In this episode, Amy Getz and I dug into “The Go-Giver” by Bob Burg and John David Mann.
You can listen to the episode here:
You can find more about Amy at IRCWealth.com or connect with her on LinkedIn here.
Full Transcript:
Mickey Mellen
Go looking for people to take advantage of you and they generally will. See the world as a dog eat dog place and you’ll always find a bigger dog look at you as if you’re his next meal. Go looking for the best in people and you’ll be amazed at how much talent, ingenuity, empathy and goodwill you’ll find. Ultimately, the world treats you more or less the way you expect to be treated. So that was a little bit from the book, The Go Giver and with me to discuss it today is Amy Getz. So Amy, welcome to the show.
Amy Getz (00:26)
Thank you so much. It’s so fun to reconnect with you, Mickey.
Mickey Mellen (00:29)
It is, it’s been a while, this is awesome. As with all of our shows here, you picked this book, which is one I loved years ago, but tell us a bit, yeah, why’d you kick us off, or why’d you pick The Go Giver? What stood out to you? What makes it so important in your life?
Amy Getz (00:42)
So this book was recommended to me sort of when I first started my entrepreneurial journey and I was in the space of devouring all the things and learning. And this particular book touched my heart so deeply. picked it back up as we were, I was preparing for this podcast and I had so many notes and stickies and it just, I feel like actually changed the way I chose to do business and the way I chose to show up in the world.
Mickey Mellen (00:50)
you
Amy Getz (01:08)
And one of the funny stories I have about this book is Bob Berg literally is the human that he presents in this book. So a friend connected me with him on LinkedIn and I reached out and just let him know how meaningful this book was to me and how much I appreciated him writing it and how when my children graduate from college, I have three kids that I wanted to give them this book because I felt like it was such a beautiful entry into how we should show up in the world, whether that’s in business or personal or otherwise.
Mickey Mellen (01:37)
Love that
Amy Getz (01:38)
And he so lovingly offered to write book plates for them and mail them to me. So this lovely man asked for the names of my children and wrote individual sticky, you know, stickers to put inside the books so that when I give them to my kids when they graduate as part of one of their gifts, they have an autographed version. And I just thought, goodness gracious, like I would have never asked for that, but he just genuinely offered. And it just touched me so deeply.
And I’m like, clearly, you know, this man is living everything that he’s teaching. And like, what a beautiful example.
Mickey Mellen (02:14)
Wow, that is fantastic. Yeah, I’ve not reached out to him before, but maybe I will now. Not to get something like that, but just, I don’t want to bother people like that, but as he talks about it in the book, the higher up people are, generally the more they’re wanting to connect with us little folks, you know, so yeah.
Amy Getz (02:28)
Yes, and especially as I was sort of newer in that entrepreneurial journey and really kind of felt like somebody less important, if you will, as compared to the author of such a phenomenal book. So just such a genuine lovely, lovely human. And I know there’s been so many iterations of The Go Giver and this one is sort of my tried and true of different versions. Yes.
Mickey Mellen (02:38)
Right.
That’s awesome.
Amy Getz (02:49)
You know, it’s interesting, like one of the things, and I literally wrote OMG in the sidebar of the book. And something that stood out to me, and I feel like that changed who I was, it’s a quote that he’s referring to in the book that somebody said, when I said that my life as a mom, wife, and household manager left me with nothing, the marketplace wanted, I was wrong. There was something else I’d learned over those years.
Mickey Mellen (02:55)
You
Amy Getz (03:16)
And that was how to be a friend, how to care, how to make people feel good about themselves. And that my friends is something the marketplace wants very much always has and always will. And just a little bit about my journey is I was a corporate CPA by trade, but I had three kids in four years. So I stayed home for over a decade and volunteered with PTA president, all the things. And when I was gifted the opportunity to get back into the workspace,
I was questioning my own worth and what I had to offer. And again, finding this towards the beginning of that journey, that really spoke to me and has actually proven to be very true in my own life. Having served on a million volunteer capacities, treasurer of everything from preschool to the high school lacrosse team. It speaks into what I do. I’m a financial professional and I serve people. And so that particular quote spoke so deeply to me at that time and recognizing that.
We just have to show up authentically in who we are. We just have to serve from a place of kindness and gratitude and then watch the world shift and mold into just exactly what you want it to around you. such a profound, that was under the law of authenticity, which as you know, if you haven’t read this book, Mickey and I were talking, it’s centered around the five laws. And so that’s one that I just kind of jumped right into, but yeah.
