Want to get a promotion? Ask for help.

Asking for help is a strength, not a weakness.

If you want someone to trust you with something difficult — perhaps a project that’s normally above your pay-grade or a task that you haven’t done before — you have to learn when to raise your hand and say “help me, please.”

If I can’t trust you to tell me when you don’t understand, or to tap your colleague on the shoulder to get clarity, I can’t trust that you’ll handle the job I’m asking you to complete in the way that meets my expectations.

Worse, you’ll waste your time and mine, and perhaps a client’s time too, if you’re not able to just ask for guidance.

But the onus isn’t just on you. Workplace culture plays a huge role in whether or not people feel safe asking for help. Cut-throat politics, back-channeling, and egos all feed a culture that makes people feel uncomfortable asking when they need a hand.

Employers have to make it a priority to create a culture of curiosity, of elevating others, of sharing and collaborating so their employees can grow and learn together.