Written by Nick Tranguch, Chief Growth Officer, BSI Corporate Benefits

Growing up, if we were lucky, our parents taught us to share and that others should be willing to share in return (Matchers). We’ve all probably heard advice at some point in our lives that we should give to others without expectation of anything in return (Givers). In contrast, if you’ve been in any highly competitive business environment, these sentiments can often seem to be left at home. Countless movies highlight cutthroat business motives, often climbing the ladder in the process but to ultimately lose in the end (Takers).

Winning with givers is the foundational principle behind Adam Grant’s best selling book, Give and Take. As part of a leadership team that has helped build a culture of giving, of success through team, and a firm recognized twice as an Inc. Best Places to Work, while also achieving Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies 3 out of 4 years, there was a distinct clarity that Adam’s work in this book brought to what we have achieved at BSI. 

In addition, the hundreds of conversations I’ve had with business owners and key executives surrounding employee recruitment, retention, engagement, all, in hindsight, have lacked the hard coding of Why. Why would a business that gives employees greater benefit value expect greater results than one that chooses to minimize or take away benefits? Why would a company who hires for culture first out-perform those organizations that simply hire for talent?  Why does an organization full of givers out-perform others? This book will help me shape these conversations differently moving forward. 

Backed by research and specific business results, such as, “in 38 studies across 3,611 work units looking at the frequency of generosity across an organization, Grant discovered that the more people are sharing knowledge and mentoring, the better the organization does across every measurable metric – profits, customer satisfaction, employee retention, and lower operating expenses to name a few.”   

Personally, I’ve always felt better on the giving end of the equation. I’ve enjoyed networking relationships,(also studied in Give and Take), where giving was rewarded, even if years later.   I’ve personally experienced the old adage of “givers gain.” I can understand why some might find it challenging to watch a competitor, friend or colleague excel based on information, support or other form of giving that they’ve shared, but after reading Give and Take, it’s never been more clear how important it is to continue to be on the giving end of the scale as opposed to the takers end, and to continue to find ways to create win-win scenarios in each interaction.

I’m excited to put this into action as we continue to build out our next rung of leaders at BSI. I look forward to being a mentor, to being giving of my time, my knowledge, my connections and anything that can support the mutual goals of my teammates, our clients and of BSI.

I’ll leave you with a quote from my favorite movie of all time, It’s a Wonderful Life…

“All that you can take with you is that which you’ve given away.”
– Pa Bailey     

Click here to read more from the BSI blog, Wise & Well.