Return on Life: Abundance Mentality at Work

I've written previously (January 31, 2008) about what Steven Covey calls "abundance" mentality, which is basically an attitude that suggests that there's plenty to go around for everyone, that someone having something doesn't preclude us from having it as well (money, love, happiness, etc.). It also includes the idea that sharing can be a positive experience for everyone involved.

In today's news, we have a real-life example of abundance mentality: The Spungen family, former owners of Peer Bearing Co. in Chicago not only sent turkeys home with their previous employees, they included sizable checks (a total of $6.6 million between 230 employees!) from the proceeds of the sale of the business earlier this year.

Now, I'm not imagining that they didn't keep anything for themselves. But no matter how much they netted, no one expected them to just give away nearly $30,000 average to each employee. How often have we seen, in recent months, CEOs who not only would never entertain such a thought, they are busy laying off employees and begging the government (read taxpayers) for bailout money while declining to forgo their multi-million dollar bonuses.

So, hooray for the Spungen family. They are the example we all should emulate. What's interesting is that not only are the former employees happy, as you would expect, but amazingly, so are the Spungens!

How can you be more abundant in your mentality? Give it some thought!

Attitude: Abundance vs. Scarcity Mentality

One of the attitudes that will help you increase your return on life is an attitude of abundance versus scarcity. An attitude of scarcity assumes that because someone else has something, you cannot have it. Now, obviously, if you are considering the status of the same physical item, you both can't have it at the same time. But if you're talking about intangibles such as success or love or happiness, one person having them doesn't keep you from attaining them at the same time. This brings in the concept of abundance mentality. Abundance mentality is the realization that just because someone else has (or desires) somthing, it does not preclude you having the same thing.

This is on my mind particularly this week, as I am preparing for an event which is a perfect example of abundance mentality at work. Next Tuesday, February 5, from 3-7 p.m. there is a region-wide celebration of networking being held at the Radisson Greentree. It is a particularly noteworthy event when you realize who is behind the effort: Not one, but two referral networking organizations who are direct competitors to each other are working together on it. It's the second year they've done this. Deanna Tucci-Schmitt of BNI (Business Network International) and Tom Reda of TSBN (The Small Business Network) understand that even though business people eventually must choose between their two organizations, both organizations grow stronger and support their members better if they work together on events such as this, which help everyone become more effective referral networkers. It's a beautiful thing, and if you haven't registered yet for the event, check it out at www.indpittsburgh.com !

Are you abundant or scarce in your mentality? Give it some thought today!