Contents:
The position you attain by way of the daily grind will be precious to you.
Whether your goal is to become a vice president of a corporation, a headlining comedian, or the editor-in-chief of a local newspaper; you’ll need to put in years of consistent hard work. You’ll be expected to compete and come out victorious time and time again.
You’ll win over many on your way to your desired destination, and will inevitably take some losses too. The competitive realms of life may breed a naturally aggressive mentality toward newcomers in your domain. They will be younger, fitter, smarter, and hungrier. They’ll be itching to be in your position.
As you grow in the position that you’re in, you’ll go from always interacting with those more senior than yourself, to those who are your juniors. Newcomers to your domain will be inexperienced, and will be susceptible to seeking out help from mentors in their field.
Many of your peers will refrain from providing these newcomers with opportunities. In an effort to protect what they have, and encourage rookies to go through what they went through themselves, people in your position will be tough on those following in their footsteps.
This article is written to motivate you to help newcomers in your domain.
It hopes to raise points which will make helping newcomers make sense. The overall goal is to realize that you have more to gain in helping others up to your position rather than kicking down the people climbing up the ladder behind you. Consider this portion of your journey toward your goals as a necessary one to further expand your influence in the domain you’ve set your sights on.
Those Who Make It Will Be Loyal
A certain level of trust is built when someone helps us in times when others turn their heads. Some of your most memorable moments with your parents for instance, may include times they pulled through for you when you were desperate for help. Perhaps you were stuck on an important school assignment and needed a creative spark, or got your car stuck outside in a snowstorm on a dark February night. We remember times when people come to our aid, and we develop a certain level of respect for them down the line.
Your feelings of panic would be involuntary if you find yourself stuck in quicksand for example, and so would your feelings of adoration for the person who saves you. Involuntary responses seem to breed with themselves under the right conditions. The condition of being stuck in quicksand would elicit an involuntary response of panic and struggle within you.
A person looking to take advantage of you would do well to propel their goals by first saving you from the pool of quicksand, and eliciting an involuntary response of gratefulness within you. After that, your feelings of being indebted to that individual would make you easier to take advantage of in their eyes. If they chose to travel down the more malicious pathways of being, they’d exploit the feelings of adoration you develop by being saved from certain death.
Newcomers in any domain, especially professional ones, seldom have things figured out. They’re constantly on the lookout for new lessons, new information, and errors that they make. Like a puppy in a thunderstorm, they’re often overly sensitive to triggers in their environment, and have not yet developed roughened habits of “survival.”
What often exacerbates their sensitivities, are the actions of those who’ve been around the block a few times. These veterans, often view newcomers in their domain as threats, along with being of little value to the teams they’ve joined. You can capitalize on both – the tendencies of the newcomers, as well as the veterans around you – by making it a priority to help newcomers and propel them toward growth.
The unfamiliarity of the situation they’re thrown into will give rise to involuntary feelings of anxiety and even panic. Your act of coming to the rescue with useful information and assured guidance will elicit a level of respect and loyalty that would be tough to develop with a veteran colleague in the domain you’re in.
As the people you mentor and guide grow from innocent newbies to full fledged beasts in the domain you work in, memories of your kind acts will linger deep. You’d have planted a seed of loyalty early in their growth, and that seed would have grown into a mighty tree by the time they enter into a position of authority themselves. By planting your seeds early, you commit a helpful self serving deed of ensuring, as best you can, loyalty from others down the line.
Those Who Want to Make It Will Reach Out
As you insure loyalty from the rookies who soon turn into vets, you’ll also be doing yourself a favor in your relations with other newcomers. Coming back to the quicksand metaphor, a person stuck in a pool of mud would have a limited time to reach out for help. If nobody is immediately around, they’d have some time to take out their phone and call people of their choosing. Who would they pick to call first? Who would the pick to call second?
This victim’s choice of people to seek help from will depend on hearing about others who’ve been in the situation they find themselves in. Without much thought, they’d likely dial the emergency line first. They’d explain their vulnerable situation, and would have likely made the right choice in calling that line first. Their call would get dispatched to the proper parties quickly, and their lives would likely be saved.
People call the emergency line because they’ve witnessed others do the same in emergencies. Newcomers to your party, organization, or corporation, will have a tuned sense of who they can reach out to in times of need if they see that you’re set on helping other newcomers succeed. You’ll find yourself being popular amidst those in need, and would be able to gain something in return for yourself.
Among the circumstantial benefits of being a person others come to for help, you’ll be relevant at the very least. You’d have access to information those who choose to not help newcomers, won’t have access to. You’ll be able to develop work / business relationships earlier than those who elect to not extend their hand, and you’ll advertise an image of being a trusted senior.
These benefits will culminate to aid your case for remaining in the position that you find yourself in, and perhaps propelling yourself to grow even more. After some time, the people who’ve previously benefited from your help will rise, and the people who replace them will reach out to you for help just as they did. Helping newcomers succeed is an effective long term strategy in building and maintaining a trustworthy and authoritative reputation in the hierarchy you find yourself in.