Recently, during the course of my consulting practice, I referenced and referred this great book to multiple clients and colleagues.  The general premise or problem  was this: burn-out at work from doing / “giving” too much, frustration with a work culture or leader that rewards the “takers” (people who talk a lot bs but don’t do/know anything.)

The insights from this book is simple: Be kind and helpful to others — a universal truth.  However, if you are a giver, someone who loves to help people, this gift of giving can become a weakness, a disadvantage especially in the corporate working environment.  The data collected from Adam Grant’s study reveal that there is a bi-modal distribution of “givers” in an organization — they are the worst performers and the best performers.  The key insight here is to understand the differences between those givers at the top and the givers at the bottom.

For your reference, I have created a one-page summary slide for you to download and use here.   Of course, I recommend you buy the book and read it as well — you can get at Amazon.

In addition, here are few cool videos from Adam Grant himself describing the concepts of his book.

If you don’t have 13 mins, here’s an even quicker/shorter version here on Inc.com.

Lastly, another helpful resource is Adam Grant’s website for this book.  There is a really cool Inforgraphic summary.  Enjoy!