Generosity as a guide to success
Generosity:
- readiness or liberality in giving
- freedom from meanness or smallness of mind or character
- a generous act
- largeness of fullness; amplitude
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
What if generosity were embraced as a corporate guide? A litmus test for every action and decision? What might that look like?
The head of product development:
Will this product or service make life better for customers? How can we make it as robust as possible for a good price?
Head of customer service:
How can we solve the customer’s issue with generosity of spirit? Can we listen more closely? Can we offer free shipping or other bonus? Can we offer a sincere follow up after a purchase or after a complaint has been resolved? (By sincere, I mean a phone call that is not a monotone script reading, or a note that may not be handwritten but is at least not a formal corporate missive.)
Head of human resources
This is an easy one – HR has the reputation of being the wielder of power, and often will not return calls. How about dealing with each person who contacts you as you’d like to be treated – promptly returning calls, acting as a goodwill ambassador for the company even when conveying not so pleasant news.
Head of accounting/finance
Why make people fill out forms in triplicate? Make it easy for people to submit invoices and know vendors will be paid on time, to promptly notify people of problems, to establish clear processes with as few steps as possible for employees and vendors.
Head of marketing
Always have the customer in mind, not only the bottom line. Do what’s right for both.
Much as Google has the motto of “do no evil,” so could many companies embrace the motto “be generous.” A generous spirit is a large one, a spirit that embraces ideas and others, that listens, that looks at the world and its issues in a broad context that allows for several solutions or approaches to problem solving. Let’s all be generous in the business world.
