Look for the Helpers: The Power of Asking for Help in Professional Growth

Stepping Into the Unknown

Some of the most valuable professional advice I ever received came during my early twenties while living in New York City and working at Scholastic Inc. I had just transitioned into a production coordinator role—a promotion on paper, but the position demanded skills I hadn’t formally learned and placed new responsibilities on my shoulders.

Suddenly, I was managing the deliverables of a team, many of whom were older and more experienced than I was. I began working directly with vendors and freelancers for the first time, gaining firsthand insight into how external partnerships operate beyond theoretical understanding. Additionally, I was tasked with tracking and managing a budget of nearly one million dollars, all without previous financial training or institutional knowledge to rely on.

The experience was equal parts exhilarating, intimidating, and disorienting.

Feeling excited yet overwhelmed by my new position, the VP I reported to offered advice that has stayed with me ever since. He said, simply and without judgment, “People want to help you. You just need to ask.”

This advice has been part of the foundation of how I have since approached all professional endeavors and is truth I embrace.

Asking for Help: A Professional Skill

Early in our careers, we are often taught that self-sufficiency is the path to success. Competence is equated with independence, and asking questions is seen as a weakness or a sign of inadequacy. The assumption is that needing help means you weren’t ready for the role. No wonder so many of us experience imposter syndrome and for so long.

However, what my VP understood—and what many workplaces overlook—is that asking for help is not a weakness. It is a critical form of professional literacy.

Healthy organizations are built on shared context, not siloed struggle. They expect people will need guidance, especially as roles evolve, responsibilities grow, and work extends beyond previous experience. These organizations make space for learning as work happens. This approach greatly influences company culture and lends itself to a creative and growth-mindset.

My time at Scholastic taught me lessons about leadership, systems, and accountability that no classroom could have provided. Long before I earned my MBA, I considered that time my Master’s of Life.

The Impact of Asking for Help

Over the years, I have observed what happens when people ask for help—both personally and in others I have worked with or advised. The response reveals much about the organization.

In collaborative, well-led environments, questions are welcomed and considered part of the work. Context is shared openly. Leaders and colleagues point out resources, offer examples, and help connect the dots so you can succeed more quickly and sustainably.

In environments that are less well-led, requests for help are minimized, ignored, or reframed as personal shortcomings. Individuals are told to “figure it out” without access to information, history, or support. Knowledge is withheld, and silence replaces the guidance that leadership should provide.

The difference between these environments is rarely subtle, and it has little to do with individual capability, in other words, it’s really about attitude.

Knowing When to Move On

There is a crucial distinction between encouraging autonomy and refusing support. Growth requires challenge—but it also requires access to help, guidance, or when necessary, implicit instruction. When an organization consistently withholds assistance, it is not fostering resilience; it is shifting risk downward and calling it development.

If you find yourself repeatedly seeking clarity, direction, or collaboration and are met with indifference or dismissal, that is not a signal to work harder or ask less. Instead, it is information about the system you are in. It’s also not a reflection of your shortcomings. It reflects the culture or an individual’s modus operandi.

One of the clearest signs that it may be time to leave a role or organization is when asking for help is no longer safe, welcomed, or effective. This is not about your problem-solving skills, but about recognizing that no one does their best work in isolation, and no organization thrives by ignoring this reality.

The Value of Supportive Cultures

The advice I received early in my career remains as relevant now as it was then. People do want to help—when the culture allows it, when leadership models it, and when systems are designed to support real learning.

If you find yourself in a place where help is discouraged, withheld, or treated as an inconvenience, pay attention. Environments that do not allow for asking are rarely spaces where meaningful growth is intended to happen.