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📚 Better & Better, by Bob Stiller - Severely underrated business/leadership book by the man who led Keurig Green Mountain to a $1B valuation while making a massive positive difference in the world at the same time. This book just came out, so not a whole lot of people know about it yet!

Tonight’s book breakdown features The Go-Giver, by Bob Burg and John David Mann, a wildly popular business parable about a powerful idea whose time has finally come.

I’ve seen the truth of this idea play out in my own life hundreds of times.

It’s simply that when you focus on what you can contribute - what you can give to others - you tend to receive a whole lot more in return than you could ever expect.

I’ve seen this in business, of course, as I’ve consistently overdelivered for clients and customers, doing more than that for which I’ve been paid, and going above and beyond what is reasonable to expect.

More often than not, I’ve noticed that the people I work with reciprocate in all sorts of unexpected ways, big and small. They go out of their way to help me, because I’ve done the same for them.

I might have had to go first, but whenever some new business acquaintance sees that, “Oh, this guy does what he says he’s going to do,” it’s not too much later that we’re able to get a lucrative deal done.

This is not a coincidence.

It comes with the territory of being a Go-Giver, rather than a go-taker, and the Laws behind this are all laid out inside…

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This Book is For:

*Anyone who wants to learn how generosity and win-win business practices can help them succeed in the modern economy.

*Business owners looking for new, effective strategies for both increasing profits and increasing customer goodwill and satisfaction at the same time.

*People who are interested in living a more selfless, generous lifestyle, while still providing financially for themselves and the people they care about.

Summary:

In the modern economy, mean guys finish last. There's been a complete reimagining of the possibilities for mutual assistance and cooperation that's transforming how we do business, and today, it's possible to "do well by doing good."

The Go-Giver is a wildly popular business book that demonstrates "The Five Laws of Stratospheric Success" through the parable of Joe, an ambitious young man who desperately wants success but has no idea how to get it.

Here are the Five Laws:

#1: The Law of Value

#2: The Law of Compensation

#3: The Law of Influence

#4: The Law of Authenticity

#5: The Law of Receptivity

Joe is still possessed by the belief that the world of business is "everyone for themselves" and that in order to get ahead, someone else has to fall behind. On the last day of the 3rd quarter, he's behind on his quotas, and with very little hope of not getting fired.

Side Note: In the story, he works at the Clason-Hill Trust Corporation, which is an amalgam of the names of George Clason (author of The Richest Man in Babylon) and Napoleon Hill (author of Think and Grow Rich), both of which are absolute classic personal finance books in their own right.

Anyway, back to the story...

Desperate to avoid losing his job, Joe asks one of his co-workers for an introduction to Pindar, known to people in the company as the "Chairman," who Joe believes can save him from joblessness by the end of the week. Either by flattery or trickery, Joe intends to get what he needs from the "Chairman" and save himself.

As luck would have it, Pindar agrees to teach Joe the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success, one per day for a whole week, on the one condition that Joe applies each law by the end of the same day on which he learns it.

Over the next week, Pindar introduces Joe to a series of “go-givers”: a restaurateur, a CEO, a financial adviser, a real estate broker, and the “Connector,” who brought them all together. Each of them teaches Joe one of the laws, supervised by Pindar, and gradually transforms Joe from a "go-taker" into a "go-giver."

Since this book carries such an important message and really doesn’t take that long to read, I often insist that people read it for themselves, rather than simply reading the summary.

And not just businesspeople, either! It’s about giving generally, and how you can get anything you want in life as long as you help enough other people get what they want (h/t: Zig Ziglar). It's about helping instead of hoarding.

Those who work together, win together, and this “helping” thing isn’t just “a nice thing to do,” but it's actually the way that wealth and success are created in the modern economy. I suspect that this is how it has always worked, but sometimes civilization is slow to catch up.

The Go-Giver is simply studded with counter-intuitive ideas about the nature and power of giving, and its message is a timely one. The world is more interconnected and abundant than it's ever been, and there's more than enough success to go around.

The key is to give without expecting anything in return - to trust, knowing that what you put in is pretty much exactly what you get out. That's how life works!

You wouldn't expect to get heat from a fireplace without putting in a log, or expect to earn interest from your investments without making a deposit, so why would you expect to get anything before you're willing to give?

READ THE FULL BOOK BREAKDOWN HERE

Key Ideas:

#1: The Law of Value

The most successful businesses and businesspeople always provide more value than they receive in compensation - the magnitude of their contribution far outweighs anything they take in the form of payment.

Your goal - if you want to maximize profits and stand out from the competition - is to make an offer that is so good that people would feel stupid for saying no. You just hit them with so much value for what they're paying that you become the obvious choice, thereby rendering your competitors irrelevant.

