Reinforcements: How to Get People to Help You

Reinforcements: How to Get People to Help You

<p><b>Humans have a natural instinct to help others.</b></p><p>Imagine walking up to a stranger on the subway and asking them for their seat. What about asking a random person on the street if you could borrow their phone? If the idea makes you squeamish, you're not alone--social psychologists have found that doing these very things makes most of us almost unbearably uncomfortable.</p><p>But here's the funny thing: even though we hate to ask for help, <i>most people are wired to be helpful</i>. And that's a good thing, because every day in the modern, uber-collaborative workplace, we all need to know when and how to call in the cavalry.</p><p>However, asking people for help isn't intuitive; in fact, a lot of our instincts are wrong. As a result, we do a poor job of calling in the reinforcements we need, leaving confused or even offended colleagues in our wake.</p><p>This pragmatic book explains how to get it right. With humor, insight, and engaging storytelling, Heidi Grant, PhD, describes how to elicit helpful behavior from your friends, family, and colleagues--in a way that leaves them feeling genuinely happy to lend a hand.</p><p>Whether you're a first-time manager or a seasoned leader, getting people to pitch in is what leadership <i>is</i>. Fortunately, people have a natural instinct to help other human beings; you just need to know how to channel this urge into what it is you specifically need them to do. It's not manipulation. It's just management.</p>