Mickey Mellen (04:33)
Yep.
Yeah cool, we’ll jump in, yeah, we’ll jump into those in a sec. Yeah, we’re jumping ahead, it’s all good though.
Amy Getz (04:37)
We’re jumping ahead. That was like, that was the only place that I wrote OMG in the, the, in the margin. I thought that one’s pretty important. So.
Mickey Mellen (04:46)
That’s awesome. Yeah, we’ll hit the five laws in a moment. I think for those that haven’t read the book though, so the title of the Go Giver kind of gives it away in a way, but could you give like the 20 second summary of what the book’s about and then we’ll kind of unpack the laws?
Amy Getz (04:58)
Yeah, it’s actually a lovely story about a gentleman who is really serving himself and trying to make a big deadline at work and wondering how he’s going to make it happen. And there’s someone at his office that he sees that seems to have everything he wants, but it doesn’t make sense. So somewhat in desperation, he reaches out and this person introduces him to someone that kind of goes through and says, if you’re willing to learn these laws and implement them in your life, then I’ll be your mentor.
And this person, Joe, being quite flabbergasted in thinking, how am going to do this? And do I even deserve this? And watching his life change over the course of the week as he’s introduced to people and learning the different laws. So it’s actually a very quick, enjoyable read with a lot of really important takeaways that you can just glean very quickly. Like I said, I reread it yesterday, and it was just as enjoyable yesterday as it was the first time that I read it.
Mickey Mellen (05:39)
Yeah.
That’s awesome.
Amy Getz (05:57)
So yeah, that’s kind of the gist of it. it’s, yeah.
Mickey Mellen (05:59)
Perfect, yeah. Let’s dig into the five laws though. So yeah, you mentioned, so Joe is kind of the hero of the story here. He’s the one that’s struggling, will kind of walk through it. And Pindar is the one that is guiding him through this to help him learn the five laws. So the five laws of stratospheric success. So the first law is, yeah, for real. The first law is the law of value. Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment. Can you unpack that one a little bit?
Amy Getz (06:14)
Yes, say that five times.
Yeah, I love this one. actually this is sort of how I’m chosen to show up in my own professional life. But it’s like, as you give, when you are, when you are giving and not necessarily, we’re all concerned about payment, but the point is, is when you’re giving from service, giving from a place of loving and genuinely wanting to be in the space where you serve, when you’re able to show up in that sense, you’re, you’re going to receive 10 fold back.
when you’re not in the expectation of giving to get. And that’s sort of how I choose to live my life and especially how I choose to show up in how I serve people. You know, I’m a financial advisor and I don’t charge for a financial plan. I delight in giving someone an hour of my time to helping them figure out what their financial freedom date is and their path to getting there because it’s of service to me to share that message with the world. And so this first law speaks so deeply to me.
Mickey Mellen (06:59)
Mm-hmm.
Amy Getz (07:25)
And I think it’s important if we all just show up and love what we do and show up from a place of serving others and wanting to put our best foot forward and change the world, then all of that’s going to come back to us in a powerful way.
Mickey Mellen (07:39)
To quote Charlie Munger, I have nothing to add. That was fantastic. So yeah, let’s move on to the second one. Well said there. the second law is the law of compensation. Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them. So these laws kind of overlap a bit. I think you kind of hit this a bit, but yeah, why you unpack the law of compensation a bit further if you would.
Amy Getz (07:43)
Yes.
Right. But it’s basically saying that to the point of you will be compensated when you show up from a place of service. And we don’t need to cap our income by way of saying, well, if I give away knowledge or information or my talent, that somehow we’re not going to be paid accordingly. In fact, it’s sort of elevating that to the place of if you just give truly of who you are, the compensation comes back in a much greater way.
other than just this and the income follows. But really part of that compensation too is just the feeling that you get from living in integrity. And of course, when you’re in that space, the financial rewards are of course going to come back to you. And I think this is real. I’m in the space of abundance and money. And it’s really important for me to stress like gratitude and giving for people because when you can get yourself in that space.
then you money’s energy, it’s going to flow back to you. So when you’re showing up in a way that is of service and not with money as the first thing is what you’re going to get by way of dividends and return, it automatically comes. So that’s sort of my take.
Mickey Mellen (09:07)
Yep. Gotcha. I love that. Well said. The third law is the law of influence. Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first.
Amy Getz (09:18)
Again, such a simple concept, right? But when you show up in service to others, when you show up, not necessarily looking to have your own needs served in that instance, but you’re showing up to make sure that you’re serving others, meeting them where they are, elevating them from the place that they need your help, then you are going to, your influence is going to be greater. They’re going to want to refer you. When you show up to say, let me serve you.
