The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea

by Bob Burg

in fact, being a giving person is how you achieve success in the first place, however you define success.

‘I believe that a person can reach a certain level of success without being particularly special. But to get really, really big, to reach the kind of stratospheric success we’re talking about, people need to have something on the inside, something that’s genuine.’”

There’s nothing wrong with making money. Lots of it, in fact. It’s just not a goal that will make you successful.”

You get what you expect.”

What you focus on is what you get.

“Ultimately, the world treats you more or less the way you expect to be treated.”

“I need you to agree that you will test every Law I show you by actually trying it out. Not by thinking about it, not by talking about it, but by applying it in your life.”

“Everyone likes to be appreciated,” said Ernesto. “And that’s the Golden Rule of business,” added Pindar. “All things being equal—” Ernesto finished the phrase: “—people will do business with and refer business to those people they know, like and trust.”

“A bad restaurant,” Ernesto went on, “tries to give just enough food and service, both in quantity and quality, to justify the money it takes from the customer. A good restaurant strives to give the most quantity and quality for the money it takes. “But a great restaurant—ahh, a great restaurant strives to defy imagination! Its goal is to provide a higher quality of food and service than any amount of money could possibly pay for.”

“Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.”

“The first question should be, ‘Does it serve? Does it add value to others?’ If the answer to that question is yes, then you can go ahead and ask, ‘Does it make money?’”

“but the point isn’t to have them pay you more, it’s to give them more. You give, give, give. Why?” Another shrug. “Because you love to. It’s not a strategy, it’s a way of life. And when you do,” he added with a big grin, “then very, very profitable things begin to happen.”

“It’s not about seeing. It’s about doing.”

THE LAW OF VALUE Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.

“Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.”

Your compensation is directly proportional to how many lives you touch.”

it’s not just a question of their value. It’s a question of impact.”

you get to determine your level of compensation—it’s under your control. If you want more success, find a way to serve more people. It’s that simple.”

there are no limitations on what you can earn, because you can always find more people to serve. The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., once said, ‘Everybody can be great because anybody can serve.’ Another way to say that might be, ‘Everybody can be successful because anybody can give.’”

“Have you ever made up a story?” Joe glanced around the playroom/conference room. He flashed back to his kindergarten days and laughed. “I sure used to. Plenty of them.” “Your life works the same way,” she said. “You just make it up. Being broke and being rich are both decisions. You make them up, right up here.” She tapped her finger to her temple. “Everything else is just how it plays out.”

THE LAW OF COMPENSATION Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.

“Sometimes you feel foolish, even look foolish, but you do the thing anyway.”

regardless of how much or how little she cared for the task itself, she relished the opportunity to survive, save and serve.

“Unfortunately,” continued Pindar, “most people spend their entire lives focusing on the first. A smaller number focus on the second. But those rare few who are truly successful—not just financially, but genuinely successful in all aspects of their lives—keep their focus squarely on the third.”

“Changing my focus from seeing what I could git to what I could give was when my career started to take off. Started to. But in a business like mine—actually, in any business—you also need to know how to develop a network.”

“Now, by a network I don’t necessarily mean your customers or clients. I mean a network of people who know you, like you and trust you. They might never buy a thing from you, but they’ve always got you in the backs of their minds.” He leaned forward and spoke with more intensity. “They’re people who are personally invested in seeing you succeed, y’see? And of course, that’s because you’re the same way about them. They’re your army of personal walking ambassadors.

“When you’ve got your own army of personal walking ambassadors, you’ll have referrals coming your way faster than you can handle them.”

“Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first.”

“They love to give. That’s why they’re attractive. Givers attract.”

THE LAW OF INFLUENCE Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first.

I care more about my wife’s happiness than I do about my own.

“People, remember this: no matter what your training, no matter what your skills, no matter what area you’re in, you are your most important commodity. The most valuable gift you have to offer is you.

“Reaching any goal you set takes ten percent specific knowledge or technical skills—ten percent, max. The other ninety-plus percent is people skills.

“And what’s the foundation of all people skills? Liking people? Caring about people? Being a good listener? Those are all helpful, but they’re not the core of it. The ...

THE LAW OF AUTHENTICITY The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself.

“Receiving is the natural result of giving. If you give and then try to stop the receiving that comes back,

every giving can happen only because it is also a receiving.”

THE LAW OF RECEPTIVITY The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.

“The point is not what you do. Not what you accomplish. It’s who you are.”