Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Commitment to giving

Oprah wanted to bring Christmas to the children of South Africa. She planned one month's worth of celebrations for 50,000 kids. This was a life altering trip for her.

She said she's paying back for a kind act to her when she was young. On christmas, as she was crying because she had no dolls, two women knocked on her door and gave her two dolls.

One small act of kindness stayed with her all through these years.Her good work has played an important part in the success of her talk show. While she was there she got to share 29 meals with her strongest, living,mentor, Nelson Mandela made her feel strengthened, deepened,broadened and more loving and forgiving.

Creating an experience and giving power to the staff is what surged Starbucks.

Starbucks from a single location coffee shop in 1971 has now more than 11,500 non-franchised locations worldwide, annual sales of more than $600 million and has been rated as one of the best Fortune 100 companies to work. Since 1992, its stock has grown 5000 per cent its success is based on its progressive corporate culture and passing its values to all employees or 'partners' as they are known in the company.

The average cost of coffee at Starbucks is $3! A concept that was unthinkable some time back. The lions share comes from its core business of coffee- retail sales,music,gift packs. Their success criteria- belief in their product and creation of experience for the customer. Yes with the current crisis they have been hit just like everyone else. However their growth compared to where they started is still huge.

Microsoft opted for gift of health by paying for healthy living seminars for its employees as well as gym fees. By so doing it saves $2 on sick leave savings for every $1 spent.

The gift of sight is what Lens Crafters did in donating 5 milliong glasses since 1988 to the less priveleged- a 'gift of sight' The company is regarded as one of the best
companies to work in.

The Gucci slogan is 'Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten'.

The more you give to your staff( guidance,motivation,encouragement and respect); the better they perfom. By retaining good people you save a lot of time and resources looking for new people and training them.

Leader servant approach is the new leadership paradigm, which makes employees feel valued. This in turn improves their productivity. By creating and enabling enviroment for young people, you increase their productivity and your profitabiliy.

By giving your customers good service and respect, you win their loyalty. The lifetime value of their loyalty is enormous. Exceeding customer expectations require completely satisfied customers and not just satisfied customers. Completely satisfied customers create extraordinaly results for the business not only in terms of their contribution but also in the from of what they tell others. When you keep your committment and trust with your financier, the better terms you get. The more time you spend on introspection, reflection and balance the better you perform.

The more you give, the more you create!

All the above examples create a win-win for both the giver and the receiver. Therein lies the power of Giving! The power to Give is inside all of you. Giving comes from within. We are born with a gift, which is within each one of us .This gift has been given to us to make a positive difference. The burning desire lies within all of us.

There is still a big need for giving! According to a UN study, every human being could be given food, shelter, sanitation, education, and comfortable life for no more money than an annual golf membership would cost or one third of money spent on cigarettes.

Mohammed Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh says, ' Poverty is not created by poor people. It has been produced by our failure to create institutions to support human capabilities.' Within a decade of his work,half the people have risen above poverty line.

Richness is not defined by how much you have,but rathen how much you give.

The Afghan families I met had nothing yet they would offer dry fruits to a guest-a mehman as they would call them. In this act of kindness they felt like a 'maharaja'a King.

The more you give, the more you tap your creativity, innovation, passion, ingenuity and potential. YOU CAN DO IT! I BELIEVE IN YOU! I know you have an inherent desire to give and make a positive difference.

As long as space remains, as long as sentient beings remain, I will come back to serve- Dalai Lama.


This article is reproduced from The Citizen, Tanzanian Daily;8th of June,2011

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