#147 Monte Wood: Generosity as Your Secret Career Hack (and It Works!) – Part One
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What is the significance of generosity in leadership?
Hi, everyone. Welcome to our show, Chief Change Officer. I'm Vince Chan, your ambitious human host. Our show is a modernist community for change progressives in organizational and human transformation from around the world. How many people do you know who actually walk into a public restroom and leave it cleaner than they found it? I do. And so does the wife of our guest. Like me, she does it because she wants to leave it better for the next person. So who is our guest today? Is Monty Wood, author of the book called Generosity Wins and the former CEO of Opus Agency, a creative branding partner for some of the world's most influential brands. Monty has worked directly with legends like Mike Benioff of Salesforce, Andy Gross of Intel, Steve Jobs, John Chambers of Cisco, and Andy Jassy of Amazon. From these leaders, his own mentors, and his mother, Monty has learned what generosity truly means, why it matters and how to apply it to life and career to become more successful, happier and healthier. Curious to find out more?
We made a two-part series for you. In today's episode, We'll dive into Monty's personal experiences, his definition of generosity, and why he believes so strongly in practicing generosity as a habit. Tomorrow, we'll explore what isn't generous, why practicing generosity can be difficult in today's world, and how to nurture a generosity-centered mindset. If you are still skeptical about how generosity can lead to success, join us for this conversation. We'd love for you to be part of the discussion. Let's get started.
In my very early days, probably at the age of 16, I had a young mentor. And that mentor actually gave me a formula. about being successful. And part of it was just believing that I could be successful. And then part of it was living a good life, being a generous person. And I believed him. So at a very early age, I had very high aspirations.
How can small acts of generosity impact our lives?
I grew up in a small town called Milton-Freewater in Oregon. Only about 3,500 people in the town. And yet I believed at that point I would someday run a company that was over $100 million in revenue with hundreds of employees. And I believed it right from the very beginning. To augment that, interestingly enough, my mom... is one of the most generous people that you will ever meet.
What personal experiences shaped Monte Wood's views on generosity?
The combination of my kinkle, my mentor, and my mom as my mentor in generosity led me to this simple formula that I would become successful by making other people successful. It's pretty simple, but I will tell you is magic and it worked. I had tremendous success and my goal is really to pass it on and help others do the same because not only was it very good formula, it was a lot of fun.
Yes, I agree with you. In fact, when it comes to leadership, I always describe myself in two ways. First is about walking the walk and talking the talk. Second, I believe in servant leadership. I've been lucky in my corporate career to have worked for bosses who embraced this kind of leadership. They helped me grow, become a better leader, and they made me shine. But in my mind, I don't necessarily call this generosity. I still think of it as an exchange of value. As a subordinate, I help achieve business goals, and in return, they support me, hire me, and take pride in recognizing my talents. When I perform well, it makes them look good too. It's not just kindness, it's mutually beneficial and drives business results.
So I guess what I'm saying is, I see it as a leadership style, but not necessarily generosity. Now, I'd love to hear your thoughts. What does generosity mean in the context of leadership, especially in the lessons you've learned from your mentor?
It's a great question because there is a lot of exchange, as Adam Grant talks about in leadership, where I do something for you and I expect you to do something for me. But great leaders, great servant leaders, care about the person, not just the work being done. They care about the person's family. They care about the person's life. They help them grow, in many cases, themselves.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the significance of generosity in leadership?
0:09–3:58
2
How can small acts of generosity impact our lives?
3:58–4:30
3
What personal experiences shaped Monte Wood's views on generosity?
4:30–7:49
4
Is generosity a strategy for success in business?
7:49–12:49
5
What are the challenges of practicing generosity today?
12:49–14:17
6
How can we nurture a generosity-centered mindset?
14:17–20:08
7
Does being generous lead to selfishness?
20:08–33:31
Speakers
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