Can one appeal to helpfulness when asking a tween to do chores?

After reading a few Q&As (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) I'm still wondering.

Is there ever a method to invite a (beginning teen, or "tween") child to help with household chores, simply to be helpful?

Consider this exchange, over breakfast:

When the older child / younger adult remains unfazed, is the "carrot or the stick" approach necessary? Is there an alternative that appeals to them simply being helpful?

FWIW I truly need the help because I somehow injured my arm's tendons during past yard work, but I am reluctant to appeal to that aspect.

As mentioned by @anongoodnurse, I believe it's important to cultivate in children the idea that people should help each others just for the sake of helping, and that making others happy is a reward of its own. It's all the more important, in my opinion, to cultivate the idea that family members, or friends, are there for each others (baring dysfunctional families/friendships).

As such, it's not so much a matter of whether the tween sees the usefulness in removing the leaves. Instead, it's about making them understand that you would prefer a backyard clear of leaves -- it would make you happier -- and you're asking for their help for that.

Or in another words, raking the leaves is not the goal in itself, it's just a mean towards your happiness, and you are asking your child to help you being happier.

In the opposite direction, think about your child asking you to buy them X. You don't buy it because you like X yourself. You don't buy it because you think X will (necessarily) be good for or useful to them. You buy because it makes your child happy (or happier), and you like seeing them happy.

The whole raking leaves is just reciprocating: this time, you're asking them to help you being happier.

Your happiness IS the carrot.

Ideally, raking the leaves is a good opportunity for spending time together.

That is, don't ask them to rake the leaves by themselves, instead ask them to help you rake the leaves. If you've got an injury, maybe you'll need them to rake and you'll take care of wheeling them or whatever. The important part is that you'll be physically close during the yard work and thus you'll have ample opportunity to talk.

This is, in itself, another carrot. Getting to spend time together with, and talk with, loved ones feels good.

It's also a good occasion for them to talk about anything they may want to talk about with you specifically that they may be reluctant to talk about in front of other members of the family (for any reason), and you can certainly brand it a such.

During this activity together, they get exclusive access to you, and your attention.

With all that said, timing is critical.

If your tween is in the middle of something, or already has plans with friends, and you suddenly barge in and ask for help raking the leaves -- which is not really any more urgent today than it was yesterday -- then... expect a rebuttal.

For such activities, it's ideal to plan them ahead of time. We're not talking months or weeks ahead of time, but just a bit, perhaps discussing at breakfast for help in the afternoon, or today for help tomorrow.

It's also ideal to be flexible. If you ask for help this afternoon and your tween mentions they made plans to go to their friends house already -- even if you know it's to play -- then it's on you for not asking sooner. Also, if said chore is potentially going to take hours, be open to splitting it: this area today, that area tomorrow, etc... it makes it easier to fit in a schedule.

Putting it altogether, I would even advise bringing the idea of the core to them and asking them about when they'd be open to doing it, and "brainstorming" together about when your schedules align and you could fit it in.

All of this is about showing them that you respect their time, and therefore them, and that they have agency (to a degree) about how they spent their time.

The kid never stated they don't want to do it. They just wanted to postpone it (probably indefinitely). [This entire answer hinges on this admittedly debatable description of the (fictitious?) interaction]

Your response phrasing was therefore unfitting. Yes, the leaves could remain. But in spring it'd be a major hassle to remove them and the grass would be burned/dead already.

From there you can appeal to either the aspect of saving a lot of time and hassle later (if the "when do we need to do it" part was in focus), or on having a nice looking house and lawn. The latter may not be all that appealing to a rebellious teen, but that heavily depends. Smaller kids may be convinced by stating that in spring they wouldn't be allowed to play on the then-dead-and-reseeded grass until it grows back, clearly demonstrating the long-term ramifications of not doing stuff today.

Because that is what I feel lays more at the heart of it: Not wanting to do it now. (Which is also a common thing for a lot of people of all ages, so the "waiting would be bad"-approach may be educational in general).

Introduce them to the concept of "paid work".

Suggest an hourly rate for odd jobs, record the time taken and pay them.

They can then use this money to save (another useful concept) or purchase items they want - another useful concept.