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The Art of Motivation Maintenance

Why Some Givers Burn Out but Others Are On Fire

The intelligent altruists, though less altruistic than the unintelligent altruists, will be fitter than both

unintelligent altruists and selfish individuals.

—Herbert Simon, Nobel Prize winner in economics

Up to this point, we’ve been focusing on how givers climb to the top of the success ladder through the
unique ways that they build networks, collaborate, communicate, influence, and help others achieve
their potential. But as you saw in the opening chapter, givers are also more likely to end up at the
bottom of the success ladder. Success involves more than just capitalizing on the strengths of giving; it
also requires avoiding the pitfalls. If people give too much time, they end up making sacrifices for
their collaborators and network ties, at the expense of their own energy. If people give away too much
credit and engage in too much powerless communication, it’s all too easy for them to become
pushovers and doormats, failing to advance their own interests. The consequence: givers end up
exhausted and unproductive.
Since the strategies that catapult givers to the top are distinct from those that sink givers to the
bottom, it’s critical to understand what differentiates successful givers from failed givers. The next
three chapters examine why some givers burn out while others are on fire; how givers avoid being
exploited by takers; and what individuals, groups, and organizations can do to protect givers and
spread their success.
Recently, the Canadian psychologists Jeremy Frimer and Larry Walker led an ambitious effort to
figure out what motivates highly successful givers. The participants were winners of the Caring
Canadian Award, the country’s highest honor for giving, recognizing people who have devoted many
years of their lives to help their communities or advance a humanitarian cause. Many winners of this
award have sustained extraordinary giving efforts for decades in order to make a difference.
To reveal what drove them, all of the participants filled out a questionnaire asking them to list ten