Building excellence is as simple as looking for helpers, and working to be a helper yourself.
If you had to start from scratch today, and build a company with an excellent culture, how would you do it? If you are committed to starting to grow your personal brand or company, what is the most effective first step you can take?
What if you had to look no further than Fred Rogers — host of long-running children’s program, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood? Rogers once gave the following advice in an interview:
“My mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world.”
He’s spot on. There are helpers everywhere. They are the folks whose first instinct is to put aside their stuff for a few minutes, and get you what you need. They’re the folks that ask you good questions, and try to understand things.
No matter your endeavor, look for helpers. They’re out there, just find them. Find them, bring them in, and keep them close. Also, keep them fulfilled. Keep doing that, and the rest will take care of itself.
Look for the Helpers
Helpers don’t need to be experts. They don’t need an impressive list of achievements or skills. In fact, some of the most helpful people don’t have either of those things. But they have something much more valuable: enthusiasm to contribute.
We often think that the right amount of skills or expertise make someone an effective contributor .Companies will often hire for skills; it’s why job listings still have long lists of things that candidates supposedly need to be proficient at or certified in. When we look for help in our own endeavors, we look for a long list of accolades, awards, and experience.
But in my experience, having those skills and accolades (in most cases) is not what makes for the best contribution. The person may be competent, but competence doesn’t equal contribution; there is so much more to it.
There are perfectly competent sociopaths all over the world. They’re good at what they do (i.e., they’ve got skills), but that often comes with being difficult to work with, or being set in their ways. When you’re looking to someone for help — be it growing your company or helping with your personal project — the last thing you need is someone to fit your thing to their most favored pattern.
How to Spot Helpers
Helpers are easy to spot, if you know what to look for. They are the folks who — though they may not have many of the skills listed on paper — have something that will motivate them to master any one of those skills: the desire to help.
A helper is not merely an enthusiastic person, though enthusiasm is a part of it. Helpers are not only excited to help, but also know how to go about helping. They know how to ask questions, get an understanding of what they do and don’t know, as well as what’s important to know. Then, they get to work. They build solid relationships, listen well, and connect.
The thing about a skilled person who isn’t a helper is that they will never outgrow their skills, unless it directly helps them primarily. Helpers, though, see that growth works both ways. They will give of themselves to learn more, so they can help grow others and an organization. They know that they’ll get growth in return — and that it takes time.
Be a Helper Yourself
Perhaps the best thing you can do in a company or a community is be a helper. Not only is it more beneficial for the organization long-term, but it’s also easier to start doing right away.
The best approach is to start by asking questions. If you ask enough questions, and really try to understand the answers as they’re given, you will begin to make progress. You don’t even have to be knowledgeable about something in order to help.
On many occasions, the act of someone answering your question will help them come to a better understanding of a problem, and they’ll have a solution they didn’t have before. And all you had to do was ask a question.
Once you become knowledgeable and skillful to some extent, you can begin coming up with solutions. You can jump from one problem to another — asking questions and gaining even more skills and knowledge. At that point, you have helped your organization tremendously, and you’ve also helped yourself.
See that’s the thing about helpers: they’ll always begin by helping others, but they end up helping themselves considerably.
Look for the helpers, and be one yourself.
As far as an organizational or personal growth strategy, you can do much, much worse.