Mickey Mellen (09:20)
Mm-hmm.
Amy Getz (09:46)
And if I can’t serve you, let me connect you with someone that can. Like all we’re all in this entrepreneurial space. Referrals are always the number one way to receive business. But if you’re going in seeking that by way of compensation, it’s inevitable that it doesn’t happen that way. But when you are showing up in service and you are saying, look, I might not be the person to help you, but I know someone that can.
Like, who isn’t going to want to then refer your name as someone who’s honest, full of integrity and, and, you know, that’s how that’s my take on the third law.
Mickey Mellen (10:20)
Yeah, I love that. is, some of these are almost counterintuitive. Like your influence is increased by putting other people’s interests first. But that’s, mean, we’ve all seen that in life too and the book explains that so well. So, yeah.
Amy Getz (10:31)
And I love that you say that it is counterintuitive because like, let’s up end things, right? Let’s flip them on their head, right? And change the sort of the paradigm and how, how the world, right, sees humanity. think if we all started living more into these laws, imagine like the change and elevation of just the community around us. Yeah.
Mickey Mellen (10:38)
Mm-hmm.
for sure. Yeah, well said. The fourth law is the law of authenticity. The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself.
Amy Getz (11:03)
Yeah. And I think, I think this one to me is super important. And just my, my own personal slant on that is show up in who you are. Don’t try and be someone else that you are, you know, again, in the space of money, I often like to remind people because they can look around and determine their own worth in by way of comparison. And I always say, don’t assume because something looks a certain way that it is a certain way, right? Like it’s that millionaire next door concept.
Mickey Mellen (11:23)
Mm-hmm.
Amy Getz (11:33)
And so I think showing up as yourself without heirs, just being authentically who you are is going to attract the right and perfect people that you’re meant to serve, that are meant to elevate you, that are meant to be your best referral partners. So living into that. And this is something that I think even for my own self, you my mentor is an amazing man. And in my particular profession, financial advising, there tends to be a bit of a male and pale.
slant towards that. And I’m not at all negative towards men. I’m just very pro-women. But when I decided that I was going to serve people by way of my own intuitive gifts and my own feminine, you know, nature, it’s when my business changed. When I decided I didn’t have to be anyone but myself, I didn’t have to show up like my mentor. I could learn from him and deliver the same message, but do it in my own voice. That’s when
Mickey Mellen (12:03)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Amy Getz (12:29)
my business started to shift. So I would encourage anyone else to say, be authentically who you are, because that’s going to attract the right and perfect people.
Mickey Mellen (12:38)
Yep. Yeah, the interesting balance Seth Godin talks a lot about is authenticity versus consistency though too, being too authentic can almost be problematic at times if you bring your personal struggles into the office when people want you to be consistent. So it’s kind of an interesting balance to have to face. Yeah.
Amy Getz (12:53)
Well, very true. I think of authenticity by way of just your character, right? Like whatever your core values are, if you’re showing up consistently in your core values, you know, for whatever that is for you, right? Mine are integrity. Mine is to have fun. Mine is to be loyal and of service. When you show up in your core values, I think consistency is a great measure there, but by way of authenticity, agreed.
Mickey Mellen (13:00)
Yes, I love your angle on it, yes.
Amy Getz (13:21)
keep your personal business at home, but show up in your value system.
Mickey Mellen (13:22)
Yeah, yeah. And I think it depends what you do too. Seth’s example is often like a heart surgeon. Like you don’t care for your heart surgeon to be authentic. You want to be consistent. And so I think it matters a lot what you’re doing and yeah. But you’re serving people in their times of need and stuff. So yeah, I think being authentic to who you are and what you bring is fantastic. So yeah, love that. And then the fifth and final law is the law of receptivity. The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.
Amy Getz (13:34)
Good.
I love that too. Okay.
I love this one so much and I think I don’t want to be over general, but I sometimes think women especially have a hard time receiving, right? We want to be the ones that are, you know, serving the family, serving our children, serving the community. But I have learned in my own walk that, you know, if you’re
you can give, but if you’re not open to receiving, then you’re kind of blocking the flow of that additional energy exchange. And so I would encourage everyone to recognize that even for my own self, like it is a gift when I get to show up for someone else. And so when someone else would block that or not receive that, that that sort of stops the flow. So again, just like in the story, right, the Joe was being served by Pindar.
