John Moore at Brand Autopsy recently made an interesting post about the principle of “making others look good” in business. Moore uses a great excerpt from The Big Moo which compares the careers and personas of Chevy Chase and Bill Murray.

I think the topic is a very important one to discuss and internalize. Many consultants and business coaches sing the praises of “giving” in business, though few seem to stress the importance of selflessness.

Your intentions are critical to your true success, health, and happiness. If you give, and do so generously, be sure that you have a passion for your actions that runs deeper than merely baiting that pat on the back. Giving simply because you know it will make your business, career, or relationships succeed is an incredibly hollow gesture. Eventually your intentions will come to light and everything will come crumbling down. If you give selflessly, though, you have nothing to lose as you give without expecting anything in return.

Many people, including myself, honestly think they are pretty selfless and that they give freely and generously. I challenge you, though, to really examine your intentions. What if all of the “positives” that have resulted from your generosity were suddenly taken away? What if nobody noticed your generosity anymore. What if nobody said, “Thank you,” or even batted an eye at your actions? What if you NEVER received anything for your generosity? Would you still give? Would you still be so generous? If you can honestly answer a firm (and I mean FIRM) “Yes”, then you are truly the embodiment of selflessness. If not, and I think most of us fit in the “if not” category, then you have a bit of work to do…and I’ll be right there with you.

TAGS: Business | Generosity | Business | Selfless |

This entry was posted on Monday, August 22nd, 2005 at 9:31 pm and is filed under Business Ethics, Business Strategy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.