I loved learning about this concept from Amanda Owen’s book, “The Power of Receiving.” (her website linked). She explains that if you are in the doing and taking process then you are feeling resentful and greedy or frustrated and entitled. Contrast this with the feelings of gratitude and generosity if you are in the giving and receiving mode.
Over the past few weeks I have taken on a project with a large company here in the Phoenix area that is calling on my supply chain expertise much more than my coaching skills. My first love is for coaching so I started thinking about what I can take away from this experience that will serve me: new contacts across the organization for my network, learning a new ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system, etc…But then when I heard of this concept of doing & taking I realized that thinking about what I can take was not as powerful as considering what I can receive and give as part of this experience.
From the people that I am interacting with, I am receiving:
- a new perspective on the challenges of working in an organization that has gone through tremendous reductions and is shifting to recover
- interesting conversations about how they are dealing with their stress and coping with their challenges
- new learning about the use of the ERP system and other supportive supply chain programs that I had not used before
And I am giving:
- a coach perspective on how to effectively cope with unhappy coworkers and/or customers
- my best effort to make a difference in the areas of their business that I can impact with more proactive processes
- my full attention and focus while working on their tasks
This works personally too; do you find yourself doing a lot for the people around you and then resenting them or do you do it with a sense of generosity and expect nothing in return? If it is the former then consider stopping it altogether or shifting your perspective. Consider how you can be a better receiver and giver versus a taker and doer and share a comment on how this perspective has changed how you experience something in your work or personal life.
photocredit: designwallah via Flickr creative commons