When You Give, You Receive

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 Tonight, I went to see the movie Invictus and was blown away by its storytelling, its overall message, and most of all Clint Eastwood! In case you do not know, Invictus is based on the true story of how former South African President Nelson Mandela used the game of Rugby to unite his nation after the fall of Apartheid. As I was watching the movie, I saw lessons that could be used in business and any other leadership role. Really, I just gathered lessons on how to be a better human being.


One lesson that I would like to share with you is about giving. This rugby team was struggling in the beginning of the movie. At one point, President Mandela ordered the team to do rugby clinics in the local neighborhoods - teaching others the game they were so passionate about. The team unwillingly participated but ultimately had a good time and began winning some games! I drew several nuggets from this storyline, but want to highlight one...



When the rugby team gave their time to the community, they gained more accountability and a harder push to succeed. Of course they already had fans, but they never got so up close and personal with them. In this part of the story, they were teaching kids the game of rugby - they had to follow through with their lesson and not let the kids down by continuing to be a losing team. Children are ones you really do not want to disappoint - they could carry that disappointment beyond your lifetime.

To translate this into business, when you contribute some portion of your resources to the community, there becomes more at stake for you than simply making a profit. Others are depending on you to help them get to a place where they can do more for themselves. That could be learning a new skill, getting much needed attention and advice, receiving donated resources... any number of things that can help a person go to a higher level than where they are. This act of giving not only helps your community as a whole, but hopefully gives you more gumption to create success within your firm.

One business owner I know who epitomizes this is 2009 SBA North Carolina Small Business Person of the Year, Lisa Pineiro. She successfully owns and operates Technical Services, Inc, a construction staffing company based in Durham, North Carolina. Her way of giving back is by training at-risk youth and young girls about the construction trades. Although her business is doing very well and she is receiving more accolades than ever for what she does in business, she started these programs before the recognition and I believe they contributed to the overall success of her business.

Although there is talk about the validity of some parts of the storyline in Invictus - this is Hollywood - I believe we can all learn lessons from the movie on how to be better humans and even on how to run better businesses.

Have you see the movie Invictus? Share any lessons you may have learned from the storyline, or even from what you know about Nelson Mandela's style of leadership.