If You Want Something, Ask for It

This concept blossomed out of a recent coffee talk we had with each other. It almost seems too simple at first glance–but is it? When we contemplate how often in life, we haven’t asked for what we’ve wanted, we realized that maybe it’s not so easy. We’ve been inspired by a few stories (we’ve made anonymous) from people in our social and business networks who have recently dared to stand up and ask for what they wanted. We hope they will inspire you, too. 

A Change in Work Location

Maria works at a large corporation where overtime is expected and unpaid. She felt like she had shown that she could excel at work while working from home during the pandemic lockdown periods of the last couple of years. Her parents are from a country 3000km from where she is currently living, and she has felt a strong desire to spend as much time as possible with them lately since they are getting quite old. An idea started germinating in her head: Would it be possible to spend the summer in her home country with her parents, and continue to work remotely from there? What followed were weeks of visualizing the meeting with her boss–planning and replanning the right thing to say–and worrying about the result. She even found herself often waking up too early in the morning and ruminating about the conversation with her boss, unable to get back to sleep. When she finally set up the meeting and was able to spit the words out–a funny thing happened: Her boss said “yes” without hesitation. 

Applying for the Opportunity to Join a Science Start-up Incubator 

John, a young science student at a respected university, was exploring what courses he could take to fulfill mandatory electives in the coming semester. He stumbled upon a link on his university’s webpage to a program where students could develop their own business ideas at the university’s science innovation department, meanwhile fulfilling the elective requirements. A few things stood in the way, all outside his comfort zone:

He had to quickly formulate an idea while getting over feelings of not being “good,” “smart,” or “innovative” enough. 

1.      He had to present the idea to the head of his department.

2.      He had to contact the science innovation department and present his idea to them.

3.      He had to quickly find an academic advisor from the science faculty for the project.

4.      In one rapid-fire afternoon, he plowed through all the tasks. “Yeses” all around. 

What are the prerequisites?

The common denominator between the two examples is, that both Maria and John are very good at what they do—and this is an important notion. The point of the article is if you’re doing the right things, then asking for a break can be a fruitful opportunity, as we have seen in the examples above. 

This is not a “dancing with the stars” scenario, where you just have to show up, practice in real-time and have people admire you for your newfound skills. This strategy works best if you already are an asset to the one you’re asking, or if they can see you as a future asset. The important takeaway is, to be skillful and ask for a break matching the level of your skillset. 

We see so many people who practice their craft, but don’t dare to go out in the world and ask. This is in no way a guarantee for success, but as Michael Jordan once stated—you miss 100% of the chances you don’t take. 

So, we wish you the best of luck 

Until next time 

Scott and Lennart