Transactions, generosity, and fair exchange

July is a month of reflection, recalibration, and celebration.

Since the beginning of 2023 I have had (on a broad estimate) an average of 12 x One-on-One conversations every week. This makes it 324 conversations (I am deliberately excluding talks or group conversations which are of a different nature).

They tend to be with entrepreneurial professionals, senior leaders, and ambitious individuals from a variety of nationalities (often multilingual).

Although I do not keep count, as an estimate they would broadly be - in order - with leaders and professionals from the United Kingdom, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East .

The most pleasant, and often productive conversations, were not corrupted by a pre-set agenda. Openness and curiosity were the texture of those conversation. The sheer quality of these conversations led to interesting synergies and collaborations.

I have been doing some thinking on why this might be the case.

Transactions, generosity, and fair exchange

I grew up in a family of small business owners in Southern Italy. It was a rural area with sprawling brick-and-mortar businesses, some seasonal, other industrial, and many smaller shops.

Being an area of the country unexposed to inland Europe, marginally touched by global trade, and late adopter of the most recent technologies, business was often done in a way that was not solely transactional.

It was as if the relationship mattered more than whether we would end up doing business together.

On reflection, it has become clear to me that the underlying assumption for many, was that if you provide ‘value’ (in whichever shape or form, as you would hopefully do if you were seriously invested in any relationships for that matter) it would be unwise for people not to do business with you, particularly if you can conduct it as a fair exchange.

Today some would label this approach as "na?ve or even unnecessarily generous” and short-lived. But is it?

Interestingly, as I was catching up with some local business owners earlier this week, the ones that are still going strong (or thriving having significantly expanded operations), 40+ years later, seem to be the ‘na?ve’ ones.

Anecdotally, everyone else has either closed or they are barely getting by (and have been doing so for a very long time)

It made me smile.

How can you make the value you provide more accessible to the people who would benefit the most and appreciate the meaning of fair exchange? How can you filter for better business partners? What are you willing to walk away from? What does fair exchange mean to you (in financial and non financial terms)?

Here is a short video to acknowledge the insights, successes and partnerships that have contributed to make 2023 a very prolific and successful year so far.