And he didn’t necessarily feel worthy in the beginning, but the point was he was open to receiving and he ended up getting so much more than he anticipated. And then also by way of giving back more than he anticipated. So I think this is really important for us to recognize. And even if we’re in a space where maybe I call it time, talent and treasure, maybe you’re not at a place where you’re able to give of your treasure by way, but we all have time and talent to give. I think when we can be open.
to giving something of ourselves, it opens us up to receiving tenfold for that.
Mickey Mellen (15:12)
Yep, and this one I I struggle with this one. I think a lot of people struggle with receiving sometimes they don’t want to take advantage of or whatever But I always look at it through the opposite lens if I’m offering you something and say Amy I want to talk to you and I could help you with your website or whatever Let me just give you some some stuff and you turn it down. It makes me feel bad You’ve lost you’ve turned it down maybe out of politeness or whatever, but it’s actually made things worse for me It’s like but I wanted to help her and so I try to look at it from the opposite side when someone wants to help me and wants to offer their time talents and treasure like
I should allow them to because they want to make them feel better and it’ll probably benefit me with the advice or whatever I get back. So I try to spin that around and think about the times. Yeah, I get get quote shot down and offering. Mm hmm. Yes.
Amy Getz (15:44)
thousand percent and it keeps it afloat. Yeah, it keeps it flowing right to you and from you and through you. think it’s important to recognize that if, if we were all even, even in the best case scenario, if we were all giving and there were no one receiving, I mean, that kind of stops, stops where it is. So yeah, right. Like nothing’s happening at that point. So when you put it in that sort of basic and simple terms, it helps you recognize like, yeah.
Mickey Mellen (16:02)
Right. Where’s it going? Yeah. Right. Yep.
Amy Getz (16:12)
Like that there is an opportunity for me to serve by receiving.
Mickey Mellen (16:16)
Yep, for sure. Yeah, so in the book these five laws are the five days of the week each each day They work on a law and Joe and Pindar go visit someone and they kind of it’s a nice little story to go through it So it’s worth reading the book again as Amy pointed out. It’s a short book But the five laws the law of value compensation influence authenticity and receptivity a few other little pieces I want to hit to there’s some other little quotes. I really liked there was one This is a quote from the book is that you see Pindar continued the majority of people operate with a mindset that says to the fireplace
First give me some heat, then I’ll throw on some logs. Whether it says to the bank, give me interest on my money and then I’ll make a deposit. And of course, it just doesn’t work that way. And that, that I think is kind of a good summary of the book too. It’s like you gotta give first and then you will receive. You throw some logs on the fire, you’re getting way more back in return but you gotta put the logs in first, you know? So I kind of love that.
Amy Getz (17:01)
Yeah, I think that’s a really good one. can vividly remember reading that and highlighting and underlining. be like, because we all too, I think, need visuals in life. I think when we can have sort of a visual to represent some of those concepts, it helps us to solidify them even more. And I love how the book does that by way of the story itself. So absolutely, I think that’s a really good one.
Mickey Mellen (17:10)
Mm-hmm.
Awesome. So any final thoughts for folks that haven’t read the book? Any lessons you want to make sure they take home or make sure they pick up as they read it themselves?
Amy Getz (17:31)
I mean, first of all, I would encourage everyone to read the book. And I would also say that it kind of touches all genders and it touches all generations, right? Whether you’re someone that’s just graduating or whether you’re a seasoned business professional, I think it’s a book that you could pick up, quickly read, and feel like you have some key takeaways immediately. Rarely do you read a book, and oftentimes they’re very dense. And I think this one is such a relatable story. It makes it really easy. And I think it makes it accessible and in such a language that…
allows you to shift some of those maybe limiting beliefs or some of your core mindsets that might be holding you back. And I think it’s a book that offers joy and expansion. And yeah, it did actually truly change how I showed up and served.
Mickey Mellen
So Amy, this was fantastic. I appreciate your insights here. It is a awesome book.
Encourage people to check it out if people want to learn more about you. How can they find and connect with you online?
Amy Getz
Yes, thank you very much. So Amy Getz, I work for IRC Wealth. Our website is ircwealth.com. My email is Amy at IRC Wealth and I am on LinkedIn as Amy Getz. I would delight in connecting with each and every one of you. If you want to talk about the book, you want to talk about money, or you just want to talk about networking, I’d be delighted to make that connection.
Mickey Mellen
Awesome, that’s fantastic. Amy, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate you being here.
Amy Getz
Thank you.
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