In this episode of The Same Day Podcast, Mat Zalk is joined by Bob Burg to discuss how value-driven leadership shapes lasting business success. They explore how to apply the five laws of stratospheric success to everyday decisions, why collaboration beats compromise, and how generosity fuels influence. Bob also gives advice on building a team culture centered around trust, autonomy, and authentic connection.
Cultivating Value-Driven Business Relationships and Leadership With Bob Burg
Bob Burg is a best-selling author and relationship marketing expert, known for his work at the intersection of leadership, communication, and influence. He is the co-author of The Go-Giver, which has sold over one million copies and inspired millions of entrepreneurs, leaders, and sales professionals worldwide to adopt generosity and service as keys to success. Beyond his publishing achievements, Bob is recognized for his engaging parables, practical insights on building trust-based relationships, and his influence in shaping a more giving approach to business.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [04:38] Bob Burg explains how employees can adopt the entrepreneurial mindset at work
- [06:48] Navigating conflict by creating value for clients and tenants simultaneously
- [09:44] The inside story behind writing and publishing The Go-Giver
- [15:18] Why receiving is the hardest law to apply, and how to overcome it
- [20:56] Daily habits for staying in the go-giver mindset under stress
- [21:47] Book recommendations that will supercharge your personal growth
- [24:54] The secret to motivating employees beyond just paying more
- [29:23] How valuing people can dramatically boost your company’s bottom line
In this episode…
In business, success often seems tied to strategy, sales targets, and financial results. Yet the leaders who stand out are often those who give the most, not just in effort but in value, service, and trust. What happens when generosity becomes the core of how you lead and build relationships?
According to Bob Burg, a best-selling author and renowned speaker on leadership and influence, success starts with focusing on how much value you can create for others. He believes that the “entrepreneurial spirit” isn’t limited to business owners — it’s a mindset anyone can apply by consistently seeking ways to serve. Bob explains that real value isn’t only about money or transactions; it’s about making others feel understood, respected, and better off because of your involvement. Whether managing a property, leading a team, or nurturing a client relationship, the goal is the same: help others win, and success naturally follows. This approach, rooted in generosity and authenticity, transforms relationships and businesses alike.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Yonatan Schmidt on LinkedIn
- Mat Zalk on LinkedIn
- Keyrenter Property Management
- Keyrenter Property Management in Tulsa | Oklahoma City | Arkansas
- Keyrenter Property Management email address: [email protected]
- Bob Burg: Website | LinkedIn
- The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea by Bob Burg and John David Mann
- Endless Referrals: Network Your Everyday Contacts into Sales by Bob Burg
- “Revitalizing Neighborhoods With Refurbished Apartment Spaces” with Adam Rosenberg on The Same Day Podcast
- Dr. Jeremy Weisz on LinkedIn
- Inspired Insider Podcast
- BNI (Business Network International)
- Living Untethered: Beyond the Human Predicament by Michael A. Singer
- The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer
- The Surrender Experiment: My Journey into Life’s Perfection by Michael A. Singer
- What Matters Most by Wendy Lipton-Dibner
- Hard Lessons from the Hurt Business: Boxing and the Art of Life by Ed Latimore
- Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family by Bob Chapman and Raj Sisodia
Quotable Moments
- “Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.”
- “I would rather, instead of people compromise, I’d rather people collaborate because when you collaborate, you’re both getting more of what you want.”
- “Nobody’s going to hire you because you have a mortgage payment to meet, or because you want to save for a nice vacation.”
- “The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself. Be authentic.”
- “People will do business with and refer business to those people they know, like, and trust.”
Action Steps
- Embrace collaboration over compromise: Shifting from compromise to collaboration ensures that all parties gain more from interactions, fostering stronger relationships.
- Cultivate a culture of authenticity: Encouraging authenticity in your team creates trust, allowing for deeper connections and more effective communication.
- Focus on value-driven leadership: Prioritizing the value you provide to others strengthens relationships and drives long-term success for both individuals and businesses.
- Create opportunities for continuous learning: Ensuring employees have access to ongoing training boosts their competence and helps them feel confident and empowered in their roles.
- Practice active listening with employees and clients: Listening attentively builds trust and opens the door to solutions that benefit everyone, enhancing collaboration and loyalty.
