Book Of The Month - "The Go Giver" by Bob Burg

On today’s show we’re talking about a book that has changed numerous lives of friends of mine, and quite frankly I’m embarrassed to say that I waited a long time to read it. I waited even longer to recommend it. But we’re here to correct that this month.

This weekend I had the privilege to spend an hour with the author of this month’s book on a zoom call. The author’s name is Bob Burg and he was coming to us from his home in Jupiter Floria. Bob is the author of 8 books and has sold over 2M copies. Some of his books have been translated into 29 languages. Bob has been named one of the 200 most influential authors in the World by Richtopia.

The book is “The Go Giver; A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea”

I’ve long been a believer in abundance mentality. If you’re a listener to this show, chances are good that you’ve been certainly exposed to it, if you’re not a full convert to the mindset of abundance.

The opposite of abundance mentality is scarcity mentality. That’s the mindset that says “The pie is only so big. If I’m going to get my fair share, I have to take it from someone else.”

The abundance mindset says that, rather than taking from someone else, focus instead on making the pie bigger.

But the book the Go Giver is much deeper. You are probably thinking that you understand the abundance mindset. But there are many other factors that go into the true giver mentality, rather than focusing on abundance. Bob Burg breaks it down into 5 principles, as if they’re almost laws of nature.

The book is written as a narrative, as a fable with Joe, the super aggressive salesman trying to meet his sales quota for the quarter.

He keeps losing deal after deal. He’s focused on the prize. He’s focused on meeting his sales quota. There’s a week remaining in the quarter and he’s getting desperate.

In the course of the week, our salesman Joe meets a mentor who takes him through a series of five lessons, each with daily homework.

The power of this book is in its simplicity. Bob Burg doesn’t just give you the information. He wraps it in a story. We learn through stories.

We are taken through a narrative that transforms the main character in the story, bit by bit. Each lesson results in a shift. But still pieces of the puzzle are missing and the picture isn’t clear.

You see some businesses are focused on just giving enough value to make the trade a fair trade. If you get a decent cup of coffee for $2, that’s a fair trade. But you’re not going to become a global leader with that. You have to deliver a coffee experience so great, that the customer feels like they’re getting a massive bargain at $2.

But even if you deliver incredible value, it will still be a small business unless you truly aim to serve a lot of people, and serve them really well. That’s why a rock star gets paid so much more than a great musician who plays on Friday night’s in a bar band. The rock star has focused on impacting many more people.

I’m not going to give the entire book away. What I discovered is that those people who are takers show up as plain as can be.

Spending time with the author Bob Burg was very special. It was clear that even though the book has a few simple ideas, it doesn’t mean they’re all easy to implement. Social conditioning can run deep for many. The ideas in this book can challenge core beliefs for some.

The discussion took us much deeper than the book itself. Bob started quoting Benjamin Franklin and other great thinkers that came before. The ideas in the book are really designed to be timeless. Even though this book was first published in 2007, and then later updated in 2015, this book is destined to become a timeless classic.