Want to have an immediate impact on a few people today? Anyone can give when they’re prompted or a need is staring them in the face. What about giving without being prompted or without a need being known?
What about doing this at work? Here’s a three step beginner’s guide:
- Think of 2-3 people in your sphere of influence, whether colleagues, vendors or customers.
- Take a moment to reflect on their unique interests, needs or impact on your life.
- Identify one thing you can do or say today to give to them, whether that means supporting their interests, meeting their needs or affirming their impact on your life.
Regular, unprompted giving might happen in a healthy home or church, but it’s too rarely seen in the workplace. While prompted giving is great, unprompted giving is even better because you are the sole catalyst. This makes the thought more meaningful and the impact more lasting.
Go have some fun and give today.
2 Comments
Giving is so underrated in the workplace. I think the trick is—since business is, by definition, a transactional environment—to truly give gifts without expecting anything in return. More importantly, helping others believe that you’re honestly not trying to get anything in return.
Great points. It may take time for others to realize you’re sincere about giving without expecting anything in return, but it’s a worthwhile pursuit that can help a transactional environment become a more relational environment.Seth Godin had a nice post on this a while back http://sethgodin.typepad.com/s…