Sponsor for this episode…
Keyrenter Property Management:
This episode is brought to you by Keyrenter Property Management.
Keyrenter Property Management is a full-service property management company that helps clients buy, renovate, and operate real estate assets.
The team helps clients build wealth while taking the headache out of property management.
That’s why, no matter what rental you have — single-family homes, condos, townhomes, or apartments — they can give you the management solutions you need.
To learn more about their services, go to https://keyrenterpmc.com/ or send them an email at [email protected].
Episode Transcript
Intro 00:04
Welcome to The Same Day Podcast, where we discuss driving incremental business growth and other topics related to real estate, property management and entrepreneurship. Now to the show at hand.
Mat Zalk 00:21
Mat Zalk here, host of The Same Day Podcast where I connect with top business experts and real estate leaders. Past guests on this show are many, but one includes Adam Rosenberg of Ajb Multifamily Real Estate Developer. Finding creative ways to convert existing assets into profitable apartment buildings is what Ajb does. And for that episode, you can dig back in the archive. Adam’s currently working on a project in Tulsa, Oklahoma that’s very exciting and converts an old motel into proper apartment living.
Today’s episode is brought to you by Keyrenter Property Management. At Keyrenter Property Management, we are a full service property management company helping our clients buy, renovate and operate real estate assets. We help our clients build wealth while taking the headache out of property management. No matter what rental you have single family homes, condos, townhomes, apartments.
We have the management solutions that you need. Go to keyrenterpmc.com or email us at info at [email protected]. Before introducing today’s guest I want to give. I give a huge shout out and thank you to Dr. Jeremy Weisz of Inspired Insider Podcast.
Inspired Insider features interviews with successful and inspirational entrepreneurs and visionary leaders, and Jeremy introduced me to Bob Burg. So for that, I am incredibly grateful. Bob Burg is our guest today. He’s a best selling author of The Go-Giver, one of the most transformational business books of our time. Bob’s work has reshaped how entrepreneurs, leaders, and sales professionals think about success.
Providing sorry, proving that generosity, authenticity, and service aren’t soft skills, they are superpowers. His five laws of stratospheric success have inspired millions to build businesses rooted in value and trust, and today we’re digging into how those laws apply to property management, leadership, and the art of long term client relationships. If you’ve ever wondered how to grow your business by giving more, this conversation is going to change the way you think about selling, serving, and succeeding. Before, however, we introduce Bob, I would like to just do a little bit on the book itself. The Go-Giver definitely transformed the way I think about relationships and business and networking and all sorts of other stuff.
And I encourage you, if you haven’t heard of the book or you haven’t read the book, read it. It is concise. It is a fable and it’s very entertaining to read, but I’m going to go through just a couple of things because you’re going to hear about them in the podcast. Presumably when we talk with Bob about them, the they’re the five laws of stratospheric success. They are, number one, the law of value, essentially saying your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.
Number two is the law of compensation, which says your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them. Number three is the law of influence. Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests ahead of your own or first. And for the law of authenticity, the most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself. Be authentic.
Number five the law of receptivity. The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving. So we’re going to be talking about those today. Again, I would highly encourage you to read this book. I’ve read it multiple times and many people on our team have also read it.
It should be mandatory reading for at least the folks at Keyrenter, and I’m going to work on making sure that that happens in book clubs or studies or however else. But it’s a great book. Short, concise and just full of valuable lessons. Bob Burg, welcome to the show. Thank you for being on.
Bob Burg 04:00
Oh my pleasure. Thank you for having me.
Mat Zalk 04:04
So I did a little intro and explained for those people who have not read the book that they should read the book and, and some of the central tenets, the five laws of stratospheric success. How for those of us that love the book and have kind of internalized some of the core principles that are operating businesses, how should we that are operating businesses as entrepreneurs? How should we think about cascading the messages through to employees of the business and imbuing them with that same entrepreneurial spirit?
Bob Burg 04:38
Yeah, it’s a great question because while it’s while the book sort of written for entrepreneurs and salespeople, the entrepreneurial spirit, it can be had by anyone. So when someone’s an employee within an organization, Instead of being an entrepreneur, they’re really an entrepreneur. They they still take those same entrepreneurial principles. Now, for example, as a as an entrepreneur, you know that, you know, nobody’s going to buy from you because you have a sales goal to meet, right? Or a quota to meet, or because you need the money or even because you’re a nice person.
