3 practices of giving that will get you ahead
Posted on January 05, 2015 by Alfred Chung, One of Thousands of Performance Coaches on Noomii.
Read my three favorite practices of giving.
The people most likely to rise to the top are often those who give the most to others—often known as "givers,’ as opposed to the "takers’ who try to get as much as possible from others and the "matchers’ who try to give and take in equal amounts (quid pro quo).
As inspired by Adam Grant, author of best selling book – Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success, below are my three favourite practices of giving.
1. Embrace the Five-Minute Favor.
Ask people what they need and look for ways to help at a minimal personal cost, such as giving honest feedback and making an introduction. Here’s a simple exercise to get started as a connector. Start by going through your social media platform such as LinkedIn, or Facebook network.
Identify pairs of people who share an uncommon commonality. Then, pick one pair a week and introduce them by email. You might also reconnect with dormant ties—not to get something, but to give. Once a month, reach out to one person with whom you haven’t spoken in years. Find out what they’re working on and ask if there are ways that you can be helpful.
2. Practice Powerless Communication.
Becoming a giver often requires a change in habits—from talking to listening, self-promoting to advice-seeking and advocating to inquiring. Jim Quigley, a senior partner at Deloitte who previously served as CEO, decided to work on his powerless communication. He set a goal in meetings to talk no more than 20 percent of the time. "One of my objectives is listening. Many times, you can have bigger impact if you know what to ask, rather than knowing what to say. I don’t learn anything when I’m speaking. I learned a lot when I’m listening,’ Quigley told me. As he shifted from answers toward questions, Quigley found himself gaining a deeper understanding of other people’s needs. "It doesn’t come naturally to everyone, but it’s a habit, and you can form that habit.’
3. Join a Community of Givers.
To find other givers, join aFreecycle community, where you can give away goods and see what other people need. Another inspiring community of givers is ServiceSpace, the home of a series of Giftivism initiatives started by Nipun Mehta. Headquartered in Berkeley, California, ServiceSpace has over 400,000 members and sends over 50 million emails a year. Yet they still operate by three rules: "no staff, no fundraising and no strings attached.’ Through ServiceSpace, Nipun has created a platform for people to increase their giver’s quotients, divided into three categories: gift economy projects, inspirational content, and volunteer and nonprofit support. One of the gift economy projects is Karma Kitchen, where the menu has no prices. When the bill arrives, it reads $0.00 and contains just two sentences: “Your meal was a gift from someone who came before you. To
keep the chain of gifts alive, we invite you to pay it forward for those who dine after you.”
What are your personal stories of giving?
What are other creative ways of giving?
Alfred Chung
Soul Personal Branding & Performance Optimizer Coach
