001 Create Value - John David Mann

**SPEAKER_1** (0:02)
It's time once again for The Go-Giver Podcast, where we explore five timeless principles that will increase the profitability of your business and the joy in your life. Now, here's your host, the co-author of The Go-Giver, Bob Burg.

**Bob Burg** (0:18)
Hello, I'm Bob Burg. Welcome to our initial episode of The Go-Giver Podcast. I'm so glad you could join us. Today is the first of what I hope you'll continually find to be interesting and value-packed shows. You might or might not be familiar with the book that the name of this podcast is based on, The Go-Giver, co-authored by my great friend, John David Mann and me. If you're not, absolutely no sweat. As brief background, the book is a business parable that features a young business person, a salesperson who learns a very valuable lesson. And that is simply that shifting one's focus from getting to giving, giving in this context meaning constantly and consistently providing value to others is both a nice way to live life and a very financially profitable way to do business. In the story, Joe learns five laws or principles that help him with this shift in focus. In a real sense, the ideas we explore in this podcast, not just this one, but everyone in our journey together will have something to do with one or more of these five laws. Every interview guest will be a person who runs his or her life and conducts his or her business in a way congruent with these principles. And you'll see how and why they are so successful, not just in their businesses, though certainly that, but in the other aspects of their lives that are also so important. Again, I thank you so much for joining me.
So as we look at the term go-giver, sure, I explained it briefly, but does it seem to you that being a go-giver is the opposite of being a go-getter? Well, it isn't. It's not the opposite at all. What is the opposite of a go-giver? We'll cover that in our thought of the day. Then for our interview segment, who better to have on this first episode than my brilliant co-author of the book, John David Mann. We'll ask John to share an example or two of people in his life who he feels embody the message that is the theme of this show. We'll also learn about an entrepreneurial venture of his when he was just 17 years old and actually founded a high school. Really?
Yep. You'll wanna hear about this. That and more on today's show.
You know how from the time you were young, you were told to go out there and be a go-getter? Well, turns out that was excellent advice. Are you surprised to hear me say that?
From the moment our book The Go-Giver was published, we've been asked if we're saying that being a go-getter is now not a good thing to be.
Actually, being a go-getter is a great thing to be. It's a terrific thing to be. We love go-getters. Why? Well, because go-getters get things done. They take action.
And you know, we all know that a person can have the best thoughts, the most fantastic ideas, and the greatest of intentions. But unless action is put into the mix, nothing is going to happen. It simply cannot happen. So we love go-getters. The neat thing is there's no natural division between a go-getter and a go-giver. Many go-getters are also go-givers, and every go-giver is also a go-getter. Actually, the opposite of a go-giver then is not a go-getter. The opposite of a go-giver is a go-taker, that person who feels almost entitled, if you will, to take, take, take, without having added any value to the person, to the process, to the situation. And we all know people like that, and they can be good, well-meaning people. However, typically, they're continually frustrated by the fact that they never seem to obtain the kind of success they think they deserve. And even those times when they do, it tends to be short-lived because it hasn't been built on a proper foundation. And ironically enough, they usually think that everyone else is naive. In the story, Joe starts out as a frustrated go-getter. And he was frustrated, but not because he was a go-getter. If you recall, at the beginning, Joe was very much a go-taker. He was a nice guy, but it was all about him, his quotas, his deadlines, and who owes what to him.
As he met Pindar and the other mentors and learned about shifting his focus from himself to others, suddenly his attitude, his relationships, and his results began to change. Being a go-getter is a great thing, and we want people to be go-getters and go-givers, just not go-takers. When we talk about a go-giver, we're simply talking about that man or woman who has learned or who perhaps intuitively knew that it's that person who can shift their focus, who can take their eyes off of themselves and focus on adding value to the other person who accomplishes the most. So be both a go-getter, a person of action, and a go-giver, a person whose focus is on bringing value to others. Yes, be a go-getter and a go-giver, just not a go-taker.