Give to Gain: The leadership discipline of generosity

When we give, we gain

In business, we’re trained to think in trade-offs. If I give my time, I have less of it. If I share an opportunity, I give up control. If I spend budget here, I cannot spend it elsewhere. Everything becomes a calculation.

But real generosity doesn’t work like that. More often than not, it creates more than it costs.

This year’s International Women’s Day theme, Give to Gain, is a good reminder to stop and think about what giving really looks like at work. In my experience, building high-performing teams doesn’t come from one-off programmes or well-worded commitments. It comes from everyday choices and from leaders who choose to give their time, their trust, their platform and their support.

Giving as strategy

In working life, generosity is practical.

Giving time to mentor emerging talent doesn’t reduce leadership capacity. It strengthens succession.

Making space for others in meetings doesn’t make you less important. It makes the conversation better.

Giving stretch opportunities, sponsorship and trust doesn’t increase risk. It accelerates development.

When people thrive, organisations gain broader perspective, stronger decision-making and more resilient leadership pipelines.

From mentorship to sponsorship

Many organisations talk confidently about mentoring, however fewer are serious about sponsorship.

Mentors help people figure things out. Sponsors help open doors.

I’ve seen real inflection points happen not when someone received advice, but when a senior leader used their influence on their behalf. A recommendation in the right room. A public endorsement at the right moment. A deliberate decision to give an opportunity.

That kind of support doesn’t just change careers - it strengthens the business too.

Psychological safety

People don’t step up, speak up, or advance simply because opportunity exists. They do it when they feel safe enough to use their voice, challenge assumptions and try something new.

Creating that environment requires leaders to give something intangible but powerful: permission. Permission to question. Permission to test ideas. Permission to lead in ways that may look different from the past.

At Opera, we’re conscious that change amplifies uncertainty - and in those moments, inclusive leadership matters even more.

Building the next generation of talent

As artificial intelligence and digital transformation reshape our industry, we should ask what we’re giving the people entering financial services.

Encouragement alone isn’t enough. We need to give:

• Digital fluency

• Commercial exposure

• Strategic context

• Boardroom access

Developing professionals need access to complexity rather than protection from it. They need leaders willing to share context, explain financial drivers, involve them in commercial decisions and expose them to governance early.

That’s how confidence forms and leadership readiness develops.

If we want to gain a team of commercially astute, technology-enabled leaders, we must first give them the tools.

A long-term view

There is a deeper layer to Give to Gain.

When organisations provide equitable opportunity, people give back through loyalty, discretionary effort and long-term contribution. When leaders invest in potential, they build trust that compounds over time.

In a privately backed group like Opera, where we’re building deliberately and thinking generationally rather than quarterly, this matters. Our ambition isn’t short-term expansion but long-term value creation which requires leadership pipelines that reflect the world we serve. It requires inclusive decision-making. And it requires giving before we can see the return.

A moment to reflect

This International Women’s Day, I would encourage leaders to consider:

Where are you giving visibility to those not yet in the spotlight?

Where are you giving sponsorship, not just advice?

Where are you giving access to the skills that will define the future of our industry?

Generosity isn’t a soft skill but the most commercially smart decisions we can make.