I’m writing this as Christmas approaches at breakneck speed and we are bombarded with suggestions for spending our money faster than it comes into our bank accounts. Most of us want to be generous to our friends and family at this time of year and are very conscious that it is the season of giving. We’re probably also conscious of how much we have compared to most people in the world, and hopefully our generosity extends to helping those we don’t know, too.
There are many ways to be generous, though, and you may not think of generosity as an interpersonal skill, but I’m coming to the conclusion that it is a rather important one.
I’ve been touched by the way people are generous to me in a variety of ways – retweeting my tweets, commenting on my blogs, giving great feedback from my courses and away days – and being there to make me feel part of the business community.
I’ve observed that those who are the most generous with these things are usually positive, happy people – so it doesn’t seem to be doing them any harm at all. They are usually on the look out for how to affirm and add to others’ opinions while being willing to give theirs to support and encourage.
The old ‘knowledge is power’ attitude is becoming outdated, so if you’re still hanging on to information that could make other people’s life easier, it’s time to be generous and give them the benefit of your experience and wisdom.
