Andy Black
Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
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I listened to "Give and Take" by Adam Grant earlier this year. One of my takeaways was that I'm a Giver. Another takeaway was that not everyone is. There's no judgement either way - it just made me realise why some of what I do can get taken up the wrong way.
I've been thinking more about "The Giver Sandwich" as @Kak described it in the chat I had with him. It's where Givers populate the lower rungs of an organisation because they spend their time helping others with their careers - to the detriment of their own career.
According to Adam Grant's research though, the higher rungs in an organisation are also populated by Givers.
So the least successful and the most successful in an organisation are Givers (hence Kyle calling it "The Giver Sandwich").
Adam Grant described strategies he believed the more successful Givers employed so they're not held back by their desire to give more than they receive. I can't remember many of these strategies although one of them was to be aware that some people are Takers and that we need to protect ourselves from being drained by then. Another strategy was that a Giver can avoid burnout by giving even more ... so long as they can see the results (feedback) of their giving.
Anyway, I came across a line recently that I think can really help people (Givers or otherwise) who might not be where they want to be in life or business:
"Be open to receive."
It doesn't mean put yourself out there and "be open to receive" negative feedback or haters. I think that goes with the territory for those who step into the arena.
To me, "Be open to receive" means more than that.
It means, be open to receive thanks, gifts, good will, help, and even money from other people.
It seems odd that some of us might be uncomfortable with receiving. I know if someone thanks me then I try to shrug it off or turn it back to them. That's partly upbringing, but maybe there's more to it than that?
I thought I'd test it this week.
I posted to my Facebook and LinkedIn profiles and gave people the opportunity to say whether they'd give me a little bit of money in exchange for learning from me. It was interesting that I had to overcome some reluctance at "being open to receive".
I got a good response, and I'm glad I forced myself to "Be open to receive".
Maybe you will be too.
I've been thinking more about "The Giver Sandwich" as @Kak described it in the chat I had with him. It's where Givers populate the lower rungs of an organisation because they spend their time helping others with their careers - to the detriment of their own career.
According to Adam Grant's research though, the higher rungs in an organisation are also populated by Givers.
So the least successful and the most successful in an organisation are Givers (hence Kyle calling it "The Giver Sandwich").
Adam Grant described strategies he believed the more successful Givers employed so they're not held back by their desire to give more than they receive. I can't remember many of these strategies although one of them was to be aware that some people are Takers and that we need to protect ourselves from being drained by then. Another strategy was that a Giver can avoid burnout by giving even more ... so long as they can see the results (feedback) of their giving.
Anyway, I came across a line recently that I think can really help people (Givers or otherwise) who might not be where they want to be in life or business:
"Be open to receive."
It doesn't mean put yourself out there and "be open to receive" negative feedback or haters. I think that goes with the territory for those who step into the arena.
To me, "Be open to receive" means more than that.
It means, be open to receive thanks, gifts, good will, help, and even money from other people.
It seems odd that some of us might be uncomfortable with receiving. I know if someone thanks me then I try to shrug it off or turn it back to them. That's partly upbringing, but maybe there's more to it than that?
I thought I'd test it this week.
I posted to my Facebook and LinkedIn profiles and gave people the opportunity to say whether they'd give me a little bit of money in exchange for learning from me. It was interesting that I had to overcome some reluctance at "being open to receive".
I got a good response, and I'm glad I forced myself to "Be open to receive".
Maybe you will be too.
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