Giving is treasure

I had a discussion with a friend the other day, regarding VCs and how they traditionally work with entrepreneurs and start-ups. What we were talking about reminded me of a story I had read in Adam Grant''s exquisite book "Give and Take". There was a VC with a 89% success rate who owned his success to a "giving" mentality. To him, his job was about serving, supporting, encouraging, motivating, the start-ups he chose to Fund. He responded to all e-mails, was kind and polite to people who seeked his help and that was what made him successful. In his best seller, Dr. Grant proves the value of giving against taking or "matching" as he puts it. Which only confirms William''s Arruda theory of Career Karma that we have discussed in a past article.

This mentality of "giving without expecting a return" has been frowned upon for many years in this country by business leaders and experienced executives. It is now proven that if someone believes in giving, if s/he holds the core values of giving (support, responsibility, Justice, empathy) close to his heart and combines this mentality with maturity and faith in his/her abilities and strengths then success is guaranteed in the long run.

Whereas giving, creates a notion of self sacrifice with connotations of Great Benefactors of mankind, it can actually be something much more down to earth and easy to do: we can give attention to the people we work with, we can look for value in other people''s work, we can give time to help, we can listen, we can introduce people, we can come up with a quick solution. Food for thought with thanks to Adam Grant and my friend... 

Until next week do take good care of your career.