Richard talks to Bob Burg, author and keynote speaker, about his books, The Go-Giver philosophy and dealing with difficult situations.
An Interview with Bob Burg
Who is Bob Burg?
Bob Burg is a Hall of Fame keynote speaker and the best-selling co-author of the book The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea, now a series of successful books. Over the past 25 years, Bob’s books, presentations and now podcast of the same name have inspired thousands of people to change the way they think.
The books were co-authored with John David Mann and are written (mostly) as parables, to help share the message of The Go-Giver philosophy.
What is The Go-Giver Philosophy?
The message of The Go-Giver is about shifting your focus from getting to giving, constantly and consistently providing value to others. Bob says that ‘giving; in this context is not only a pleasant way of conducting business, it’s the most financially profitable as well.
People won’t do business with you just because you want them to. They’re going to buy from you, do business with you and want to be a part of your life because they believe they will be better off by doing so than by not doing so.
The entrepreneur needs to focus on serving the other person, and when this is done genuinely and with the aim of giving value, the other person knows, likes and trusts you and wants to do business with you.
The Go-Giver Influencer
Bob’s latest book is based on the premise that “You can get the results you want while making the other person feel genuinely good about themselves, about the situation and about you.”
He explains that influence can be defined as simply the ability to move a person or persons to a desired action, usually within the context of a specific goal, and there are two ways to influence people.
The first is by compliance, such as a boss ordering someone to do something. They’ll do it because they have to, but they won’t put in their best effort, and as soon as they’re no longer compelled they’ll run away. This is the push influence.
The pull influence is about attracting people to yourself and your ideas. Ask yourself: ‘How does what I’m asking this person to do align with their goals, with their wants, needs, desires and values?” doing this brings you much closer to gaining their commitment.
How to Master Your Emotions
Human beings are emotional creatures. We allow ourselves to become frustrated and do or say something counter-productive to what we should be doing to accomplish what we want. We use logic to justify the things we shouldn’t have done, but we need to control our emotions, rather than the other way around. One way to do this is to imagine a difficult situation or person and prepare for that.
Imagine the situation or conversation going badly, and see how that makes you feel. Then, imagine it again, but this time you handle it perfectly. Respond rather than react and let the person say whatever they want. Focus on how good that makes you feel, then rehearse it in your head over and over. The next time you’re in that situation or with that person, you’ll know exactly what to do because you’ve practised.
How to Say No Gracefully
We’re all asked to do things we’d rather not do, and as our businesses become more successful we have less time available to us. It’s natural that we want to use that time to do what’s important. If someone asks you to do something, don’t just say ‘no’ without offering an explanation, because that’s rude. Don’t say ‘I don’t have time’ because they’ll either say it won’t take up much time, or they’ll come back to you later.
Instead, to spare their feelings and to maintain a good relationship, say something like: “Thank you so much. While it’s not something I’d like to do, please know how honoured I am to be asked.”
Mentioned in This Episode
- Book: The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea
- Book: The Go-Giver Influencer: A Little Story About a Most Persuasive Idea (Go-Giver, Book 3)
- Book: Endless Referrals, Third Edition
- Book: The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts
- Bob’s website
Interview Transcript
Transcript – TubbTalk 43 with Bob Burg and Richard Tubb
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Richard Tubb is one of the best-known experts within the global IT Managed Service Provider (MSP) community. He launched and sold his own MSP business before creating a leading MSP media and consultancy practice. Richard helps IT business owner’s take back control by freeing up their time and building a business that can run without them. He’s the author of the book “The IT Business Owner’s Survival Guide” and writer of the award-winning blog www.tubblog.co.uk
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