A guide

The Art of Asking for What You Need

No one can know what we need until we tell them

We have peace lilies in the corner of our breakfast nook. They are my favorite plant in the house, blooming with white flowers every week.

What I’ve come to admire about this plant is its ability to communicate; it slumps every seven days to let us know it needs to be watered.

I’m amazed each week. The plant doesn’t complain, it doesn’t blame us or the world for failing to water it sooner — it just tells us what it needs with clarity.

Each week when watering our plant I feel slightly indicted as I reflect on the moments I might snap at my girlfriend, submit a deliverable late, or overload my day because I refuse to ask for what I need from others with the same clarity as a peace lilies.

When working with leaders and teams, one of the common challenges across the board is the simple task of asking for assistance from one another, vendors, adjacent departments, managers, you-name-it.

I get it — I hate asking for help, but for us to have healthy relationships, run more effective teams, and be as productive as possible considering many of us are working virtually, we need to get this asking-for-what-we-need thing figured out.