You can do this in many ways, and importantly, it doesn't always have to do with the product itself. Sometimes, what separates you from your competitors is the level of care that you provide, the experience that you create for your customers, and simply your genuine concern for their well-being and satisfaction.

It's funny: in our society, we used to notice when service was bad; today, we notice when service is good! Below-average to mediocre is the baseline expectation, but if you can deliver more value than that, then potential customers will start to take notice.

There's a ton of competition today for average, but almost none for excellent. Above and beyond - nobody seems to want to try and achieve that level of service and care. If you do, however, you will be rewarded.

#2: The Law of Compensation

The magnitude of your contribution will differentiate you in the marketplace, but so will the scale of your contribution. A heart surgeon provides massive value to just a few people, and he or she is rewarded for that, but their efforts don't scale. They can only operate on so many people per day.

However, a company like Starbucks makes just a small contribution to the happiness or life satisfaction of their customers, but they do it millions of times a day, all over the world, to a vast assortment of different people. The scale of their contribution is enormous.

This works together with the law of value, and your success is a direct reflection of how well you can provide value at a certain scale and magnitude. If you are the reason why a large number of people's lives are made better each and every day, then you will be massively rewarded in the marketplace. It's about service, at the end of the day.

Apart from that, operating in this way helps make for an incredibly meaningful life overall. A life of service is worthwhile and valuable, no matter what. If you can be of service to a large enough number of people, in a way they find valuable, then you will be rewarded.

#3: The Law of Influence

You become a person of influence to the degree that you become a person of value and character - the two are inseparable. You could have a million followers on Instagram or any other social platform, but if you aren't a person of upstanding character, then you can never be a person of real influence.

Givers also practice something called infinite horizon networking, a term discussed in detail in Dorie Clark's book, The Long Game. Short-term, selfish networking is all about "What can I get?" Whereas infinite horizon networking represents a fundamentally different stance altogether. It's a commitment to long-term growth, development, and mutual aid. And it's the future of networking.

Look for how you can help people achieve their goals and they will want to reciprocate. One of the most fundamental human needs is the craving to be appreciated, but right up there in importance is the desire to give back to those who have helped us in the past.

It used to be - decades ago - that the way you gained power in the corporate environment was to hoard information and resources and make sure the flow routed entirely through you; you made people come to you, therefore you were powerful. Not anymore.

Today, when you enter and meaningfully contribute to a network of people focused on mutual assistance and growth - a giving network - you are setting yourself up for real power and influence.

Besides, change happens too fast today to be able to hoard anything for long. A week from now, the information you've kept to yourself will be outdated and you'll be left behind.

The really effective strategy that will help you become a person of influence is to make yourself indispensable, due to the value you provide to your network. If you place other people's interests first, take a genuine interest in other people's success, and make sure the people around you are winning, then you will be rewarded.

READ ALL THE KEY IDEAS HERE

Book Notes:

READ ALL THE BOOK NOTES HERE

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Action Steps:

#1: Practice the Law of Value

This is a fun law to practice, and it's exciting to brainstorm ideas here. What you're trying to do is make sure that whatever you're doing or offering is far more valuable than anything your competitors are doing, and when you see how low the bar is currently set, you start seeing possibility everywhere.

Just look for ways you can add value to people's lives and create experiences for them, above and beyond what you're expected to do. Think of just one thing you can offer in your business that your customers aren't expecting, but that they would appreciate immensely. And then do it!

#2: Practice the Law of Compensation

This Law is all about serving more people. It's about scale. So take what you've come up with for the Law of Value and see if you can offer it to more people. Or, if that isn't scalable, find something that is. Find some way to impact more lives, and you'll be rewarded for that.

Think: Starbucks. A great cup of coffee (alright, a good cup of coffee) isn't such a big deal, but at scale? They've built a billion-dollar brand. If you can get something valuable into the hands of more people, you will be rewarded.

#3: Practice the Law of Influence

Give first, before you even think about getting. You can practice this law by thinking about one particular customer or associate of yours and asking yourself what it is that they're after. How can you help them win?

When you think of something you can do for them, just do it, graciously and without making a big deal out of it, and then, release control over the outcome.

They may reciprocate and they may not, but you've practiced the Law of Influence, and it will all eventually come back to you.

READ ALL THE ACTION STEPS HERE

"The path to success is to take massive, determined action."

-Tony Robbins

This Book on Amazon:

The Go-Giver, by Bob Burg and John David Mann

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OK, that’s it for now…

More excellent book recommendations coming your way soon!

Again, you can find the rest of the above breakdown on this page here.

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With that said, I hope you enjoyed this edition of The Reading Life, and enjoy the rest of your week!

Until next time…happy reading!

All the best,

Matt Karamazov

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