By
El Copeland
November 26, 2025
•
20 min read
Book Club
Chapter-by-Chapter Discussion Questions for The Go-Giver by Bob Burg: Chapter Eight - The Law of Influence
About this Series
This discussion guide is part of Rising Tide’s Fall 2025 book club, where we’re reading The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann.
If you’re just joining us, here are a few pages you’ll likely benefit from:
- Chapter One – The Go-Getter for an introduction on how to use these Discussion Questions
- Book Clubs, Conversations, and Curiosity for why we started a book club for a technical team here
Chapter Summary
In Chapter 8, The Law of Influence, Joe meets Sam, another salesman who teaches us the Third Law: Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first.
Through this chapter, Sam shows Joe that the most powerful value you can offer is yourself, and that real success in business comes from genuine connection rather than scorekeeping.
Discussion Questions
Use these open-ended prompts to guide reflection and conversation. Remember, there are no right answers!
- What do you think of what Sam had to say in this chapter? Which parts do you agree with? Which parts do you not?
- How does what Sam was describing differ from what you think of when you hear about “networking”?
- Where do you catch yourself keeping score in business or personal relationships?
- Who in your life is magnetic? What do you feel makes them that way; what are you attracted to? With that in mind, what do you think makes people truly magnetic?
- Any changes we could make with our clients based on Sam’s message?
Rising Tide Input for your Consideration
- Have you experienced MSP/IT sales cycles where people over-optimize pitch tactics instead of building relationships? Where does that fail the business and the customer?
- Ways you can give
- Absorb the cost when mistakes happen to protect customer relationships.
- Don’t bill for trivial work (e.g., one-minute fixes).
- Gives clients extra time on calls; they reciprocate by ending early sometimes.
- Can giving without expectation still align with business goals? What about “takers” who sour the experience for everyone else?
- In our group, we generally agreed that authenticity improves long-term wins.
- It’s worth considering that “Keeping score” can be directly tied into burnout, and especially in service roles where emotional labor is high. Perhaps not keeping track is better for your mental health
- It’s worth taking courage from open-source communities, where contribution often precedes compensation!
About Rising Tide and our Book Club
Rising Tide helps MSPs and service-focused teams build better systems: the kind that align people with purpose.
Every Friday at 9:30 AM ET, we host Rising Tide Fridays as an open conversation for MSP owners, consultants, and service professionals who want to grow both professionally, technically, and emotionally. In Fall/Winter 2025, we’re walking through The Go-Giver, chapter by chapter.
If that sounds like your kind of crowd, reach out to partners@risingtidegroup.net for the Teams link.
Bring your coffee and curiosity…no prep required.
As Partner and Business Consultant at Rising Tide, I help organizations align culture with efficiency, bridging the gap between strategy and the everyday systems that make it work. I’ve spent my career leading diverse, cross-functional teams and building communities where people actually want to learn and collaborate. With roots in technology, education, user experience & design, and project management, I specialize in turning complex ideas into clear, actionable plans that keep both people and projects thriving.
Outside of work, you’ll usually find me weight-training, gardening, or rewatching Doctor Who with a cat in my lap.
See some more of our most recent posts...
Chapter-by-Chapter Discussion Questions for The Go-Giver by Bob Burg: Chapter Eight - The Law of Influence
What if your most powerful sales tool isn’t a script, but how you show up for people? In this chapter, we unpack The Go-Giver’s Law of Influence and how it applies to MSPs and service teams: putting others’ interests first, why “networking” often misses the mark, and how genuine generosity (absorbing small costs, giving extra time, not keeping score) can grow your business while protecting your mental health.
Read post
About this Series
This discussion guide is part of Rising Tide’s Fall 2025 book club, where we’re reading The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann.
If you’re just joining us, here are a few pages you’ll likely benefit from:
- Chapter One – The Go-Getter for an introduction on how to use these Discussion Questions
- Book Clubs, Conversations, and Curiosity for why we started a book club for a technical team here
Chapter Summary
In Chapter 8, The Law of Influence, Joe meets Sam, another salesman who teaches us the Third Law: Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first.
