"One of the most potent of the weapons of influence around us is the rule of reciprocation. The rule says that we should try to repay, in kind, what another person has provided us." Robert B. Cialdini, author of "The Psychology of Persuasion."
Generalized reciprocity occurs when one person provides benefit to someone else--such as giving a gift or sharing an idea--without keeping track of its value and without expecting anything in return.
The Law of Reciprocity (www.LawofReciprocity.com) can work with social networks created among individuals in a group, team or organization by having individuals identify needs or requests and then having others in the organization respond to those needs or requests with resources or contacts.
Building a reciprocity network can be done with three steps:
1. Write on a whiteboard or flip chart the names of each of the people in the group or gathering.
2. Each of those people writes down a specific request, need or issue with which he or she needs help. These issues may be personal or work-related. The individual verbally describes the request to his or her colleagues and posts it below, or next to, his or her name. An easy way to do this is to write the request on a Post-it note.
3. Each colleague identifies the resources (knowledge, information, expertise, budget, product, emotional support or so on) or contacts (someone he or she knows who can provide the resource) in response to as many requests as possible. These contributions are written on a Post-it note along with his or her name so that follow-up connections can be made. Each response is posted below the relevant request.
An important outcome of this practice is to uncover new ideas and new resources that were previously unknown or unrecognized. People who are willing to demonstrate generalized reciprocity (contributing without expecting something in return) tend to be more successful as positive leaders.
Sources: Kim Cameron: Practicing Positive Leadership: Tools and Techniques That Create Extraordinary Results (BK Business)