Asking For Help Is Hard, But I Need Yours To Make An Impact

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I’ll admit, I am really bad at asking for help.

If I have the ability to do something, I prefer to do it myself – even when it’s not the best use of my time or energy to do so. For example, I’m uncomfortable when a bellhop asks to take my bag that I wheeled in. I’ve also driven myself home from minor medical procedures because I didn’t want to inconvenience anyone or be taken care of.

Fortunately, perhaps due to aging and some developed wisdom, I have come to understand that not asking for help can actually be a sign of weakness.

In the early days of building my company, Acceleration Partners, I, like many founders, held every critical role. As the business grew, I knew that being a one-man show was no longer sustainable. So, gradually, I hired people to take on various roles and responsibilities, especially those that I wasn’t as strong in.

Although it took some time for me to learn how to delegate and get comfortable with letting go, I eventually came to realize that this gave me the space to focus on what I enjoyed most — helping others become more self-reliant and build their capacity.

It was for this reason that, four years ago, I started sending a simple Friday email to my team at Acceleration Partners.

I wanted these Friday messages to go beyond the typical business-related “update” content. My hope was that these weekly emails might inspire, encourage and open employees’ eyes to how they could improve, grow and achieve more in all areas of their life.

In those first few weeks and months, each time I hit “send,” I thought that, best-case, these emails would be skimmed. To my genuine surprise, not only were these employees reading them, they were sharing them with their friends and family.

I also started to see a noticeable impact within our company; actions that directly tied to the messages within these emails. Employees started running races, taking bucket list vacations and improving their professional performance. I too was realizing enormous positive change in my own life as I began practicing more of what I was preaching and maintained the discipline to write each week.

Around this time, I began sharing these emails with other business leaders (who subsequently shared it with their teams). As this forwarding process became more common, I decided to rename it Friday Forward and opened these emails to the public via a newsletter format.

Today, over 100,000 people in more than 60 countries read Friday Forward.

The more feedback I received each week from people around the world, the more it became clear that there was a bigger story to tell around the concept of capacity building.

The result of this is Elevate: Push Beyond Your Limits and Unlock Success in Yourself, a book that’s been four years in the making and that will finally be available next Tuesday, October 1st.

Elevate explores the four elements of building capacity. Since first starting to write Friday Forward, I have come to discover that these four elements are the foundation for all self-improvement and achievement.

While a short read (for most, read time is about an hour), I truly believe Elevate has the ability to help people live to their full potential, including kids in the Build.org program who will benefit from the proceeds.

But I know I can’t do this one alone. So, I’m asking for your help.

• If you have benefited from Friday Forward or shared it, please buy a copy of Elevate.
• If you have people in your life you care about who could benefit from these principles, buy a few copies as gifts (holidays are right around the corner).
• If you have shared Friday Forward regularly in your company, think about buying copies for your team. The publisher has also put together a great group discussion guide.
• If you think this message could help your organization, reach out about speaking. For the next week, I am waiving speaking fees in exchange for a bulk buy for events booked for 2020.
• Share the launch on Tuesday October 1st with our simple social-sharing kit.

Elevate will initially be available in bookstores in most English-speaking countries. For online purchase, here are links to all purchasing options:

United States Purchases

International Purchases

The e-book version of Elevate will be $0.99 for the first two days of launch before returning to its $4.99 price. The audiobook will launch in Q4.

Companion Journal

If you buy before the launch on Tuesday, October 1st, you will also receive a free companion journal that has capacity building tips for each week of the year. Instructions can be found here.

Launch Events

If you want to connect in person, I will also be doing book launch events in Boston (Oct 7th), New York (Oct 2nd) and London (October 23rd).

I will also be doing a live webinar to answer your questions with our partner, Predictive Index.

To each and every one of you who’ve given your support, encouragement and feedback on this long but incredibly rewarding journey, I am incredibly thankful for you.

Quote of the Week: “If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your path.” -Buddha

Here are a few other ways to stay in touch.

1. Sign Up for Friday Forward, my weekly inspiration/leadership note read by 100,000+ leaders in over sixty countries. 

2. Listen to my Elevate Podcast a top 100 podcast around the world for business and entrepreneurship

3. My newest book, Elevate is now available for pre-order and has been endorsed by Adam Grant, Dan Pink, Marshall Goldsmith, Kim Scott, Dr. Oz and more. 

Robert Glazer is the founder and CEO of Acceleration Partners, an award-winning performance marketing agency ranked #4 on Glassdoor’s best places to work. Robert was also named twice to Glassdoor’s list of Top CEO of Small and Medium Companies in the US, ranking #2 and was recently named one of Conscious Company’s top 22 conscious business leaders. He is also a member of Marshall Goldsmith's 100 Coaches initiative.