Over the Christmas holiday, a colleague gave me The Go-Giver, by Bob Burg and John David Mann. It’s a charming little parable with huge lessons. While reading the authors’ five laws for success (stratospheric success!), I thought to myself: these are principals I already know. I’m glad the authors were able to articulate them in such a clear and whimsical manner. It also occurred to me that Armedia knows these principals too.
Here are Burg and Mann’s five laws for success and how Armedia already embraces them:
- Value: your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment. Armedia strives to always exceed our customers’ expectations and deliver products of the highest quality. However, our employees’ integrity and commitment to their craft also shine as intangible value to customers.
- Compensation: your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you server them. Armedia has a broad customer base: government and civilian, private and non-profit, defense and manufacturing, etc. But this law goes beyond our customer base. This law strikes at the heart of who we are as a company. Armedia is a community rich in diversity, and with that diversity comes endless opportunity for service at the customer site, in the workplace, home, community, churches, etc. All of which are encouraged and supported by Armedia.
- Influence: your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first. At Armedia, our customers’ interests always come first. This is true among our employees as well. A sense of services to others and one another is pervasive throughout the company. You can see this daily in colleagues’ willingness to assist one another in problem solving or just lending a hand in a personal matter.
- Authenticity: the most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself. Armedia has a very thorough vetting process and we aim to only hire the best professionals. However, our definition of “the best” does not necessarily just mean the most technically proficient, or the most accomplished in a field. We strive to seek out and hire employees who are authentically who they are whether at home, at work, or in front of a customer.
- Receptivity: the key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving. Armedia has celebrated its 11th year of operation; clearly, we are not averse to receiving fair compensation for our efforts. However, it’s more than that. We have worked hard to establish ourselves as leaders in the content management and software consulting industry, and are proud of the numerous awards we have received as a result of our efforts.
As you might guess, there are more to these laws than a few sentences can capture, and the laws are bound together such that one influences or causes the other. Delightfully, these laws also have close parity with Armedia’s core values, which explains our close alignment with them already.
I encourage you to read The Go-Giver. Though it presents itself as a business philosophy, I find it to be more of a life philosophy with business application.
Scott, thank you for your kind post about John’s and my book. Honored to know that you found sufficient value in the book that you’d want to share it with your readers. Again, huge gratitude!