Never asks for help
They're visibly drowning and say 'all good, I've got it' until the deadline is missed.
Rule out first
A culture that punishes asking. They really have got it. Past help came with strings attached.
What could explain it
Status motive: Asking feels like losing rank: they'll ask peers quietly but never the boss.
Counterdependence (devaluing one's own need): They're contemptuous of need, including other people's; neediness in others irritates them.
Parentification: They were the helper as a child. It doesn't occur to them help exists, and they give it to others freely.
Emotional deprivation schema: They assume help won't come, or won't be enough, so they don't bother.
Mistrust/abuse schema: Help is a trap: they're looking for the price.
A next move
Offer one specific, small piece of help with no strings. Accepting means it was situational; refusing with irritation points to counterdependence or status; refusing anxiously to mistrust or deprivation.
If it’s you
What do I believe would happen if I asked, and who taught me that?