The Go-Giver tells the story of Joe, a struggling sales professional, who learnt the power of giving from a mentor called Pindar and a group of like-minded go-givers. After applying what he learnt, Joe propelled himself to phenomenal success. Much to the likes of Pindar, Joe now pays it forward to a young woman who approached him for his success and belief system.
What you focus on is what you get.
See the world as dog-eat-dog place, and you’ll always find a bigger dog looking at you as if you’re his next meal. Go looking for people taking advantage of you and they generally will.
What sets apart from a good restaurant to a great restaurant is not food.
It’s both food and service. Quantity and quality.. A good restaurant do just enough to justify what it takes. A great restaurant do its best to justify what it takes.
Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.
It’s not a strategy, it’s a way of life.
Your income is directly proportional to the amount of lives you serve.
Your compensation is under your control. You want more success and money, find a way to serve more people. You want them fast, serve many people fast.
Do not fall into the belief that good people cannot get rich.
You may think good people like policemen, nurses volunteer workers and teachers could never be rich, but the reality is anyone can sit on a pile of cash if they serve people at a massive scale.
Survive. Save. Serve.
Everyone strives to make ends meet. Some of us save to expand our lives. Only a few make a contribution to the world around us.
Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interest first.
Stop keeping score. Watch out for people’s back. Focus on their interests. When you’re thinking about win-win, you’re keeping score. Forget 50-50. Go all in. Focus on the other person’s win.
The most valuable gift you have to offer is you.
Any thing you want is life about ten percent skills and knowledge. The other ninety percent is people skills. What’s the foundation of people skills? The core of it is who you are. It starts with you.
You can learn A-Z closing techniques and still never close a deal.
That’s until you learn ‘Authenticity’. That’s offering to the world as who you are.
Every giving can happen only because it is also receiving.
For the next 30 secs, try only exhaling. Most people will turn blue after 10 seconds. It’s insane to try to give and not receive. And what gives you a right to refuse when you someone gives you a gift? To deny their rights to give?
The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.
Having big dreams and being curious and believing in ourselves—those are all aspects of being receptive, they’re all the same thing as being receptive.
Insightful Dialogues
You have to agree my conditions
Pindar would agree to hand over the details of his most valuable trade secret only if Joe promise to meet his conditions.
Joe: I really don’t have the means (money)….
Pindar: Please, don’t worry, it’s nothing like that
Joe: So… do I need to sign an NDA or…?
Pindar (laughing): No, no non-disclosure agreements – if anything, the opposite. I call these secrets not because I don’t want people to find them, but for exactly the opposite reason. I call them my secrets so that people will find them. So they’ll seek them. So they’ll place the proper value on them. Because it’s really a term of honor.
Pindar: I need you to agree that you’ll test every secret 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.”
You’ve Got Heart
Joe: I need to let you know that we’ve decided to give the fall marketing campaign to your competition.
There it was, the moment Claire had been preparing for all morning, yet it still hit her like a thunderclap.
Claire: I… well, I appreciate your telling me in person.
Joe: You’re not surprised?
Claire: How could I be sir – I mean Joe? They’re a big firm and I’m a solo freelancer. The fact is, they have a lot more to offer you than I do.
Joe: Actually… with all due respect, we don’t think so. More experienced, yes, and they’re excellent at what they do. But frankly, Claire, you’re very talented – and what’s more, you’ve got heart.
Claire: Heart?
Joe: I’ve just told you that we’re giving this contract to your competition. Your response was to thank me and give them a compliment. You’ve got heart. In fact, that’s why I asked you to meet us today. The campaign we’re giving your competition is an important one. But we’ve got another project that, in the big scheme of things, is even more so…”