I and me instead of us and we

McKinsey Quarterly just hit my inbox with an article on corporate culture, Givers take all: The hidden dimension of corporate culture.There a few ways to summarize the research the article reported on. I think the lede says it best.

“By encouraging employees to both seek and provide help, rewarding givers, and screening out takers, companies can reap significant and lasting benefits.”

The article promotes the concept that organizations need to screen out those with taker tendencies and hire more givers.  You already know from your life experience that takers often are negative people can take over a group. They’re vocal and hard to confront. And from my work experience and the article makes this point, that in the workplace takers do more harm that givers do good.

How would you describe yourself and more importantly, how would you interview when the organization used givers vs. takers as a criterion for hiring?

First, takers tend to claim personal credit for successes; more likely to use pronouns like I and me instead of us and we.  When interviewers ask questions about success, you’ve been instructed to be proud of and talk about your accomplishments.  How do you balance the need to stand out with demonstrating you are more of a giver?

Recommendation: Describe accomplishments in ways that demonstrate your ability to work collaboratively. Talk about your role on a team but define the success as a team/group success.

Second, takers when dealing with the organization’s leadership or a professor in your situation as a college student, demonstrate very different behavior than when they are interacting with peers, subordinates and team members.  The researchers named in the article call this, “Kissing up; kicking down”. How would an employer learn this about you?

Recommendation: When the interviewer asks questions such tell me about the most difficult or frustrating individual that you've ever had to work with, and how you managed to work with them you want to demonstrate leadership and your ability to handle challenging situations maturely. It’s the difference of telling an interviewer I went to my boss and complained or telling the interviewer you asked your boss for help on how to handle the situation and then followed his advice. And when providing references give thought to what people will say about you and choose carefully.

Third, takers tend to consistently demonstrate hostility towards their peers to feel better about themselves. He didn’t deserve an A in that class. She should not have made the team. We’ve all make remarks like that on occasion.  Employers can tell the difference between being competitive and being hostile.

Recommendation: Interviewers will be able to identify if this is a consistent behavior by the way you respond to questions such as describe a time when you had a conflict with a team member and how did you handle it or how aggressive your language is when describing a project and its team members. For example you could tell the interviewer you had to assume leadership of a project because no one knew how to meet a deadline or you could say when I am working in a team I am generally the person who takes on the leadership role because my team member appreciate my organizational skills that keep us on track.

An organization might not describe its culture as giving or taking but you can ask questions that will provide you with indicators.  Here some questions to understand a corporate culture.

• Could you describe your company's management style and the type of employee who fits well with it?
• What determines success in this company?
• How are conflicts with bosses resolved?
• What’s the company’s philosophy on training and development?
• What are the most difficult aspects of this job? Working in this company?
• What are some of the skills and abilities necessary for someone to succeed in this job?

Are you a I and me instead of an us and we? What’s the best corporate culture for you to thrive in?