We ache for what we can’t give rather than for what we don’t have. Giving of yourself and your gifts is a profoundly transformative experience.

I give twenty to twenty-five percent of my time, energy, wisdom, and connections to the social sector, including organizations in the developing world, which successfully use entrepreneurship as a tool for social and economic change.

I also work with emerging artists who help us to see the world in new ways.

My gift is in the working of and the inspired connections I am able to make within my network. Networks have generosity as their underlying structure. Robust networks do not run on debt and obligation but in a free-flowing generous way—with acknowledgement as their fuel. They are part of the gift economy, which runs in parallel to the market economy.

Letting my gifts flow, to causes, people, ideas, and organizations that inspire me energize and feed me, my work, and the worlds in which I operate.  That is why I give.

This post also appeared on the official blog of Catchafire on April 13th.

Enjoy and I hope you’ll join us for the next in the series of The Standard Talks during the PEN Festival: we’ll be in the Highline Room in our pj’s sharing ghost stories coming up at the end of April.

There might even be a werewolf or two there, I’ll keep you posted.

Cheers,

Sunny

The other day I was lucky enough to sit for an hour with the Acumen Fund Fellows for a talk on networking given by the wonderful, inimitable Sunny Bates.  Sunny is a natural connector, full of joy and exuberance, brimming with energy.

Would that an afternoon with Sunny were mandatory for every MBA student—who inevitably has been misguided into thinking that “networking” is about making a beeline to the most “important” people in the room (defined how?), giving them your pitch and collecting their business card.

Sunny talks about building and cultivating your personal network—the one asset you bring with you everywhere you go—and constantly feeding that network through your own generous acts.  Your network strengthens because you feed it—by making connections between two people who would enjoy meeting each other, starting a business together, or just sharing ideas; by helping others accomplish their goals.

You can read the rest of Sasha’s insightful post (and I’m not just log-rolling) here.

“Your résumé is about your future,” she said, “it’s not about your past,” so stress experiences that are most relevant to the position you aspire to hold.

To read the rest of the article click here