus their recognition for advancement is often negatively affected.
Giving leaders care about helping people become their best by teaching, helping, or mentoring. They recognize that in a group of diverse talents, everyone needs others to reach the peak of effectiveness. To these leaders, success comes to teams, not so much to individuals. If this means a tarnished personal reputation, then so be it. In the competitive business world, this mentality is often considered strange, even crazy.
However, as with the taker, paradigms about givers can be inaccurate. With time, the workings within the giver’s world can reveal surprising benefits.
The Benefits of Giving Leaders
Givers trust people and tend to give them the benefit of the doubt. They are willing to risk themselves by betting on those around them. Givers understand there is a difference between taking and receiving. Adam Grant, in his book, Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success (2013) defines, receiving is a willingness to accept help, with the desire to reciprocate. Givers credit others for their work.
Unlike taking, giving is appreciated. Givers focus on the success of others, and grow to earn the respect and trust of those around them. They are noticed as someone good to work with. People welcome givers because they add overall value to everyone. This raises the success of the team as a whole.
Givers draw people to them, and the giving becomes contagious. There are numerous benefits for those following a giver. They have a huge learning advantage. Their abilities are strengthened. The desire to give to others is enhanced. Mutual giving breeds interdependence, which breeds stronger networks and beneficial contacts. The increase in skills expands exponentially.
Employee engagement expands as well, and people are more motivated about their jobs. This increases productivity and efficiency. Eventually, the giving leader is recognized as a major contributor, as people throughout the organization realize and talk about it.
The biggest surprise is that giving leaders can be the most successful leaders of all, despite their apparent shortcomings. As author Grant suggests: organizations need more givers and fewer takers. The paradox of leadership giving and taking is easier to grasp when we look below the surface, and see the effects of time: give away what you have to end up with more―take what you want and end up with less.
I hope this week’s post has given you some insight into the power and importance of being a generous and giving leader. In next week’s blog post we will be taking a look at ways in which we can strength the image of giving leaders, and begin to change people’s perception of them. As always, I would love to hear from you. I can be reached here or on LinkedIn.
