"To get you have to give" - or do people consider you a threat?

In today's Globe and Mail:

"There is a widespread belief that ruthless and self-centred people are the most successful when it comes to their careers. But being prepared to do anything to get ahead does not mean you will succeed in your ambitions," contends Stefan Einhorn, author of the recently published The Art of Being Kind. The author is chairman of the ethics council at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. He believes that generosity toward others can lead us to succeeding in life because a generous person is not regarded as a threat.

1. "When people do not perceive any competition, they themselves stop competing and instead start to co-operate, which everyone benefits from," he says.

2. Another reason, he suggests, is that if we are generous toward those around us, they will be generous in return.

3. And a third reason to be generous is that we get pleasure from it.

Source: The London Observer