They’re going to do business with you because they believe they’ll be better off by doing so than by not doing so well. As an entrepreneur, you need to realize that nobody’s going to hire you and continue to pay you a salary because you have a mortgage payment to meet, or because you want to save for a nice vacation, or because you want to live a certain lifestyle. They’re going to hire you and they’re going to pay you, and they’re going to promote you because they’re finding you to be of value to the organization. So as an entrepreneur, your focus is still on pleasing your customer, only your customer instead of the end user might be your. Your boss might be your coworkers.
Those you lead that person in the other silo who typically is not very forthcoming with information, but because of the, you know, the way they they see and respect you, you’re able to. Right. So all those things, it’s still a matter of finding a way to be of value to others.
Mat Zalk 06:10
In the property management space. Speaking of being of value to others, we’re kind of nestled between a a client of ours who owns a rental property and a tenant of ours who is a customer of ours. We’re we’re providing them a, a rent house, and we want to provide them with the service. But those two goals are sometimes at odds. And that if a tenant says, I want a new hot water tank, and the owner says, I don’t want to buy a new hot water tank, I want them, I want to, I want to fix it with a plumber.
We can kind of get caught in the middle. How would you think about creating the most value for both parties when those two are fundamentally at odds.
Bob Burg 06:48
Yeah. And you know, sometimes that does happen. I mean, I’m a I’m a big believer. I’ve often said, you know, I would rather instead of people compromise I’d rather people collaborate because when you compromise you’re you’re both giving something up. When you collaborate, you’re both getting more of what you want.
However, sometimes that’s just not going to be the case, such as the example that that you’re sharing. So it’s up to you. The way you will provide value is to help each of them get as much value as they can from this situation, while making them feel good about themselves and good about the other person. To the degree you do that, that’s that’s how you’re providing value.
Mat Zalk 07:27
Yeah. It just sometimes we’re just at like such crazy odds with people and we I feel like we’re in a world where everybody hates us, where nobody gets what they want, and they really it is more of a compromise because somebody has to give something up. They’re giving up money in exchange for replacing something. And it sometimes feels like we are really just in a world where nobody loves us and we, and we have to settle for something that is suboptimal for everybody because nobody is getting really what they want. I feel like it’s hard to to communicate how we’re providing tremendous value to a client of ours and owner of a real estate property, when ultimately we just have to buy the new hot water tank.
Bob Burg 08:06
Well, so this is where this is where you’ve got to kind of look at it from their viewpoint and say, okay, in what way are you providing value to them and what way are you making their life better? Now, it may not be financially in this case, because if they need to buy that water tank, they need to buy the water tank. Okay, but how are you making them feel during the process? And you know, can you help them see the monetization of it, where they’re going to be able to utilize this in order to attract, you know, someone else later on where they otherwise may not would have, you know, of course, I don’t know your business like you know your business. But how do you, aside from the way you say it, how do you actually share with them how in some way, shape or form, they’re better off by making this decision than by not making it?
You know, sometimes a decision is not, you know, a choice of good and gooder. Yeah. Or bad and good. Sometimes it’s bad and less bad. Yeah.
Right. And sometimes you need to explain that and educate and, you know, do that in such a way where, you know, they’re understanding that. And at the same time, you’re also helping them to see where they are making the right decision to do that. Yeah.
Mat Zalk 09:22
Again.
Bob Burg 09:22
It’s not a it’s not not there’s nothing magical or mystical about it.
Mat Zalk 09:26
Yeah. Let’s go back to the beginning of this. You’ve been on a a pretty amazing journey having created this this concept, the book, The Go-Giver. How did this journey start? Where did it come from and how did you come up with this book?
Bob Burg 09:44
Yeah. So years ago I had a. And this is back in the 90s. I had a book called Endless Referrals. The subtitle was Network Your Everyday Contacts into Sales.
And it was basically a. It was a how to book for salespeople and entrepreneurs who knew they had a great product or service. They knew it brought a lot of value to their customers, but they didn’t necessarily feel comfortable or confident in terms of going into their local community and building the kinds of relationships with people wanted to do business with them personally and or refer them to others. So it was sort of a it was a guide to doing that. The basic premise was that all things being equal, people will do business with and refer business to those people they know, like and trust, which of course made its way into The Go-Giver as well.
