This week, I’ve been visiting friends in New York and Philadelphia and having conversations about how they see generosity, especially being generous with relationships. I heard three different versions of giving away relationships, which I call building relationship bridges.

• Returning the favor: I’ll introduce you to someone after you introduce me to someone.
• Mutuality: I’ll introduce you to someone if you’ll introduce me.
• Giving without expecting repayment: I’ll introduce you to someone for your benefit, not mine.

My friends were convinced that giving without expecting repayment was rare but powerful, and some of them did it naturally, never thinking it was an act of generosity.

I know for a fact that people who live in this posture grow their enterprise, sleep well at night, and build inch-wide and mile-deep relationships for the long term. They are trusted and others want to be around them.

How do you see bridge-building? When was the last time someone built a relationship bridge for you, or you for them? What were the results?

Talk to you soon,

John Stanley (http://generositygameplan.com/)