Why You Should Give Before You Get

Why You Should Give Before You Get
A great blog post by venture capitalist Mark Suster
http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2013/06/12/why-you-should-give-before-you-get/

I have a motto in business and life.

“Give before you get.”

It’s a philosophy, really.

And it applies to business relationships & networking as much as it does to remuneration in the workplace.

It seems we live in an era of “ask.”

I see it on Twitter. Lots of asking.

I see it on email even more. And in person in spades.

Everybody is in such a rush that they go for the “ask” too early.

Sometimes there is no other option – I get that. And sometimes I feel happy to help somebody even when we’re just getting to know each other.

But less as a complaint and more as advice to younger networkers, the more you invest in relationships the more you will get when you need.

The more you accomplish through hard work the more you will feel comfortable asking for more compensation at your job.

Give. Then Get.

I was thinking about this yesterday because my assistant Tasha posted a link on Facebook to Paul C. Brunson’s short and to-the-point blog post, “It’s Called Networking, Not Using.”

In it he talked about how he gets daily emails asking for intros to Oprah (he does a lot of work with her) and his advice “The most successful relationships I have built are with people I do more for then they do for me. I give, give, give, give, ...