Is it as simple as give and take?

I was having coffee with a friend, we were catching up on life...

"There are only two types of people in this world', she said, 'the 'givers' and the 'takers'". At the time I hadn't made the distinction, but now that I know what I know, I'm seldom surprised when I come into contact with both characters. In life and in business.

I recently discovered a book by Adam Grant, called Give and Take, which has been such an inspirational read for me, the insight he shares based on his research sets out his findings in a very clear way, he talks about how givers are usually the top performers in business, however when they don't take care of themselves and burnout they become the lowest performers. It got me thinking about my environment and where the givers and takers are and I found myself questioning where I fitted into the continuum as a high performer.

As I see it, the 'takers' of the world, are those who are unable to see past themselves and help or support others and only do things that suit them. They are the people who are good at delegating and climbing the ranks very quickly, they step on toes, they bully and push their way forward, very good at being recognised for the visible work, in other words, take credit for the things that will move them forward. Their ultimate focus to progress themselves, they are aggressive in their pursuit of success and can be very narcissistic in their behaviour, not concerned about how they achieve their objectives, who they manipulate or bully to do so. 

The 'givers' are those who are excellent mentors and spend their time helping others make progress while making progress themselves, they ensure real lasting change in organisations, they do have a weakness and that is that they can forget to take care and look after themselves. These people look for the sponsorship and support of others in the organisation to help and support their vision. In the pursuit of taking everything on they often reach burnout. They are on a continual treadmill of self-improvement and the improvement of others, the organisation benefits longterm. 

So have you figured out where you fall on the scale of giver ... taker ??  do you sit on the fence? somewhere in between...

I believe it is all about culture in our organisations.  When 'takers' are promoted they learn to behave in a particular way when they are recruited into management roles because they are more assertive and sell themselves aggressively they learn to behave like this. Research shows that in practice, organisations need 'givers' to ensure that they function in a balanced way and continue to improve over time.

The question is - do we need both characters in the workplace?

What do you think? Is there space for both? 

Are you a giver or a taker?

- Marilise

PS: Feel free to download my eBook, I share how I went from feeling overwhelmed and burned out to setting up my own business and taking charge of my life.

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