Helping: How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help (The Humble Leadership Series Book 1)

Helping examines the psychological and social dynamics of helping relationships. While helping is a fundamental human activity, offers of assistance are often resented, resisted, or refused—and people frequently react the same way when others attempt to help them. This book analyzes why providing or accepting help can be difficult and how to make the process easier. Ed Schein explores the dynamics common to all types of helping relationships, including assisting, aiding, advising, caregiving, coaching, consulting, counseling, guiding, mentoring, supporting, and teaching. He explains why help is often not helpful and outlines what helpers must do to ensure their assistance is welcomed and genuinely useful. The book covers how to navigate asking for or offering help, avoid common pitfalls, mitigate power imbalances, and establish trust. These techniques apply to teamwork and organizational leadership. Drawing on examples from many relationship types—husbands and wives, doctors and patients, consultants and clients—Schein provides a concise analysis of what it takes to establish successful, mutually satisfying helping relationships.