"I met last week with your leaders," Ben began. "I heard what they had
to say. And you know, they make a good point." He paused. Take charge,
Ben, he told himself. Take control. He looked around the conference
room. Take, take, take. Was that really what he was here to do?
With their acclaimed bestseller The Go-Giver, Bob Burg and John David
Mann proved that a heartfelt parable could also express a powerful idea.
In The Go-Giver Leader (originally published as It's Not About You),
they offer an equally compelling tale about a struggling small business
and the ambitious young executive trying to lead them to a crucial
decision.
Allen & Augustine has manufactured high-quality chairs for decades. Its
people take pride in their work and feel loyal to their owners and
management team. But this revered company is now at a crossroads, hurt
by a tough economy, foreign competition, and a cash crunch. The air is
filled with the scent of uncertainty, anxiety, perhaps even panic.
Into this setting enters Ben, who's been assigned by a larger firm to
promote a merger that will rescue Allen & Augustine. Ben's facts are
undeniable: the chair maker can either merge and modernize or go
bankrupt and vanish. So why can't he persuade anyone to buy in, from the
CEO on down?
Will Ben find a way to sway the employee shareholders before the
climactic vote? And can Allen & Augustine survive without losing its
soul? The answers may surprise you as you follow Ben on his journey to
understanding that the path to genuine influence lies less in taking
leadership than in giving it.
This revised and updated edition includes a new introduction, a
discussion guide, and a Q&A with the authors.
