• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

512-693-7132

Packages   About   Testimonials

Career Pivot

Career Pivot

Repurpose your career. Pivot now.

  • Get Started
  • Books
    • Repurpose Your Career
    • Personal Branding for Baby Boomers
    • Repurpose Your Career 2019 Book Launch
  • Podcast
    • Career Pivot Interviews
    • Interviews with Career Experts
    • Repurpose Your Career Audio Book
    • Repurpose Your Career Series
    • Becoming an Expat
    • Question and Answer
    • Other Topics
  • Blog
    • 2nd Half of Life
    • Career Success
    • Career Change
    • Job Search
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Social Media
    • Multi-Generational Workplace
    • Networking
    • Expat
    • Survey Results
  • Community
  • Resources
  • Expat
  • Contact

Get Career Pivot Insights

Are You a Giver, Taker, or Matcher?

Giver, Taker, or Matcher

giverAre you a giver, taker, or matcher?  Think about it!

This is my second blog post based on the book Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success by Adam Grant.

My last post, Weak Ties versus Strong Ties in your Job Search, came directly from this book.

Givers

Adam Grant wrote:

In the workplace, givers are a relatively rare breed. They tilt reciprocity in the other direction, preferring to give more than they get. Whereas takers tend to be self-focused, evaluating what other people can offer them, givers are other-focused, paying more attention to what other people need from them. These preferences aren’t about money: givers and takers aren’t distinguished by how much they donate to charity or the compensation that they command from their employers. Rather, givers and takers differ in their attitudes and actions toward other people. If you’re a taker, you help others strategically, when the benefits to you outweigh the personal costs. If you’re a giver, you might use a different cost-benefit analysis: you help whenever the benefits to others exceed the personal costs. Alternatively, you might not think about the personal costs at all, helping others without expecting anything in return. If you’re a giver at work, you simply strive to be generous in sharing your time, energy, knowledge, skills, ideas, and connections with other people who can benefit from them.

Hmm…do you know some givers?

Takers

Adam Grant wrote:

Takers have a distinctive signature: they like to get more than they give. They tilt reciprocity in their own favor, putting their own interests ahead of others’ needs. Takers believe that the world is a competitive, dog-eat-dog place. They feel that to succeed, they need to be better than others. To prove their competence, they self-promote and make sure they get plenty of credit for their efforts. Garden-variety takers aren’t cruel or cutthroat; they’re just cautious and self-protective.

Matchers

Adam Grant wrote:

We become matchers, striving to preserve an equal balance of giving and getting. Matchers operate on the principle of fairness: when they help others, they protect themselves by seeking reciprocity. If you’re matcher, you believe in tit for tat, and your relationships are governed by even exchanges.

Repurpose Your Career Podcast

Listen to the most recent episode

Matchers are the most common in our workplace. If I help you, you will help me. If you help me, I will help you. Tit for tat.

The lines between these styles are not hard and fast. You have probably worked with all three.

Networking and Givers, Takers, or Matchers

One of the easiest places to spot differences is at a networking event.

Takers are those who will readily go from person to person handing out their business cards and asking for yours. You get a LinkedIn connection request that evening, even though you barely talked with them. For them, it is a numbers game.

The differences between Givers and Matchers can be subtle. They are the ones who engage in the art of conversation. They want to learn more about you. A giver will usually end the conversation with the question, “How can I help you?”

Think about the people you work with. What reciprocity model do they use?

Are you a giver, taker, or matcher?

Marc Miller  

Like what you just read? Share it with your friends using the buttons above.

Like What Your Read? Get Career Pivot Insights

Check out the Repurpose Your Career Podcast

Do You Need Help With ...



 Job Search

Career Pivot/
Change

Career Success

Careers in the 2nd Half of Life

Social Media

Multi-Generational Workplace

Networking

Entrepreneurship

 

 

Category iconNetworking Tag iconbook review,  giver

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Are you ready to take control of your career?
Are you ready to stop reacting and start planning what is next?

 

Join Career Pivot

For those who want to fall in love with their work again, redeploy their experience and skills into a new career, and prudently make a shift, Marc Miller’s strategic guidance is a pathway to success.

Kerry Hannon, author of Never Too Old To Get Rich: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting a Business Mid-Life

Available on Amazon.com and other fine retailers

Blog Categories

  • 2nd Half of Life (94)
  • Becoming an Expat (16)
  • Career Change (33)
  • Career Pivot (34)
  • Career Success (104)
  • Entrepreneurship (21)
  • General (4)
  • Job Search (86)
  • Mult-Generational (17)
  • Networking (12)
  • Personal Brand (8)
  • Podcasts (223)
    • Podcast – Becoming an Expat (20)
    • Podcast – Career Pivoter (44)
    • Podcast – Expert (87)
    • Podcast – Other (17)
    • Podcast – Question and Answer (19)
    • Podcast – Repurpose Your Career Book (18)
    • Podcast – Repurpose Your Career Series (15)
  • Social Media (21)
  • Survey Results (16)

BoomerJobTips

A Baby Boomer Learning Community

Popular Posts

  • What If You Are Not Passionate About Anything? [Updated] (332,578)
  • Talents versus Skills – Do you know the difference? (120,895)
  • College Degree After 50 – Is It Worth It? It… (96,277)
  • What is Your Current Salary? How to Answer! [Updated] (54,403)
  • Are you a Multipotentialite? (51,969)
  • Perfect Fit for the Position? Expect to Lose! [Updated] (43,597)
  • How Long Will My Job Search Take? Longer Than You… (38,891)
  • Who is Really Making the Hiring Decision? [Updated] (28,232)
  • 3 Steps to Get the Hiring Manager or Recruiter to Respond (25,720)
  • Dealing with that Directionless Feeling [Updated] (24,050)
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

© Marc Miller and Associates, LLC 2012-2019 ~ All Rights Reserved | A Standard Beagle Website | Read Our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Find out more.