Why The Best Leaders Always Give Back

I have always believed in the importance of serving others and spent much of my life giving back to the communities that helped shape me into who I am today. Even while working in the corporate sector, I remained close with the community at Marshall University by establishing a scholarship program and donations that helped the school create a business incubator specifically for student entrepreneurs .?

My wife Alys and I co-founded the Wing 2 Wing Foundation as a means of giving back to the state of West Virginia. As a result, we've contributed toward the creation of programs such as Ascend West Virginia – an economic development program that encourages working professionals to relocate to the Mountain State — and the Science Adventure School — which teaches sixth-grade students lessons in STEM and leadership against the backdrop of West Virginia's great outdoors.?

My dedication to philanthropy and giving back can be tied to the belief that the purpose of leadership is serving others. An effective leader is one who inspires. I myself am inspired by this quote: "Your title makes you a manager; your people make you a leader," from the book "Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell ." The quote speaks volumes about the collective and organic nature of leadership: it's something that must be grown and fostered; and something that is not accomplished alone.?

If you study history in the highest levels of servant leadership, it comes down to stewardship and benevolence. Those two concepts always stuck with me.

While at Intuit, someone once honored me by explaining that my approach to leadership reminded them of Buddhist teaching, which proffered that leaders should be like mango trees. The comparison notes that as mango trees grow, they continually produce more fruit, causing their limbs to become heavy and bow to the ground. This teaching illustrates that the more fruit you have (or the greater responsibility you have in leading others), the lower you should bow.?

As spiritual leader and international emissary for peace Sri Chinmoy writes in his book The Wings of Joy: Finding Your Path to Inner Peace : "When you really have something to offer to the world, then you can become truly humble. A tree when it has no fruit to offer, remains erect. But when the tree is laden with fruit, it bends down. If you are all pride and ego, then nobody will be able to get anything worthwhile from you. When you have genuine humility, it is a sign that you have something to offer to mankind."

Giving back is the core value proposition of leadership. It is rooted in humility and benevolence, giving the fruit that you produce to others so they can go further.

In a similar vein, I have also always been inspired by the famous quote from Ghandi: "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in service to others," and I referenced this quote directly when explaining my recent career shifts from the business sector to those of nonprofit and academia .

How to Give Back as a Leader

When it comes to giving back as a leader, consider sharing three of the most valuable assets a person can give: time, talent and treasure.?

For example, when it comes to time, aim to serve others through volunteer work. For talent, take the time to coach, mentor and teach. And for treasure, whoever is able, could donate whenever possible so that they may contribute to building capability.?

How to Build Giving Back Into Your Organization's Culture?

While there are challenges to scaling the concept of giving back, I know firsthand that it is possible. By building ways to give back to an organization's culture, through employee recognition events or incentive programs, leaders can create impactful change for their entire company. For example, companies may consider encouraging employees to donate to charitable causes with the added layer of the organization matching donations raised.?

At Intuit, I made a point to instill giving back into the corporate culture. One occurrence that especially stands out in memory is that of the Intuit Sales CEO Club — an incentive program that, treated top performers to a trip to special destinations, such as Hawaii. As we planned these events, we began extending the trip to include an extra day dedicated to volunteer work. Individuals would spend the day giving back to the local community by completing different projects such as painting buildings or assembling bikes for children who had to walk to school. When reflecting on the trip through a survey, participants inevitably noted the volunteer day as their favorite part of the experience.?

More recently, I have been working to establish similar thinking and programming at Marshall University. Looking to encourage the giving back mindset this summer, we invited community members and alumni to visit the campus in June for "Community Cares Week " — a volunteer opportunity for alumni and community members to help spruce up the campus through various projects.?

Interest and participation in the event was so much higher than forecasted by other Marshall University leaders that additional projects had to be added to the list of programming for when the volunteers arrived.?

Closing Thoughts

When examining the question of why the most notable leaders are always giving back, one should consider that it is, perhaps, the other way around: it is their dedication to giving back that makes them superior leaders. Understanding this concept hasn't always been simple, but the best leaders do not seek to lead. They seek to serve.?