In a recent NY Times article, Susan Credle, Chief Creative Officer of the advertising agency, Leo Burnett USA, shared an interesting connection between confidence and generosity. It was Susan’s belief that the more confident a leader is, the more generous they tend to be. Think about that for a minute. Can you reflect on those leaders in your work environments who have been the most generous to you in giving of their time and recognizing our value? Without exception, I would bet that each of those individuals was confident and wanted to help others on their team grow and be successful. When leaders have good self-esteem and believe in their worth, they are more apt to give others credit and recognition. So how can leadership create a culture of generosity? Why is being generous the best and only way to lead?

To develop a team culture of generosity, leaders might consider the following:

• Create “Shout-Outs”: All organizations should have a forum to recognize outstanding accomplishments. Whether a leader uses an internal social media site, a newsletter or through email, team members should be given credit for their contributions and those achievements should be circulated. Leaders who are genuinely confident in their own skills and talents, are easily able to promote others. Giving praise to team members for their accomplishments is a reflection of a strong land confident leader.
• Mentor Your Team: One of the best ways to share our institutional wisdom and vast experiences is to mentor our team members. Throughout our years of working, we gain skills and insights into how to best perform our jobs and how to interact in our political work environments. By sharing ways to navigate a career, mentees can learn a great deal of helpful lessons. Leaders can either have one-on-one or group mentorship sessions. What a generous way to give back!
• Offer Cross-Training Opportunities: In recent years where there have been fewer job movements in our organizations, one way to promote growth is to expose team members to different types of roles. Many of us feel great satisfaction when we are trained in new areas. If we are confident in our own professional success, we are more able to nurture the professional development of our team members. Either by using the various team members expertise or by reaching out to other parts of our organizations, this investment in others will be welcomed beyond measure. Additionally, cross-training creates a more flexible, ready-to-act team.
• Remain open-minded: Confident leaders are non-judgmental and try to understand other people’s points of view. When we are confident we are not threatened if someone on our team has a different opinion. We are open to new ideas and innovations. Be generous with supporting others’ suggestions and opinions. Their views might be the very thing we need to do.

Are you a confident enough leader to be generous?