But, but but I’d always thought, wouldn’t it be great if we could take that basic idea and put it into a parable? Because I’d always loved reading parables since I’d been in sales. I loved reading parable. You know, parables or stories. They connect on a deeper heart to heart level.
But I’m not a parable writer, and that’s a whole different, you know, different thing. Fortunately, in the early 2000, I met this brilliant guy, John David Mann. He was the editor in chief of a magazine I was writing for. I was writing a monthly column. John had a reputation even then of being brilliant.
And as he would edit my columns, I, you know, he I the running joke was, you know, he’d always say I you know, I did this, I made this change this through email. I still never met him. Is it okay that this and I which an editor doesn’t have to do, by the way, they can do whatever they want basically with it. But he he’s very humble and would always and I’d write back and it was always pretty much the same email back. And that was John.
Not only is it okay, you write my stuff better than I write my stuff, but he was also, you know, a really, really good guy. And so and I knew he was a great storyteller, so I just asked. I told him about this, you know, sketched out idea for a book. I mean, I had nothing substantial written at all and asked him about doing this. And he was, you know, busy at the time and he didn’t know if he wanted to do this.
But he said to his then fiancee, now wife Anna, he said, you know, I really don’t have time to do this, but it’s Bob. How do I just, you know, how can I just say no? I mean, you know, the guy and this is where the relationship comes in, right? That know, like and trust. And so he and Anna were visiting her mom on the Gulf Coast of Florida.
I live on the East Coast. And so one afternoon they took a four hour drive over. We had about a three hour dinner discuss the idea of the book. About three weeks later, he calls me and says, yeah, this is a good idea, let’s do it. So if it hadn’t been for John, this book would never be what it is.
I mean, he was the lead writer, the storyteller. And, you know, the hard part wasn’t the writing. You know, we did that in three months. And again, he was, you know, was his magic. But the tough part was getting it, finding a publisher because it took us a year.
We had our we have a great agent. It took her a year, and I think 24 no’s from New York publishing houses before the 25th one said yes, and they turned out to be a great publishing partner.
Mat Zalk 12:49
Why? Why do you think that was?
Bob Burg 12:51
There were different reasons. I think some of them, it was just they didn’t think a parable would be, you know, would go over. Some didn’t like the story itself, some did, but felt it wasn’t, you know, exactly what they were looking for. But what John and I did every time, because Margaret, our agent, was great at getting feedback. And what we would do is, you know, John and I decided, let’s put our egos aside.
Let’s listen and decide, you know, determine what was, you know, what’s legit and what’s just a matter of different, you know, and and so we made, you know, alterations along the way. But one of the things that came up and this is I think about the 21st or 22nd rejection, they said we don’t think they have a big enough platform to make this successful. Now the publishing world, as you know, platform means how many people are going to buy the book because it’s them who wrote it right now. I knew John and I both had big platforms. He is a writer, he’s a speaker.
So obviously I did not communicate correctly the platform we had. So we went back to the drawing board and invested in putting together an entirely new video presentation that really highlighted the platform we had. And I guess it was about, you know, 2 or 3 or 1 or 2 or whatever publishers later. And we got the yes, it’s amazing.
Mat Zalk 14:08
I know nothing about book publishing, and I suspect most of our audience doesn’t either, but I would. It’s wild to think that you put together a video to communicate why the book should be published here, a publishing house.
Bob Burg 14:20
Well, you know, a publishing company is, you know, their business is is selling books. I mean, they’re basically a consignment printer, you know, I mean, and but, you know, you’ve got but you know but these guys these people though again portfolio is our publisher. They’re an imprint of Penguin Random House. We couldn’t have asked for a better publishing partner. They have been they’re wise and encouraging and were with us all the way as we as we did this.
And they continue to support us. So we really lucked out by getting all those no’s and and finding the one that turned out to be just just great in hindsight.
Mat Zalk 14:58
But it doesn’t always feel that way in the time.
Bob Burg 14:59
No. Oh no. Never. The rejections and no’s never feel good at the time. Yeah.
But you know, then they make sense when you look at them backwards.
Mat Zalk 15:07
Absolutely. Of the five laws of stratospheric success, what do you think people struggle with most in practice and why? Why?
