February 19, 2024

121: Zoe Chance on Reducing the Asking Gap

19 minutes

Zoe Chance, Yale lecturer and author of the international bestseller, INFLUENCE IS YOUR SUPERPOWER, studies persuasion, decision making, and how people can lead happier, healthier, more fulfilling lives.

At Yale, Zoe teaches one of Yale’s most popular classes, Mastering Influence and Persuasion. She also collaborates with Google and Optum Health. Prior to her engagement at Yale, Zoe marketed a $200 million segment of the Barbie brand at Mattel and developed an executive education leadership program at Harvard.

Her research has been covered in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, Scientific American, Psychology Today, Financial Times, and Discover.

Zoe received her doctorate from Harvard, MBA from the University of Southern California, and bachelor’s degree from Haverford College.

In this episode we discuss the following:

Those who had advantages were seven times more likely to ask for help than those who didn’t. But, if we help those who ask and don’t seek out and support those who don’t ask for help, we further perpetuate inequality.

By developing policies with an eye towards helping those who are less likely to ask for help, we can help level the playing field.

A lot of privilege in this world is a result of asking for help. But when we help those who ask for help, we can unintentionally perpetuate the Asking Gap, as we help those who already have more privilege.

An employee who had just had a child was struggling to keep up with work. So, she asked to work remotely. The manager, being kind, agreed. But the two previous mothers who had just given birth, but hadn’t asked to work remotely, were short changed. So, the company created a policy allowing all mothers the same benefit.

To reduce the Asking Gap, Zoe automatically grants a two-day extension to anyone who asks. All they have to do is send an email to an email address which automatically responds with the extension.

Follow Zoe

X: https://twitter.com/zoebchance

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoebchance/

Website: https://www.zoechance.com/

Book: INFLUENCE IS YOUR SUPERPOWER,

Follow Me:

X: https://twitter.com/nate_meikle

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natemeikle/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nate_meikle/

Website: https://natemeikle.com

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By Nate Meikle

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