Adam Grant Module 1: Creating a Culture of Givers

Module 1 Highlights:

Research revealed three styles of interaction:

• Givers: People who are constantly asking, “What can I do for you?”
• Takers: Opposite of givers, want to know, “What can you do for me?”
• Matchers: “I’ll do something for you if you do something for me.”

Characteristics of successful Givers:

• Thoughtful about who, when and how they help.
• Block out time for their work instead of dropping everything whenever they are needed.
• Specialists instead of generalists — reserve time to add value in ways that are energizing.

Culture depends on successful Givers:

• Rather than focus on hiring givers, it’s more important to weed out the takers in your selection processes. “One bad apple can spoil the barrel, but one good egg just does not make a dozen.”
• The two dimensions that should be critical to the promotion of someone into a leadership role are:
  • Evidence that they can drive individual results.
  • Demonstration that they can enhance the performance of the people around them.

Module 1 discussion questions:

1. How would you characterize the interaction style of yourself and your leadership team?
2. How could you better prioritize who, when and how you help others to be more aligned with the components of a successful Giver?
3. Effective Givers are specialists and reserve time to add value in ways that are energizing. Where do you see evidence of that in yourself or your organization?
4. Do you have Takers on your team who initially performed but have flamed out or have proven to be toxic to your culture? How have you addressed that?

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Related Resources

Adam Grant brings insights to Vistage for a member-exclusive event

Discussion guide for Vistage Chairs (Members can request a copy from their Chairs) 

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