If you have a lot of small tasks to complete in four hours and someone asks for your help, you might be tempted to decline, thinking, “I guess I’ll finish them one by one in time,” rather than risk assigning them to someone else, only to find out they didn’t meet the expected standards.
However, if you have a month-long project involving multiple aspects, such as e-book design, compilation, and proofreading, it might be worth investing a day or two to train someone who can assist you.
In this case, accepting help is a smart choice and can boost productivity.
The problem is that people have become resistant to accepting help.
One major reason is a lack of belief in others’ potential.
Another reason could be the reluctance to take on the effort of training or guiding someone (“I’d rather do it myself” mentality).
The third and most unfortunate reason is the desire to avoid feeling obligated to others or sharing credit.
Such sentiment often stems from past experiences, increasing the burdens on professionals and slowing down their productivity.
Your goal should be to deliver work efficiently and contribute to the growth of the company (whether it’s your own or not).
Anything that hinders you from achieving this goal, especially if driven by personal emotions or past experiences, is not beneficial.
Occasionally, taking help from people in cross-functional departments is neither new nor wrong. That’s the true essence of working in a company.
You need to trust others, invest extra effort in extending your skills to others, and perhaps put in additional work time or patience.
But once you prepare soldiers to fight for you, the battle becomes easier.
Think about it. Leadership must focus on developing trust within teams because it’s crucial for achieving collective goals.