Bob Burg 15:18
Yeah, it’s the law of receptivity. The the last one, John and I, from the beginning, you know, as soon as the book was out, we received more emails about how you know either that this was the toughest one or, you know, finally, from reading that chapter, I got permission to receive and, you know, and things like that. Here’s really the thing that the the world around us gives us so many negative messages about money, prosperity, abundance, business. You see it everywhere, and it’s a combination for many people of upbringing, environment, schooling, news media, television shows, movies, the internet, popular culture. Right.
And so, you know, somebody hears these negative messages, hears and sees and experiences all these horrible anti prosperity messages growing up. And it’s not that it it’s in their conscious. It’s it’s more insidious than that. It’s in their subconscious. They don’t even know it’s there.
And so you know they so so yeah they want to do well. They want to help people. They want to make a lot of money. All those great things. Right.
But as they start to make the money, those old subconscious tapes or tapes I guess that’s old school. Kicks in, you know, and says, well, then you must have done something wrong. You must have hurt someone. You must have stepped on someone’s toes. You must have been dishonest.
Right. And people will push that away. They’ll sabotage themselves. They’ll, you know, for whatever. There’s lots of reasons.
But yeah. And so I and that’s one reason why I, you know, I say to people, yeah, we covered it in the book, but it’s a parable. You can only go so deep. I believe that, that, that you should make it, not you. But I mean, one should make a, a a study of prosperity.
Look up people like Randy Gage, like Sharon Lechter. Ellen Rogan, David Nagel, Ken Honda, Lisa Peterson. These are people who they they speak, they teach, they write, they blog, they do video on on abundance and abundance mindset. And they’re I mean, they go deep into detail and I subscribe to many of them because I want to get the, you know, the good stuff into our mind, the garbage, the anti prosperity garbage we get from everywhere around us. And we don’t even know that that what you know, we’re not even consciously thinking of it until, you know, until you, you know, until you can start spotting things and check your premises and say, okay, well, why is this person saying this?
And so when you get that good stuff, when you subscribe to all that good, clean pro prosperity, now you’re getting that into your your head and into your heart.
Mat Zalk 18:09
It’s really, really a paradigm shift that.
Bob Burg 18:12
It is.
Mat Zalk 18:13
One or many most people have to go through at some point. They you grow up, you know, fighting over a toy with your sibling or, you know, sharing meals or whatever it is. And, you just have to at some point shift and say, this is an abundant world that we live in. I was chatting with a friend recently and he said, there’s this great I found from my neighbor, a great person that comes over and folds the laundry, and she charges me 60 or $70 to pull the lawn. And I said, oh, that sounds great.
Can I have her number? And she said, absolutely. He said, absolutely not. No, wait. What?
Why? That’s the craziest thing. God forbid she, as an employee to her business, scales her business a little bit. I get the benefit. You now have goodwill that you’ve created with me and I reciprocate that goodwill like it was the craziest thing.
And I thought, this person’s never read The Go-Giver. This person’s never attended a BNI meeting with the same, you know, similar concepts. That was just it was weird. In a moment you can destroy value rather than creating value.
Bob Burg 19:08
Yeah, it’s not part of that person’s what I call unconscious operating system, right? They don’t see the world the same way.
Mat Zalk 19:15
Yeah.
Bob Burg 19:16
Yeah.
Mat Zalk 19:17
I wanted to ask. There is, you know, I’ve been a member of BNI for eight years. There’s there is the know, like and trust people you do business with will. People will do business with folks they know, like and trust. What is the what is the relationship, if any, between you and Doctor Ivan Meisner?
Have you shared platforms and. Oh yeah.
Bob Burg 19:34
Oh, he’s a he’s a hero of mine. We both endorsed each other’s books and been on each other’s podcasts. He had me speak at one of their conferences. You know, I mean, I think he really is a pioneer. He’s the guy who who created the the term givers game.
Mat Zalk 19:50
Yeah.
Bob Burg 19:51
And which I think transformed business. And I can’t tell you how often I’ll, you know, I’ll, I’ll see somebody say givers gain on, on LinkedIn or something like that. And I’ll write a short little note just letting them know it’s Ivan Meisner. And that’s actually a registered trademark. You can’t just say givers gain as though it’s your own, you know.
