The Art of Charm- The Go-Giver
Looking for a little inspiration, I recently re-listened to Jordan Harbingers previously hosted show, The Art of Charm, where he interviews Bob Burg, co-author of the book, “The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business idea.” Jordan always did a fantastic job with his interviews back when he was with the Art of Charm and episode 535 of the 692 he hosted will not disappoint.
Jordan and Bob begin their conversation on the topic of the world being the phrase, “dog eat dog.” Jordan notes, “this book is saying that not only is that wrong, but you will lose if you behave in that way.” Bob responds stating, “It’s difficult to be a real nasty person and really do well. The world isn’t set up for that to happen in its natural state.” He moves on to talk about how the main character of the parable has the mindset of the world being dog eat dog, but he’ll “act nice in order to get what he wants.” Expanding on that point, Bob says, “there’s something about that [mindset] that isn’t congruent. You can’t be a son-of-a gun at work and be a nice person at home. It doesn’t work out that way. You are what you are. How you do anything is pretty much how you do everything.” Putting some thought into that last line, I find it’s very true. In fact, I’ve heard that phrase multiple times from different people this year and notice that in myself. Whenever I feel like taking a short cut or become too efficient in procrastination, I remember that quote and remind myself that there is no substitution for hard work.
There’s also Five Laws for Stratospheric Success that Jordan and Bob go through in depth and discuss why they’re true, helping the listeners not “just accept them at face value.” Bobs comments that “these five laws themselves are based on an overriding premise of the book, which is simply shifting your focus from getting to giving.”
The laws include:
- 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 receiving.”
From managing my retail store last year to being an outside sales rep now, these five laws have served me in developing relationships and selling more profitably in the store and in the field. Bob also points out that, “your job is to add more in value to your customers, which [also] happen to be your coworkers, your supervisor, those who you supervise, and your employer. The ultimate customer.” I remember deciding that this would be part of my mindset going forward in 2017 and have ingrained into my mind Bob saying, “in business it’s a commoditized world now and when a potential customer can’t see any difference in the product or service, it goes down to who has the lowest price.” He also says, “If we sell on price, we’re looked at as a commodity. When we sell on value, we’re looked at as a trusted resource.”
This episode alone has made an incredible impact in how I look at serving others and I can’t help but ask myself how much more would I be able to do by reading and living this? With all of the great advice from Bob Burg in this episode, I feel this is a great podcast to listen to and a book worth reading. I’m glad I saved this episode to my favorites and that it was there when I needed a boost to refresh and reenergize my desire to be a better giver myself. But don’t just take my word for the impact of this episode, give this podcast a listen and hear for yourself the very conversation that’s inspired where change happened for me.