Last year Adam Grant released a book that changed the way we think about success.
In the best-selling “Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success,” which is now in paperback, the Wharton professor uses decades of psychological studies to make a provocative yet promising argument: that givers are the most likely to succeed.
Why? Because success doesn’t depend on talent or hard work alone. It also depends on how we interact with people.
To Grant, people tend to have one of three “styles” of interaction. There are takers, who are always trying to serve themselves; matchers, who are always trying to get equal benefit for themselves and others; and givers, who are always trying to help people.
It’s in the helping that givers succeed, he says. People with an optimistic (but not naive) perspective have a way of making their own luck — and being awesome leaders. Below is a transcript of our conversation, condensed and edited for clarity.
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