As opposed to Go-Getters, people with a Go-Giver mindset think about giving others over getting everything for themselves. Go-Givers are the ones who always come to service to others and constantly keep on adding value in the lives of people around them.
This little gem of a book talks of very strong five laws by taking the readers through the protagonist – Joe’s journey of becoming a go-giver from a go-getter. This transformation in Joe’s life is brought when he meets a business tycoon named Pindar.
Pindar teaches Joe, what he refers to as the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success. These five laws bring about a massive transformation in Joe’s perception about his professional as well as his personal life.
The five laws as described in the book are:
- The Law of Value
- The Law of Compensation
- The Law of Influence
- The Law of Authenticity
- The Law of Receptivity
Even though the book contextualizes the above laws from a business’s standpoint, the laws can be very much applied in our personal and professional lives.
Five pointers to take away from this book:
- It is more about the “give” and less about the “get”.
To explain Joe the law of value, Pindar takes Joe to meet one of his friends – Ernesto, owner of an Italian-American Cafe in an elite area of the town which always happens to be jammed with long waiting lines.
Ernesto beautifully portrays the difference between a bad, good and a great restaurant.
“A bad restaurant tries to give just enough food and service, both in quantity and quality, to justify the money it takes from the customer. A good restaurant strives to give the most quantity and quality for the money it takes. “But a great restaurant—ahh, a great restaurant strives to defy imagination! Its goal is to provide a higher quality of food and service than any amount of money could possibly pay for.”
It all boils down to one fact – give more in value than what you take in payment. That’s when one truly grows. The returns would automatically follow. - Success is directly proportional to the number of people you serve.
If we think of providing value as one side of the coin, then the other side would be the number of people benefiting from it. While one’s true worth is determined by the value he provides, the true income potential is determined by how many people he serves and how well he serves.
As a practical example, think about the primary businesses of the top ten Billionaires. It becomes evident that apart from the value their most profitable businesses provide, it is really about the “number of people” that benefit from it. - What you focus on is what you get.
It is said that you attract what you think – “Go looking for trouble and that’s what you’ll find”. In the book, Pindar beautifully explains how the saying is not restricted to only trouble but everything.
Pindar says, “In fact, Joe, you’d be amazed at just how much you have to do with what happens to you.” Which is certainly true. Go looking for problems and you shall find problems, go looking for the best in people and you shall find the best of their qualities. “Ultimately, the world treats you more or less the way you expect to be treated.” - A truly powerful network is not that of your customers or clients but of people who are personally invested in seeing you succeed.
The kind of people who might rarely buy from your business but will always have your back. The people who know you, like you and trust you. Those are the ones who would flood referrals in your business. Your army of personal ambassadors. Of course, because you have been treating them the same way. - Strong relationships are built when we stop keeping score.
How do you go about building such a strong network? By not keeping track. By focusing on the other person’s win. Watch out for the other guy, prioritize his interest over yours, make it about the other person’s win.
“Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first.”
That’s all for this one folks!
This one is indeed a powerful book capable of changing the reader’s perception towards life. A must read for budding entrepreneurs and of course, go-getters! 😉
Some meta info:
- Genre: Self-help, business
- Recommended background music: Beethoven