Let’s think about preparing for a job interview. You’ve got the smart outfit. You know how to get there. Next up, consider the questions you might be asked so you can practice your answers..
Top of my list to prepare for are the ones about strengths and weaknesses. You’ll be looking to sound humble yet brilliant when asked about your strengths. Then find a way to make your weaknesses sound like a positive for the employer. So maybe loving your work too much? Or getting so carried away that you happily worked extra hours without even realising it.
How many of us would say being able to ask for help?
Asking for help is a sign of strength
Asking for help is a sign of strength. And a sensible one too. A while back, I wrote about how it takes a village to raise a brand. That’s true, but getting the right help might mean just one person (rather than a supporting cast of blacksmith, pub landlord, grocer, butcher, baker and candlestick maker).
Afterall, how often have you struggled with a tech problem for hours, then mentioned it in passing (usually as a reason you didn’t sleep well) and gotten a solution.
Or put up shelves that fell down as soon as you put anything on them and then it took just one friend who knew what they were doing to keep them on the wall.
Too often the idea of asking for help is something but embarrassing. It suggests that we don’t know what we’re doing.
This is the issue
Here’s what I think holds people back when it comes to getting help.
They’ve asked the wrong people in the past. You thought you could rely on that person or that asking the whole of LinkedIn was a good idea. The help you got wasn’t what you wanted. You got a lot of conflicting suggestions as well as a ton of judgement.
Or perhaps you knew exactly the help you needed but didn’t think it would be available. So a bit like going into a sandwich shop and ordering a sandwich when what we really want is a sausage roll. You know they’ll have sandwiches so you’ll settle for that (it won’t do a thing for your sausage roll craving).
Or worst of all, we think we don’t deserve help. I’ve made my bed and so will lie in, you might think. Why would anyone help me?
Why would anyone help me?
Great question.
Most of us like helping people. When I talk to individuals about their choice of work or why they set up their business, most tell me it’s because they like to help people. They want to make a difference.
So it goes like this. When you need help, ask, but ask the right people. The ones who won’t give you a lecture or give you their opinion at length (opinions are like… You know the rest*). Build support networks so you have the right people to ask. Be open to the different forms help might take. Someone might have a solution you hadn’t considered (sometimes the right sandwich will do the job).
How to be most useful to someone who has asked for help
What about when the shoe is on the other foot? Here are the things you can do so that you’re not the ‘wrong’ person.
- Remember, they’ve come to you because they trust you.
- Listen so that you can respond appropriately.
- Don’t judge them.
- Offer appropriate help. Maybe, you can give them exactly the help they are asking for. If not, perhaps you can connect them with someone who can.
- If you agree to help, make good on your offer.
That’s it. Keep practising and make giving and receiving help one of your strengths.
*Turns out opinions are like quite a lot of things:
- Elbows – most of us have more than one, and they bend in different directions.
- Noses – Most of us have one, and they smell.
- And that one you’ve been waiting for, in which case they all stink/no one thinks that theirs smells/ yours smells nicer than the rest.