But but but no, he’s he’s he’s fantastic. I think he’s just a real he’s a business hero. And he’s really a life hero too.
Mat Zalk 20:17
He I mean, long before I read The Go-Giver. I’ve read it probably five times, but long before I read The Go-Giver, I was in BNI and it really did shift. It was, for me the moment where I shifted to. The more I can go out and help people and create value for them, the more my reputation grows. And oh, and you know, people look back at me as the person that knows more people than it’s a virtuous cycle.
I know a lot of people because I’m always helping them.
Bob Burg 20:40
Yeah.
Mat Zalk 20:40
Yeah, absolutely. What for those of us that have trouble getting or staying in The Go-Giver mindset, when life gets hectic or business gets hectic, what does a small daily habit that we could help us stay in that kind of philosophy?
Bob Burg 20:56
You know, I mean, I think when we read positive stuff, when we listen to positive information, when we, you know, continue to remind ourselves or we can if we have to, we can put a little yellow sticky note up there. And and whether it says givers gain with the registered trademark or whether it says, you know, focus on providing value to others or, you know, whatever, it’s those little things that can that can remind us. But yeah, you know, life happens and it’s, you know, it gets in the way. And sometimes it can be difficult to keep our focus where it needs to be.
Mat Zalk 21:29
Yeah. What else? You mentioned a bunch of names of people that have content out there. But what what are you reading right now? There’s a lot of books behind you on the kind of person also, that has a stack of ten books beside my bed.
I’ve got two on my desk here, but what are you reading just in general that you enjoy? And business philosophy. What?
Bob Burg 21:47
Yeah. Well, one, one book that I would recommend to everyone, I think it’s probably the most important self-help book, or I like to call it personal development, but. But you could say self-help or personal development. I think it’s, it’s about the most important that’s ever been written. And it’s called Living Untethered.
Wow. And it’s by Michael A. Singer. Now, a lot of people know him for his book, The Untethered Soul, which was his first one, which was a great book. He also wrote The Surrender Experiment, another fantastic book. But this third one, I think, just took it to a whole new level.
And you don’t have to even read that. You could just read this. It’s self contained, but but living untethered. To me it has done the most for me. And I you know, I’m 67 years old and I’ve been studying this stuff for a long time, but I gotta tell you, this one hit me in a way in which it really helped me and others who I’ve because I’ve recommended it to so many people and have been discussing it with so many people that it really helps you understand yourself.
It helps you understand others, it helps you understand life, and it can really get to and help you rid yourself of some of the yuck that you know that we all have. You know, from from everything you know, from all our experiences living on this earth. And, and I would really highly, highly recommend that. But let’s see other other books that I’ve just finished. A couple I’m reading.
I’m reading one that called What Matters Most, and I’m trying to think of the author right now. I feel so bad, like, because I, I hate to not give her credit. I’m about to read. I have it on my as my next one right there. Hard Lessons from the Hurt Business by Ed Latimore, a former professional boxer who grew up on the streets of of Pittsburgh and has really done some fantastic work.
Mat Zalk 23:44
What Matters Most is Wendy Lipton Dibner.
Bob Burg 23:48
Wendy Lipton Dibner. Yeah. And it’s really fantastic. It’s for business. It’s for business people who really want to see and be able to measure and monetize how, you know, how the lives they touch or how they have really touched the lives of those who bid, how they’ve impacted people’s lives and and how their business has impacted people’s lives and how you can also utilize that in order to create more of that, which of course creates even more income, which allows you to to to increase your impact even more, and so forth.
It’s a I’m about three quarters of the way through that one. And it’s really.
Mat Zalk 24:26
That reminds me, I mean, as an entrepreneur and a business owner, how how do you think about employing the five laws of stratospheric success with your employees? I mean, there’s you pay a salary, you may pay a bonus, you may enhance people’s lives in other ways. But what do you think about, like really being able to deliver the same value and influence lessons to employees of an organization?
Bob Burg 24:54
Well, it’s very important because remember, it’s it’s just like just like when you sell a product or service, the there’s intrinsic value in that product. Okay. Let’s say for example, you’re an accountant. The the intrinsic value is you’re going to help people save money, save taxes, money in your taxes, you’re going to help them save time, and you’re going to help give them peace of mind, right? Of knowing it was done correctly.
