The Super Power Of Paying It Forward

What is it and why is it a powerful way to broaden your circle of influence and enhance your success? 

Paying it forward is simply when someone helps you and instead of you giving back to that person, you in turn help someone else 

Nothing complicated about it, but the rewards are huge 

When a give and take only occurs between two people the energy of giving and reciprocity is limited between the two 

But when we continue to move that giving energy forward, it has a ripple effect that we’re not likely to see the impact of and that can flow back in unexpected ways 

Let me share an example: 

When I was at the rock bottom of my life over twenty years ago, one of the people who took me under his wing and guided and mentored me challenged me to do the same for others 

He was insistent that I didn’t ever need to pay him back, except by passing on my knowledge, experience and support to others – to pay it forward every chance I got 

I agreed and made it a regular practice to mentor my teams, colleagues and peers by sharing my time and knowledge generously 

I learned that to truly succeed as a leader I had to encourage growth and success in my people to the point where they would eventually move on to better opportunities 

Yes, I had to help them become successful to the point where they would eventually leave my circle of influence and thrive in other places and environments 

Guess what happened? 

Many did go on to bigger and better in other companies with other people and they too paid it forward 

Most humans are just cool like that – it’s a natural instinct to want to help 

The unexpected benefit for me was that I landed many prime roles from people who had been helped and mentored by me or by people I had helped and mentored who went on to do the same for others 

It wasn’t unusual for me to get a call from someone I didn’t know with a conversation that went something like this: 

"I'm from Company X and there's a position going for a program office manager or for a people leader here and you’ve been recommended by Person Y and they said you’re good at helping people and teams grow” 

Before I knew it, I was in another gig, and it wasn’t one I’d gone hunting for 

It came to me through that practice of paying it forward 

I never expected that kind of indirect reciprocity, but it happened too many times for me not to notice 

So, ultimately the benefits are two-fold 

You get to have the wonderful, feel-good experience of giving to and nurturing growth in others 

And often down the track you get to receive as well 

Don’t underestimate the power of paying it forward and make it a part of your professional and personal life 

Share people, share 

Share your knowledge, time and support with others 

Share your abundant mindset

Encourage people to grow and specially to grow beyond you 

Ensure the giving always moves forward and watch what happens 

Your opportunities and success will come from unexpected places simply because you broadened your circle of influence by paying it forward