“All things being equal, people will do business with and refer business to those people they know like and trust.” Bob Burg and John David Mann – The Go-Giver
At first glance the Go-Giver is a book about sales.
I agree. Following The 5 Laws will help you sell more.
The Laws apply to life and business as well.
Because they are largely about being human, building relationships and putting the interests of others first while being open to receiving.
We are focused on Joe and how his story relates to us.
But there is another huge set of lessons in the book aren’t so obvious even though they are in plain sight.
The Story Within A Story
In The Go-Giver, one of the main characters is Pindar. He has achieved Stratospheric Success.
As we go through the story, Pindar introduces Joe to a number of guests. These guests are in fact Joe’s teachers or mentors.
- Ernesto – The restaurant and real estate magnate
- Nicole – The CEO and former teacher
- Sam – The Chief Financial Adviser
- Debra Davenport – The Top Realtor
And there was:
- Rachel, an employee and student of Pindar’s and a coffee genius Pindar saw the potential in.
- Gus, Joe’s boss who turned out to be the understated “Connector” and a major influencer.
- Joe’s arch rival, Neil Hanson, who snatched one of Joe’s best prospects from him just when he thought he needed it most.
The two extra stories within the story:
- All of the mentors are in fact people who believe in and support each other. They have invested in and grown fortunes together.
- They all continue to mentor, teach and invest in up and coming Go-Givers to their mutual benefit.
These are the higher level lessons.
It All Starts With Trust
Just as you need to receive along with giving, you need to trust others as well as have others trust you.
It is the foundation of selling.
It is also the foundation of the next level of success; stratospheric success.
The highest levels of success demand you trust and work with others.
You can make a great living working as an independent. You can even build up some decent passive income streams. You can contract out some of the work you don’t want to do.
But to scale your success and build something that can outlast you, you need to work with others.
Create situations where one plus one is much greater than 2.
To do that you need to trust others. And they need to trust that you have their best interests at heart as well.
Win. Win.
The Highest Level of Trust and Giving
The highest level of giving begins when you start to see people with potential and mentor and guide them.
You finally get there when you can trust and invest in others and help them achieve “their” own success.
You don’t always win. You don’t always get it right. There can be some disappointments.
But by betting on people you know, like and trust… the chances of getting it right are much higher.
In fact, much higher than investing in the cold-hearted stock market.
My Favourite Part
By trusting each other, Pindar and his friends made each other a lot of money (and great friendships).
By developing and trusting others (Rachel, Joe and Neil), they ensure that they would continue to both help others and benefit themselves.
Give and recieve. Trust and be trust worthy.
This is the ultimate key to stratospheric success.
And my favorite part of The Go-GIver.
