By Mike Leone | July 1, 2021
I was raised in a lower middle class family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I was the youngest of four siblings, and the son of working class parents; a Pittsburgh Police Officer and a loving homemaker. As a first generation college student I found myself in a very difficult predicament. It was my sophomore year in 1982 and I was failing out of school. Unfortunately, I never had much support or guidance when it came to study habits. At the end of that year I received a letter from my university stating that in order to return to school in the fall I had to take an Economics course during the summer in which I had to obtain an “A” grade to raise my GPA to a level that would allow me to return to school.
In tears, I shared the news with my parents and the response was, “I’m not sure what to tell you son, maybe you should join the Navy. We have no money to send you back to school.” My aspirations of graduating college and becoming a business professional were shattered…or so I thought. This is when a selfless act of kindness and generosity changed my life trajectory forever.
My brother Bill, who is two years older than I, had just graduated from college the summer I was struggling academically and was experiencing his own struggles associated with beginning a new career. Yet when he heard my story he responded with selfless generosity. My brother first gave me $100, a significant gift considering the entry level salary he was earning at the time. He then drove me back to school, sacrificed his time to find me a summer job so I could pay for school, and finally helped me enroll in my summer class. While I struggled throughout the summer working the night shift at a steel mill and taking an 8AM Economics course each morning, by the grace of God, and the amazing act of love and generosity from my brother, I turned my academics around and ultimately graduated.
This experience taught me that the power of generosity can come in many different ways. You don’t have to write a BIG check to be generous. As a matter of fact, it’s the small acts of generosity that sometimes have the greatest impact. And this impact is so powerful that it can literally change our lives. My brother simply giving me $100 and helping me find a job during a time when I thought things were falling apart completely altered the course of my life. Because of those simple acts of generosity I was able to graduate college and experience a fulfilling career as a business leader. All of that was made possible by the encouragement and generosity of my big brother.
The bottom line is that finding a way to give back – to practice little acts of kindness and generosity – can make a big difference. We should never pass on an opportunity to be generous, no matter how insignificant the opportunity may appear to be. Our generosity may be exactly what somebody needs during a time of despair. It may be the turning point that changes someone’s future for the better. It happened to me, and it can happen to you.
Mike Leone is an experienced Board Member, Global Commercial, and Operations senior leader of Public & Private Equity Companies. Mike has had increasing responsibilities over his career as Vice President, Executive Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer, Chief Operating Officer and President. Mike has recently retired from “corporate America”, and is currently a founding board member and Treasurer of Dynamis Ministries, as well as a member of the Board of Directors for The Suter Company. Although Mike has had a blessed career in business, his greatest blessing has been his marriage of 30 years to his wife, Karen, their two daughters, Arden and Marin, and son-in law, Jack.
