{"id":12382,"date":"2020-01-13T07:45:47","date_gmt":"2020-01-13T07:45:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businessbooster.ro\/?p=12382"},"modified":"2025-03-05T11:58:21","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T09:58:21","slug":"give-take-adam-grant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ambogdan.com\/give-take-adam-grant\/","title":{"rendered":"Takeaways from the Book \u2018Give & Take\u2019 by Adam Grant"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Reading Adam Grant’s book <\/span>“Give & Take\u201d <\/em>reconfirmed me the old saying that <\/span>\u201cwhat goes around comes around\u201d<\/em>. To be honest, I did not need confirmation. This is a strong belief I had it imprinted in my genes from an early age, being raised in a family where giving to others and sharing were unwritten principles of life.\u00a0 I never questioned their value or validity as they felt true to myself and they still do. But, you may wonder, what these principles have to do with Grant’s book, so allow me to explain in one simple phrase. <\/span>“Give & Take\u201d <\/em>provides a great amount of ground-breaking research which demonstrate how giving more to others rather than competing against them is the key to a much more profound success and personal fulfillment.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>

Like any professional, I have done some reading on the theory of success and many times I found it closely connected with drivers such as passion, hard work, talent, and luck. On the other hand, I did have clear evidence in my life that success depends a lot on how we interact with others.<\/p>

The governing style \u2013 givers, takers and matchers<\/h2>

Everybody has a governing style of either giving, taking or matching, each one of them having its won specific particularities. Yet, the truth is we cannot act 100% and all the time as givers, takers or matchers. We adapt our behavior to suit specific people.\u00a0<\/em> It is part of our nature to respond to social pressure and to conform to what we believe is expected of us in a group situation. As Adam Grant says, even takers display a more generous behavior when in public circumstances. In addition, we are more likely to give to those who seem like us and brings convincing proof. To conclude, how much we give or take is shaped by who we interact with.<\/p>

Givers<\/h3>

Givers are driven by the desire to help others and create meaningful success for those around them whether they may be colleagues, friends, relatives or the community they live in. \u00a0They often achieve the top positions in society because they focus on the greater good, not on the personal selfish wins.\u00a0\u00a0Claiming their personal credit for the work they do is not their main concern instead they rather inspire, collaborate, encourage and support, sometimes even putting themselves at the risk of burning out or exhaustion. They have an incredible talent of cultivating and using their networks to benefit others as\u00a0<\/em>well as themselves. Givers look for and see the potential in each person they meet, so they are champions of finding and nurturing talent.<\/p>

There are many examples of great givers, but there are few examples that really touched me \u2014 George Meyer, (Emmy Award-winning writer for The Simpson), David Hornik (investor at August Capital, the author of VentureBlog, & the executive producer of The Lobby Conference), Adam Rifkin (Fortune\u2019s Magazine\u2019s 2011 best networker and co-founder 106 Miles network) or C. J. Skender (an award-winning accounting professor teaching at both rival universities, Duke and North Caroline), Stu Inman (basketball player and coach of Blazers) or Conrey Callahan (Teach for America Professor). \u00a0I shall not reveal more on the reasons why these stories touched a deep chord in my heart, but let you find on your own.<\/p>

\u201cSuccessful givers are every bit as ambitious as takers and matchers. They simply have a different way of pursuing their goals.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>

\u201cBeing a giver is not good for a 100-yard dash, but it\u2019s valuable in a marathon.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>

\u201cthe worst performers and the best performers are givers; takers and matchers are more likely to land in the middle.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>

Takers and matchers<\/h3>

Takers\u00a0<\/strong>are self-centred and only focused on what benefits they can get from others. On the short run, they may get high up in the social or business hierarchy, but when persisting in such behavior they lose respect and damage their reputation. Their behavior is grounded in the personal belief that the world is a competitive place, therefore to be successful you must take whatever you want. To them helping others is fine as long the personal benefit of doing so outweighs the cost. \u00a0 Flattering influential people, frequently using words such as \u201cI\u201d<\/em> and \u201cmine\u201d<\/em> rather than \u201cwe\u201d<\/em> or \u201cours\u201d<\/em>, tendency to be domineering, using forceful language to persuade others are all characteristics by which you\u2019ll recognize a taker.<\/p>

\u201cTakers have a knack for generating creative ideas and championing them in the face of opposition. Because they have supreme confidence in their own opinions, they feel free of the shackles of social approval that constrict the imaginations of many people.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>

According to Adam Grant, matchers are somewhere in between givers and takers, as they strive for equal, fair exchanges with others. You can recognize them for their tit-for-tat mentality. To them, the world is a playground where people exchange knowledge, skills and resources equally.\u00a0\u00a0When helping others, they expect reciprocation otherwise they will feel disgruntled.<\/p>

\u201cWe become matchers, striving to preserve an equal balance of giving and getting. Matchers operate on the principle of fairness: when they help others, they protect themselves by seeking reciprocity. If you\u2019re a matcher, you believe in tit for tat, and your relationships\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>

Ideas\u00a0 I really loved \u2026<\/h2>

Of course, Adam Grant\u2019s book is more than just about distinguishing between givers, takers and matchers. There are plenty of great ideas and advice and most probably every reader has its own favorites. Personally, \u00a0there are some ideas, in particular, I resonated well with or found fascinating, so here there are:<\/p>