A Review of “Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success” by Adam M. Grant Ph.D.
Are you selfish or selfless? The majority of people is actually neither. According to Adam Grant, there are three types of personalities: Givers, Matchers, and Takers. Takers tend to try to get more for them out of a given situation than others. Matchers are what we’d call tit-for-tat. And givers tend to be most concerned about helping others to gain in a particular situation.
Now that in itself is not revolutionary. What is unexpected, however, is the realization that the most successful people in life are the givers. But before you go and turn yourself into a selfless altruist, beware: The least successful people are also the givers.
This is due to the fact that there are two types of givers: The ones that are truly selfless. And the ones that realize that there are takers out there and that protect themselves from being taken advantage of.
In Give And Take, Adam Grant not only delivers ample scientific evidence of this fact, wrapped in engaging, fun to read stories. He also offers actionable advice on how to be a true giver without burning yourself out.
To quote William Sherman’s review on Amazon:
“In this book, he has translated powerful (but sometimes dry) research into clearly illustrated ideas which are often very actionable. I recommend this book as a must read if you want to be successful in today’s interconnected world, where you can’t get anything done on your own.”
If you want to be successful in life, especially as an entrepreneur, I highly recommend you take the advice you can find in these pages to heart.
Or, as Bret L. Simmons puts it:
“Do you want to achieve success in your life and career? I hope so. If you do, the evidence is pretty clear that by investing in the success of others, you make an important investment in your own success. Practice this posture and your success will be deeply rooted, rippling through the lives of those you work and live with.”
Get Give And Take on Amazon.
