How to Help Others without Harming Yourself
Whether it’s a coffee meeting, a guest blog or a keynote speech, as you continue to develop notoriety in your industry, you’ll increasingly receive requests to share your expertise with others. As a creative professional, you should embrace your roles as a giver and spread your knowledge generously. At the same time, you must be careful not to let your altruism dampen your personal growth.
In an interview with Inc., Adam Grant, author of Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success, cautions us to be thoughtful around who, how, and when you help. He explains how to be a giverwithout harming your own future by highlighting some traits of successful givers:
Successful givers are weary of takers. Successful givers are much more likely to be cautious when they’re dealing with takers, so they’ll try to analyze if you have a history or a reputation of selfish behavior, and if you do, they might be a little bit more self-protective when interacting with you.
Successful givers specialize in something. Successful givers are much more likely to be specialists rather than generalists when they help. Instead of saying, “Look, I’m a jack of all trades – whatever you need, come to me,” they pick one or two ways of helping that they enjoy and excel at, and that way they get to help in ways that energize them instead of exhaust them.
Successful givers develop a reputation. They also develop a reputation, instead of just being a nice person who’s freely available; they’re someone who’s known for having a certain kind of expertise that they’re willing to share, and that gets them more respect. It also means that people don’t harass them as much for other requests that don’t fit within sort of their wheelhouse.
Successful givers protect their calendars. And the last distinction is about when you help others…Successful givers are much more vigilant about protecting their calendars. They’ll say, “Look, I’ve got windows dedicated aside to get my own work done. I’m not taking any calls or emails unless it’s an emergency, but then I’m also going to carve out time to be helpful to other people.”
Renowned American author, salesman, and motivational speaker Zig Ziglar once famously said, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” It feels great to help others, but remember that if you accept every coffee meeting, all you’ll ever do is have coffee — and none of your own work.
Relevant: Pay It Forward: Why Generosity Is The Key To Success
