Asking for help is never easy. As humans, there is an element of ego and pride that stops us from asking for help when we need it the most. I’ve always shied away from asking for help because of a combination of ego and fear of rejection.
A couple of events in my journey, including launching a book, have forced me to get comfortable with asking for help in ways that I would have never done before.
Leaning onto your community is one of the best things that you can do, especially if you want to make a better impact in the world. Here are a few I have cultivated by just leaning into the art of asking.
Connect with your community
When we get comfortable with asking for help, we can connect with our community. It’s humbling and scary, but being able to lean on others and get their opinion or get their support. It’s something that can help us connect with them.
Over the past few weeks have constantly been contacting and chatting with the teachers for Alt Marketing School and our curriculum designer and friend Raz. Leaning on them has helped me massively taking a new perspective into the tone, the messaging, and the laynch video.
Implementing their feedback and making them part of the journey has helped them be even more vocal and excited about the launch. I believe that if I hadn’t done that due to fear of inconveniencing the teachers, they wouldn’t have been as taken by the launch. They saw that their contribution and feedback matter; the teachers became a vital part of the market research and product development process.
You can do this with your community on social media, your customers, or even your friends. Make it a practice you can come back to again as you grow and evolve.
Become better listeners
When we ask for help, we also might get criticism, and I learned a very long time ago that the more I can take that criticism and feedback, the better I can make everything I do.
My mission is to serve my people, after all. Whether I’m looking at my book launch or our new brand, I know that I will have to face uncomfortable truths by making my community part of the process. In the past, I had to face suggestions that bruise my ego. And as entrepreneurs, ego can be the enemy. Whilst the ego is protecting us from perceived failure and rejection. It also prevents us from seeing the truth.
By getting used to listening to feedback, struggles, obstacles from our community, our audience and people around us, we can stop falling in love with our ideas so much we are blinded by them — Goodness knows if I am not guilty of that.
When we listen without attachment, we listen without expectations. And this is something that can be beneficial in every single aspect of our life.
Strengthen relationships with your network
Lastly, it’s so important that we get comfortable with asking for help to give back to others when they needed the most. Asking for help is a way to foster collaborations, especially to be there for people when they need us, and we create relationships that are much stronger with our network.
When I needed help to achieve a significant milestone or hit a target, I leaned shamelessly into my network. Every time I asked, I made sure I’d offer a way to help in return. In times like these, I was reminded of the importance of nurturing relationships.
If struggling with time, I would recommend turning this into a task. Whether you want to check in with your business buddies, connect with people within your close network to see how they’re doing, or logging into a Slack group, you have forgotten about.
Asking for help reiterates the concept of reciprocity. You become more proactive when you see pop people within your network of entrepreneurs and friends looking for support or sharing ideas and inspiration.
Lean into your vulnerability
The more we can focus on improving our leadership skills and how we interact with other humans, online and offline, the better entrepreneurs we can become.
Being vulnerable is an art we need to rekindle with.
The people we surround ourselves with shape who we are, what our brand is, and even the services that we want to provide.
However, I’m leaning onto the community and their enthusiasm by asking them to be part of the journey. I am open to honest feedback and ready to support my audience whenever it needs me without asking me.
I hope this inspired you to get more comfortable with asking for help in whichever way and use it to communicate better with your community overall.
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