Week 4 of Lead Wise Self-Management Intensive- Project 6 on Generosity: Ask for and Give Help

This week has been one of the most, if not the most, enjoyable for me so far during the course as it has made me reflect a great deal, something which I increasingly enjoy each day.

It started with a great session on Monday where we started working in groups reflecting on acts of generosity we had experienced in our workplaces. I discussed with my group about many different situations we had faced where we had either received or offered generosity at different levels of profoundness. We agreed how one of the most authentic acts of generosity experienced so far was stepping back and letting others shine.

The group project has involved asking and offering help, but formulating these requests with a specific and straightforward kind of communication is key and, many times, it is not often done this way. This may cause frustration in the person that is offering/ requesting and confusion in the person that is receiving, so the language used is rather crucial here.

In my group, it was only two of us this week but I must say I found strikingly useful and enriching to work this way too, in pairs, as we did when working on the immunity map. My reflections on the process was that, by offering and requesting help, we we are able to find a lot of synergies in our work in a very nurturing manner. It really felt as I was helping myself whilst helping the other person, in a similar way as in a symbiosis.

My next steps are to offer help evaluating social media profiles and say thank you to this person in public for making such valuable contributions and offering such generosity. This is called “working out loud”, a framework which I aim to keep exploring and putting into practice, as I believe it may bring very positive outcomes although only as long as it becomes a habit.