Can individuals who are natural givers be successful in a corporate environment?

This was a driving question that we had going into the final month of 2016 as the Omnitech team had the opportunity to read and discuss the book Give and Take by Adam Grant.

As a company full of people who are passionate about helping others learn and grow, the topic of giving struck very close to home. Working in the ever accelerating technology field, we understand the need to slow down and help others along their path. We strive to incorporate a giving culture through taking part in local technology conventions, supporting youth engineering development programs, engineer code-reviews, and especially our internship program which we view as beneficial for our full-time engineers as well as the interns who join us for the summer. This concept of giving does not end at the office; we believe that helping others is an important aspect of humanity itself. A quote from Simon Sinek perfectly encapsulates this methodology, "Givers advance the world. Takers advance themselves and hold the world back."

Give and Take begins with three fundamental styles of social interaction (giving, taking, and matching) and a question of whether givers can rise to the top of the success ladder or are they doomed to be doormats. In this book, Grant does not simply state what he believes is true; he provides countless studies and analysis supporting the argument that givers can not only be successful but can thrive in a society that is often labeled "dog eat dog." However, to say that a giver is going to catapult into success overnight would not be an accurate statement. Building success takes time and determination as a giver's reputation continues to grow to the point that a network of people who have received the gifts begin to support and multiply a giver's area of influence.

Not convinced that Give and Take should jump to the top of your reading list? Take a minute to check out Grant discussing the message of Giving and Take:

http://www.mckinsey.com/businessfunctions/organization/our-insights/whartons-adam-grant-on-the-key-to-professional-success.

Give and Take(aways)

Here are some of our favorite takeaways from Give and Take:

• Givers often occupy both the top and the bottom of the success ladder. At the beginning of a giver's journey, they may underperform as they invest their time and effort helping others, but as their contributions grow, their success becomes exponential.
• Giving is a long game, and success does not happen overnight. If Givers continue to foster relationships of generosity they may eventually see dividends as people recognize the gift they received and feel they should give in return.
• Giving can be contagious! People can evolve into givers in an environment that is supportive and encouraging of giving.
• We are fortunate at Omnitech to live in an environment of giving twofold, one: our team members are encouraged and expected to invest in others' success and growth and two: our local community is built of givers; people willing and able to help others advance the community as a whole.
• Look to build an organization of givers, as they are the people that will propel the organization forward.
• People tend to migrate towards the social interaction style of the people around them.
• Lastly, giving is easy. It can be as simple as giving time and attention to a person that needs it.

We highly recommend Give and Take, and the message helps us reinforce our mission here at Omnitech. It provided us with an analytical look at the benefits of being a giving person and demonstrated that you really could have your cake and eat it too, the cake is helping others and eating it is the success you can have through giving!

Giver & Taker Assessment