Healthy leadership is an act of generosity. And wise generosity is an act of leadership.
Let’s run a thought experiment. Let’s say you don’t consider generosity as one of your core gifts. Oh sure, you give where you can, and you aren’t stingy. But you are not seen by yourself or others as particularly generous.
Continuing with that thought experiment, let’s say you often find yourself (by design or accident) leading people. At work, home, church, school, or a junkyard. Wherever it might be, you are one of those people that tends to end up leading.
Well, to wrap up the thought experiment, then I suggest you should be known for your generosity. Because leaders — the good ones — are constantly giving to others. Giving time, wisdom, support, energy, and vision. Think about it — if you are not giving as a leader, then you are not really a leader at all, and people will soon stop following you.
Now flip it around. If you are a generous person — with your time, treasure, or talent — you are by nature a leader because you are shaping others. You might not be the “stand behind a podium with a mic in your hand” type leader who inspires others, but you are most certainly leading them by charting a path through your generous acts. As Max De Pree once said, you are defining reality … in this case through your generosity.
By the way, my preference is to be around this kind of generous leader. The “stand behind the podium” types too often equate leadership with platform. There is a kind of mild narcissism about feeling like your insights have to be constantly heard. Or read, if you are a blogger like me. Yes, I’m guilty too.
But that’s a whole different topic. Back to the point. A good leader is generous. A generous person leads. The two are rarely separated.