That’s intrinsic. That’s what any accountant should be able to do. And there’s lots of value in that. But the extrinsic value is how you deal with that person, how good you make them feel about themselves, how easy it is for people to do business with you. Okay.
It’s the way people answer the phone and return calls and and make sure they communicate. It’s the excellence of of what you do as well as how you speak to people. It’s the consistency of your action. It’s the attention to detail both about that person and so forth. It’s it’s knowing, you know, it’s it’s knowing about that person and about their family, their recreation, their charities, their whatever.
Right. It’s goes far beyond. There’s the empathy that that we are able to communicate to those we we deal with. And it’s the appreciation, the gratitude we give. So there’s all sorts of ways above just the product or service.
Well, it’s the same with your employees. How are you adding value to their life? Aside from the salary and the benefits and so forth? Well, you know, doctors Edward Deci and Richard Ryan created a study called the an a philosophy, I guess, if you will, called the Self-Determination principle. And it was all about what motivated people, what motivated employees.
And we said, well, the money, what money’s important. But once a person feels as though they’re being paid fairly, okay, then money is not among the highest motivators. What they found is that what motivated people the most was their sense of autonomy. So being able to have freedom and liberty to to make decisions, to be able to write within, of course, it’s always within a framework. But but to be able to, you know, not be micromanaged, but instead feel as though you’re actually right.
Autonomy is a very important element of human nature. After that, it was competency and mastery. So could you, you know, the training that you give them so that they get really good at what they do and they feel good about what they do. They know that they’re making a difference. And then the other was relationship, and that is how do they feel at the job?
Do they feel as though they’re part of something bigger than themselves? Right. And so those three are very, very important. And to the degree that you provide that to your employees, that’s, you know, the degree, you know, a wonderful book was. Everybody Matters by but but Everybody Matters.
No, this is actually Simon Sinek did a foreword for the book, but it was by Bob Chapman who was the who was the chairman of of. Yeah, it’s very big. Yeah, a very big manufacturing firm. Yeah. Barry Wehmiller and located in Saint Louis, headquartered in Saint Louis, but all over the world, a huge manufacturing company.
And, you know, he started out he talks about in his book. He started out as that, you know, typical. You know, this is how it’s done. It’s top down. It’s command and control.
You pay these people, they do well. And you know, his business did well, but it also went up and down and so forth. But once he started seeing people as people, and once he recognized that his job was to create an environment where people felt great about themselves and great about where they worked.
Mat Zalk 29:04
Business.
Bob Burg 29:05
Oh my gosh. And the success stories are are phenomenal. And he’s just he you know, he’s another real hero of mine. But yeah. So there’s lots you can do to, you know, as a leader to provide value that extrinsic value over and above what you pay that person.
Mat Zalk 29:22
Yeah.
Bob Burg 29:23
And there’s nothing soft about any of this. This is this is quantifiable. And companies that do this have a stronger bottom line. And yeah, it works.
Mat Zalk 29:34
Living Untethered, What Matters Most, and Everybody Matters.
Bob Burg 29:39
Everybody Matters. Those are. Those are three books I can’t recommend highly enough. Yeah.
Mat Zalk 29:43
Any any podcast that you’re listening to that are the best. And then I’m going to let you go.
Bob Burg 29:47
I’m actually not a podcast listener. I say that because I guest on podcasts all the time. But, you know, I just I’m an avid reader. You know, I always say my my home is comprised of books with some scattered furniture. Yeah.
And but I really. Yeah, I really don’t listen to podcasts. And so I’m sure I miss out on a whole lot, but it is what.
Mat Zalk 30:12
It.
Bob Burg 30:12
Is.
Mat Zalk 30:12
I agree. Better better better in books. Bob, thank you for being on the show. I really appreciate it for all of our for all of our audience. Today’s guest is Bob Burg, bestselling author of The Go-Giver, one of the most transformative business books of our time.
Bob’s work has reshaped how entrepreneurs, leaders, and sales professionals think about success, proving that generosity, authenticity, and service aren’t soft skills, they’re superpowers. I hope you enjoyed listening to this and go read The Go-Giver if you haven’t already. Bob, thank you so much.
Bob Burg 30:43
Oh thank you. Appreciate you.
Mat Zalk 30:45
See ya.
Outro 30:49
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