Once in awhile you read a book that really sticks with you and changes the way you think. For me, one of those was Give and Take by Adam Grant. It made me think about the kind of person I want to be in the world.
What is a giver? A taker? And how do those roles play out in a nonprofit organization…or in your life?
I had the great privilege to have New York Times bestselling author Adam Grant on the podcast to discuss these topics and more. I feel so lucky that I can share some of his insights with you through this episode.
About Adam Grant
Recognized as one of the world’s 25 most influential management thinkers and a member of Fortune’s “40 Under 40,” Adam Grant is the author of two New York Times bestselling books. Originals explores how individuals champion new ideas and leaders fight groupthink. Give and Take examines why helping others drives our success, and was named one of the best books of 2013. His third book, Option B, with Sheryl Sandberg, is on the topic of resilience and is due out in April.
Adam is the Saul P. Steinberg Professor of Management at Wharton School of Business and a professor of psychology. He has been Wharton’s top-rated professor for five straight years. Adam is a leading expert on how we can find motivation and meaning and how to live more generous and creative lives.
In this episode:
- What does a successful “giver” look like, especially at a nonprofit?
- How can givers avoid burnout?
- How can givers avoid becoming a doormat?
- How to weed out the “takers”
- Why “matchers” are supremely critical in an organization
- Why writing a book is rarely about the money
- Adam’s book recommendations for the social sector
- The importance of asking for help and the Reciprocity Ring
Episode Links:
- Adam Grant’s Bio
- Adam’s newsletter Granted
- Originals by Adam Grant
- Give and Take by Adam Grant
- Option B by Adam Grant
- Joan Garry’s Guide to Nonprofit Leadership: Because Nonprofits Are Messy by Joan Garry
- Good to Great by Jim Collins
- Influence by Robert Cialdini
- The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
- Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
- Mindfulness by Ellen Langer
- The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle
- The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle
- Quiet by Susan Cain
- Leading Teams by J. Richard Hackman
- Difficult Conversations by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen, and Roger Fisher
- Changing Minds by Howard Gardner
- Watch Joan on GIVE on NBC
- Music by Jukebox the Ghost