Give and Take by Adam M. Grant

If you really thought about it, you might assume that people who hog all the glory or keep all the money for themselves are the only ones who get ahead. Grant uses this book to argue that the opposite is true, that we need to look for the givers in our lives. The chapters are split into topics like influencing people,  recognizing potential, and burn out and each looks at how givers and takers approach each. Each chapter also provides real-world examples.

Chapter 5 specifically talks about how to approach communication from a place of non-dominance. That an average interviewer was looked down on when they spilled coffee but it made an expert more relatable. In this chapter, he also references "powerless speech"- hesitations, hedging, disclaimers and more. Normally, you might think this displays a sense of inferiority but it can make people more receptive than a forceful arguement would.

Grant does a deep dive to understand why some people succeed and others fail. His theory? There are givers and takers in the world. The people who lift up everyone around them and the ones who are only in it for themselves. 

Grant weaves together stories of both givers and takers and why they succeeded and what they did to help or hinder others. My biggest surprise is that successful givers aren’t immune from self-interest, they just help others succeed as well.

Four stars

This book came out in 2013

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own