Reinforcements: How to Get People to Help You

Description

We all need help - especially in today's uber-collaborative workplaces. Here's the good news: humans are naturally wired to want to help each other. Now here's the bad: asking for help makes most of us wildly uncomfortable. As a result, we do a poor job of calling in the reinforcements we need, leaving confused or even offended colleagues in our wake. This pragmatic book explains the research on what psychologists call social intelligence. To elicit helpful behavior from their colleagues, you need to do two things: 1) Remove the obstacles that stand in the way of them helping you; 2) Trigger one or more of the motivations that make people want to help. Whether you're a first-time manager or a seasoned leader, getting people to do things for you is what management is. This book will help you do so, and do it in a way that leaves your helpers feeling good about pitching in.

Heidi Grant, PhD, is a social psychologist who researches, writes, and speaks about the science of motivation. She is Global Director of Research & Development at the NeuroLeadership Institute and serves as Associate Director of Columbia's Motivation Science Center. She received her doctorate in social psychology from Columbia University.

Named a Business Book of the Month by the Financial Times Advance Praise for Reinforcements: Daniel H. Pink, author of When and Drive-- "Everyone--seriously, everyone--will benefit from reading Reinforcements. With graceful prose and a firm grasp of the science, Heidi Grant shows how to seek assistance in ways that leave both the asker and the helper feeling positive, effective, and ready to help again." Dorie Clark, author, Entrepreneurial You and Reinventing You-- "No one can do it alone. Whatever your project, mission, or job, you'll almost certainly need assistance to succeed. Heidi Grant's Reinforcements shows you the path forward." Art Markman, Founding Director, Human Dimensions of Organizations program, University of Texas; author, Smart Thinking and Brain Briefs-- "As always, Grant provides a masterful blend of theory and practical advice that is as entertaining as it is useful." David Burkus, author, Friend of a Friend-- "This brief but brilliant book will have a lasting impact on how you ask for (and get) more help in your work and life." Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg, author, Innovation as Usual-- "A powerful, practical book on how to attract allies and gain support for your ideas. Required reading for anyone who wants to get things done with the help of others." Robert Sutton, professor, Stanford University; author, The Asshole Survival Guide and coauthor of Scaling Up Excellence-- "Reinforcements is a delightful and surprising masterpiece. Grant's compelling weave of stories and studies shows how to ask for help (and how not to), and--believe it or not--why, when you ask others for help, you do them a big favor."