Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success

In this chapter, Grant highlights the ability of givers to recognize potential in others. He identifies C. J. Skender, an accounting professor at University of North Carolina and Duke, as a consummate giver. He’s highly supportive, invests a lot in his students, and makes his classes entertaining and engaging. He emphasizes grit, hard work, and determination over natural talent. Many of his students have gone on to become successful. Grant calls out two of them: Reggie Love, who went on to work as Obama’s personal aide, and Beth Traynham, who, despite not having a knack for math, won a gold medal for her top performance on the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam.

To illustrate the effectiveness of teachers with giver tendencies, Grant cites a study by psychologist Benjamin Bloom, as well as findings from the book The Talent Code (2009) by Daniel Coyle, which show that teachers who are givers are excellent at motivating young students because they create an interesting, fun, and supportive learning environment.

He cites another study from the early 1980s, conducted by Dov Eden. Eden randomly selected training groups in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and told the training leaders that these groups had “high potential.