Book Review: The Go-Giver
The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea is a business book written by Bob Burg and John D. Mann. Bob Burg is an author and a speaker; he speaks on vital business topics. John David Mann is an award-winning author, and he has co-authored the book. The Go-Giver is a story about the power of giving. It was first was published on December 27, 2007, by Portfolio Hardcover.
Summary
The story begins with Joe, the main character; he is a young, ambitious, and hardworking employee of a company that deals with account handling. Joe finds himself at the end of the 3rd quarter, struggling to meet his goal and in the midst of losing out on a big contract. Joe was disappointed that he couldn’t even do well in the past 2 quarters; he wanted to find a quick way to fix things up. Joe decides to “network” with the help of a magnate’s influence. Instead of getting an easy, immediate result, Joe finds himself having to spend time learning valuable business lessons and implementing them as he learns them.
Pindar, the magnate, introduces Joe to the 5 laws of stratospheric success. He takes Joe to meet a guest every day for lunch, discussing how that particular guest gained success. After listening to their story, they each introduce a law of stratospheric success. He is supposed to implement the law he learned on the same day; as Joe progresses to the end, he finds himself changing from a go-getter to a go-giver.
The 5 Laws of Stratospheric Success
- The Law of Value: Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.
- The Law of Compensation: Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.
- The Law of Influence: Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first.
- The Law of Authenticity: The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself.
- The Law of Receptivity: The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.
In short, the book revolves around the concept of how much value you can provide.
In the end, we can see that Joe runs a successful company and is handling worldwide projects mainly because of these elements — value, ability to serve, care, authentic, and open to receive.
Opinion
What a captivating story! I started reading this book in the hope of getting business lessons, but I ended up learning life’s most valuable lessons. The authors have done a great job at storytelling, right from the first sentence to the last; it was gripping!
What a wonderful place the world would be if everybody knew the 5 laws of stratospheric success and how they work. The laws mentioned above might seem like a plain text now, but everything will make sense when you actually go through the story. You’ll see Joe turn from a go-getter to go-giver, from struggling to close his 3rd quarter sales to owning a company that’s so successful that it starts planning worldwide projects right in the first year of its establishment. I have kept the review small as the book is a quick read, about 133 pages. It is a must-read for anyone who would want to improve their business or are just curious about how a powerful business works.
Rating: 5/5
“Most of us have grown up seeing the world as a place of limitation rather than as a place of inexhaustible treasures.”
