Is Giving Now Passé in Business?

April 19, 2012 - PRLog -- I’ve heard that there are two types of people in this world. “There are the givers and there are the takers.” Does this saying suggest that people really don’t fall somewhere in between, which may be healthier? Fact is, I have worked with too many women who are “givers,” having their very vitality sucked out of them, leaving them resentful—so that isn’t good. The problem is that it’s the very nature of women to want to make sure everyone is taken care of.

The 12-Hour Work Horse
I met a woman once who put in twelve hours a day every workday, and if the boss wanted her to come in on weekends, she’d do that. If the boss wanted later evening meetings with the new hires, she was the one assigned to take care of it. This woman worked and worked and didn’t have the time, energy, or ability to take care of herself with what was left when she wasn’t working. This example is of course an extreme one on the giving side.

Sleeping Through Business
And takers, well, most of us know an example of those types. I know of an employee who would come to work, sit down at the chair in his office and pull out a novel and read, then get on his computer to fire off a few work emails, after which he’d launch into computer games. He had been busted a time or two after the boss caught him reading his book in the bathroom and sleeping at his desk. Bottom line, no one likes takers, so that isn’t good either.

Is There a Healthy Balance?
How to find the healthy balance? Percentages. If you give away everything in your business, you will go broke. If you don’t give away anything then you are not going to have the law of the harvest working for you.

Not So Easy
Chances are when you first try to adjust your giving and taking to achieve balance, it is going to seem strange and you aren’t going to know what it should look like. So if you are a giver—try to just dive in and take— maybe some help, some time for self, etc. Most of my clients that have the giving problem struggle with this. They come back thinking they are taking way too much, and most of the time they are still giving.

Compliment Depletion
If you are a taker, then give, give, give. I once gave a client an assignment to give compliments to his co-workers every day. He came back shocked at how difficult it was for him to give even one compliment. His compliment muscle had almost atrophied from his lack of focus on others. He had to start doing things to get in shape.
No matter which side you are on, it is important to take steps to become closer to the middle. You will be amazed at the results.

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http://bizonyourterms.com I'm a wife, mother of eight, award winning author and professional speaker.