Business and Finance

ASK for help…GIVE help…get help
Written by Shelley Smith

Are you a person, an owner, a leader, an executive, a mother, a father, a grandmother, etc. that loses sleep and tries to fix problems on your own? Moreover, everyone else’s too. Have you ever met someone in any walk of your life that thought they were in control and never second-guessed that perception? While reading this short article I hope to challenge the very foundation of how business and many lives run today. That is the challenges ask for help and see what would / could happen.

Asking for help comes in so many different shapes and sizes and sought after in many ways. As a mother of three, a husband with MS and a full time career I have at many times found it hard or rather impossible to ask for help. Why? I think I can do it all or rather I would like to think I can do it all for everyone. I suppose I can, but only to a certain extent. At some point, something does have to give. (Give, that is interesting. Hold that thought!)

Asking for help does not mean you are not capable, it simple means you need more assistance or more hands or simply put, it is not your thing to handle. We all have strengths and areas needing improvement; on the other hand, do we, improvement? Why can’t we simple be the best at what our God given talents are and simple give, give, give on those strengths, those talents. You have many options and circle of influence where you can ask for help; your peer group, your family, your friends, your neighbors, and your work team just to name a few.

Once your heart, your mind, your soul wraps around the concept of asking for help then GIVING help is so, so easy. You can give back to others naturally when you see strengths others possess first. You become so in tune with your own abilities and passions that you want to freely give to others and offer up your talents. Giving happens without being asked; without expectations of what a person gets in return. Giving naturally becomes second nature. We cannot put limits on how we can give help. The possibilities are endless.

Finally, once you are in tune with asking and giving, getting comes back in the most unexpected and beautiful ways. Maybe you cannot stay for a networking group, someone gives your elevator speech for you and you hear about it later from another attendee. Perhaps the neighbor sees you running all day with errands, picking up the kids, going to work, yard-work and brings over Sunday dinner. The kids suddenly put the dishes away and clean their rooms. Your desk and files are cleared and put away.

All your business cards put into your contact management system.
There are many commercials, many posters about pass it on. Pass it on works famously if you live on the principle of Ask, Give…then get. Try it, ask for help and see what happens. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Shelley Smith is the President of Pink Sky, Inc., and a TAB-Certified Facilitator in the Newport News, VA area. Prior to owning her own company, Shelley spent several decades in top executive positions within Marriott Corporation, LTD Management and HMP Properties. Most of those years were spent working directly in the Hampton Roads area. She has established a long line of networking partners of well-respected and established companies.
Shelley has substantial knowledge and experience in the operations of day-to-day businesses. Her expertise includes making assessments of a stand-alone unit or multiple units, reviewing key performance drivers and advising the owner, president or CEO on how to deploy their staff and use other resources to operate more efficiently through systems and processes.
Shelley’s education includes certifications from Cornell Business School in Ithaca, NY as well as a long list of professional certifications acquired while working for and within Marriott, Hilton, Starwood and Intercontinental Hotels.