“Everything you do has secondary consequences. Considering secondary consequences is the hallmark of wisdom and the basis of all civilization.” – Brian Tracy
How many times throughout your day do you respond to a question by saying you don’t know or you can’t help the person? Yup, to many this is the easy approach and then you don’t have to worry anymore about the situation, though what would happen if you instead tried to help the person find the answer?
How would the person asking the question feel? Would they respect you a little bit more or do you think they would take the advice for granted? Overtime when you help people they come to trust you because they know that you can be counted on when they need some help.
Because they trust you and know that they can come to you for help, an interesting thing happens. That same person will now help you out when you turn to them for assistance – It’s the “Law of Reciprocity” at work where responding to a positive action with another positive action is hard wired into our human nature.
It may take a bit more effort, though how much would it hurt to say “Yes, Yes I can help you get the right answer” and help lead the person in the right direction if you can’t directly help them yourself.
Giddyup
