Adam Grant Quotes

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Adam Grant

Profession : Author

Birth : August 13, 1981

Takers believe in a zero-sum world, and they end up creating one where bosses, colleagues and clients don't trust them. Givers build deeper and broader relationships - people are rooting for them instead of gunning for them.

Adam Grant

It's ironic that when you go through a tragedy, you appreciate more. You realize how fragile life is and that there are so many things to still be thankful for.

Adam Grant

Being a nice person is about courtesy: you're friendly, polite, agreeable, and accommodating. When people believe they have to be nice in order to give, they fail to set boundaries, rarely say no, and become pushovers, letting others walk all over them.

Adam Grant

When you develop a reputation for being responsive and generous, an ever-expanding mountain of requests will come your way.

Adam Grant

If an organization values innovation, you can assume it's safe to speak up with new ideas, leaders will listen, and your voice matters.

Adam Grant

To grow, people need to be challenged.

Adam Grant

Saying no frees you up to say yes when it matters most.

Adam Grant

The more important argument against grade curves is that they create an atmosphere that's toxic by pitting students against one another. At best, it creates a hypercompetitive culture, and at worst, it sends students the message that the world is a zero-sum game: Your success means my failure.

Adam Grant

Agreeable people are warm and friendly. They're nice; they're polite. You find a lot of them in Canada.

Adam Grant

From a motivation perspective, helping others enriches the meaning and purpose of our own lives, showing us that our contributions matter and energizing us to work harder, longer, and smarter.

Adam Grant

Some people are selfish in all of their relationships. Those people are called sociopaths.

Adam Grant

When you're good at controlling your own emotions, you can disguise your true feelings. When you know what others are feeling, you can tug at their heartstrings and motivate them to act against their own best interests.

Adam Grant

You want people who choose to follow because they genuinely believe in ideas, not because they're afraid to be punished if they don't. For startups, there's so much pivoting that's required that if you have a bunch of sheep, you're in bad shape.

Adam Grant

People often believe that character causes action, but when it comes to producing moral children, we need to remember that action also shapes character.

Adam Grant

When takers talk about mistakes, they're usually quick to place the blame on other people. Givers are more likely to say 'Here's the mistake I made; I learned the following from it. Here are the steps I'm taking to make sure I don't let people down in the future.'

Adam Grant

Creativity is generating ideas that are novel and useful. I define originals as people who go beyond dreaming up the ideas and take initiative to make their visions a reality.

Adam Grant

The opposite of an underminer is a supporter. When colleagues are supportive, they go out of their way to be givers rather than takers, working to enhance our productivity, make us look good, share ideas, and provide timely help.

Adam Grant

Originals are nonconformists, people who not only have new ideas but take action to champion them. They are people who stand out and speak up. Originals drive creativity and change in the world. They're the people you want to bet on.

Adam Grant

Conformity is dangerous.

Adam Grant

Geniuses don't have better ideas than the rest of us. They just have more of them.

Adam Grant