Is Being Too Generous a Weakness?

Has anyone out there participated in those Facebook quizzes designed to provide “insight” into our personalities, our likes, our dislikes, etc.?

For a long time I was able to ignore them.  Then once, in a moment of weakness, I decided to play along. The quizzes are sort of addictive.  Now that I’ve played a few times it’s interesting to see what insightful things FB thinks I should know.

Here’s what I’ve learned so far:

What career should I have had?  Vice President.  Or, on a subsequent try, the result was engineer.  Veep I’ll take.  However if the test was really smart, FB would know that I’ve already given engineering a try and it was not a good fit.

Word that best describes me:  Ambitious.  Yep, that’s me.  When completing our college applications, we had to check a box that indicated how many degrees we planned to obtain.  I instantly checked “Master’s”.  Had no idea why; just sounded ambitious to me so I chose it.  And achieved it.

What’s your Christmas Elf name?  This was not exactly a quiz but it’s funny and embarrassing enough to share.  Sneaky Tinselbottom, that’s me.  Should I get new business cards?  Update the resume?

Your greatest weakness: You Are Too Generous.  Huh?

This last one caused me to stop and think.  I usually think of others as more generous than myself.  While I enjoy sharing and giving it’s not like we have a money tree in the yard.

This quiz was completely wrong.  (As if any of the FB quizzes are scientific and correct.)

Yet the more I thought about it, I realized there was some truth to it. Generosity doesn’t have to be monetary; one can be generous with time and attention.

And according to FB, that is a weakness.

Throughout my career I have worked with some phenomenal individuals who were willing to spend time helping me when I needed to bounce ideas, or to show me a shortcut so I didn’t waste time, or simply to point me in the right direction as opposed to floundering and possibly failing.

These individuals were generous with their time and attention.

This was especially important when I was first starting out, yet it’s still important since every once in a while even the most experienced professional needs assistance – especially when encountering new technology.

Note that these individuals did not do the work for me.  What they provided was time.  Time to listen, to discuss, and in some cases, to teach.  They also provided roadmaps or steps that might be more efficient to get things done and introductions to people that might be good for me to know to complete the project.

When “newbies” arrived at work I found myself providing the same type of assistance.  Not doing the job for them but pointing them in the right direction.

I’ve continued to do this throughout my career, treating people the way I would want to be treated if I needed some assistance.  The gratitude in their eyes says it all.

There have been times when I’ve asked for help and it’s been denied.  That’s hard to swallow, and beyond my comprehension why someone would not take a few minutes to help.

So why is being too generous a weakness? I guess because sometimes I put the needs of others before my own work. I help them first.

That’s a price I’m willing to pay. My work still gets done. And hopefully, the people I’ve helped will remember this time and pay it forward by helping someone else.

Or by helping me if I need it.  Even seasoned executives can use assistance now and then.