Mark Cuban just announced he will give $35 million in bonuses to employees after selling a majority share in the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks franchise. This is considerably less than the $55 million Taylor Swift reportedly gave her employees at the end of her Eras Tour, but still a huge number.
Whether it’s a bonus or a paycheck, most of us can’t even wrap our heads around having that much money, let alone giving it to employees. But leaders don’t have to sign six- and seven-figure checks to make bonuses and benefits meaningful to employees.
You can show leadership and generosity without signing massive checks. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind:
You don’t need to suffer to be generous
Neither Cuban nor Swift will suffer any hardship because of the amount of money they gave in unexpected bonuses. Cuban has an estimated net worth of over $6 billion, while Swift comes in at an estimated $1.1 billion. Cuban’s bonuses are 0.5 percent of his net worth, while Swift’s bonuses clock in at 5 percent of her net worth.
To keep reading, click here: Mark Cuban and Taylor Swift Give Millions in Bonuses. Here’s How You Can Be Just as Generous on a Budget
I remember reading an interview, many years ago, with a guy who had sold his company (which had absolutely dominated its industry for years) for several billion dollars (back when that was *real* money), and handed half of it – over a billion dollars – out as bonuses to employees; the average bonus was over a year’s pay.
The interviewer asked him a question about taking care of his #1 concern, his customers. His answer was, “Customers are, at most, my #3 concern. My #1 concern is my employees. My #2 concern is my vendors. If I take care of my employees and my vendors, my customers are already taken care of.” Because that’s why you hire employees in the first place.
He was a very wise man.