Through this chapter, Sam shows Joe that the most powerful value you can offer is yourself, and that real success in business comes from genuine connection rather than scorekeeping.
Discussion Questions
Use these open-ended prompts to guide reflection and conversation. Remember, there are no right answers!
- What do you think of what Sam had to say in this chapter? Which parts do you agree with? Which parts do you not?
- How does what Sam was describing differ from what you think of when you hear about “networking”?
- Where do you catch yourself keeping score in business or personal relationships?
- Who in your life is magnetic? What do you feel makes them that way; what are you attracted to? With that in mind, what do you think makes people truly magnetic?
- Any changes we could make with our clients based on Sam’s message?
Rising Tide Input for your Consideration
- Have you experienced MSP/IT sales cycles where people over-optimize pitch tactics instead of building relationships? Where does that fail the business and the customer?
- Ways you can give
- Absorb the cost when mistakes happen to protect customer relationships.
- Don’t bill for trivial work (e.g., one-minute fixes).
- Gives clients extra time on calls; they reciprocate by ending early sometimes.
- Can giving without expectation still align with business goals? What about “takers” who sour the experience for everyone else?
- In our group, we generally agreed that authenticity improves long-term wins.
- It’s worth considering that “Keeping score” can be directly tied into burnout, and especially in service roles where emotional labor is high. Perhaps not keeping track is better for your mental health
- It’s worth taking courage from open-source communities, where contribution often precedes compensation!
About Rising Tide and our Book Club
Rising Tide helps MSPs and service-focused teams build better systems: the kind that align people with purpose.
Every Friday at 9:30 AM ET, we host Rising Tide Fridays as an open conversation for MSP owners, consultants, and service professionals who want to grow both professionally, technically, and emotionally. In Fall/Winter 2025, we’re walking through The Go-Giver, chapter by chapter.
If that sounds like your kind of crowd, reach out to partners@risingtidegroup.net for the Teams link.
Bring your coffee and curiosity…no prep required.
By the [run]Book: Episode 11
Episode 11 breaks down the most impactful upgrades across v2.202 and v2.204 — from smarter controls to new AI capabilities every MSP should know.
Read post
In Episode 11 of By the [run]Book, Connor and Mendy wrap up v2.202 and move into v2.204, highlighting a mix of compliance tools, smarter ticketing controls, and powerful new AI foundations. They cover everything from audit log redaction and agent cost history tracking to Halo’s new MCP server, plus practical integration updates MSPs can use right away. It’s a fast, insight-packed walkthrough of the latest improvements shaping daily MSP workflows.
Watch Now: By the [run]Book: Episode 11
For easier tracking, check out haloreleases.remmy.dev to filter and search HaloPSA updates by ID, version, and keyword.
Added the setting 'Allow admins to redact Ticket audit logs' | v2.202 #817350 | 2:33
A new compliance-driven option allowing admins to redact specific audit log entries.
- Redactions are themselves logged
- Ideal for removing accidentally captured sensitive information
- Could be automated for retention policies
Added advanced settings per ticket type to disable the problem/resolution finder for agents and users | v2.202 #795561 | 4:29
More precise control of when Halo’s Resolution Finder appears.
- Disable for admin/maintenance workflows
- Keep enabled for user-facing support
- Improves workflow relevancy + reduces noise
Added the ability to use custom filter profiles on the Self Service Portal | v2.202 #768823 | 7:54
You can now surface custom ticket views directly to clients.
- Great for “All Tasks,” project dashboards, or simplified overviews
- Can be access-controlled so agents don’t see them
- Major enhancement for client-side transparency
Added Subscriptions and Software Licences to SQL Import Integration | v2.202 #737247 | 12:18
Allows software licensing data to be imported through SQL Integrator.
- Requires consistent identifiers
- Supports license type mapping + customer matching
- Bridges on-prem systems with Halo licensing
Added Agent cost history tracking | v2.202 #735577 | 15:30
A major improvement for profitability accuracy.
- Stores cost by time period
- Supports multi-currency
- Prevents old tickets from recalculating using new rates
- Essential for contract margin analysis
MSP Tip: Enable this before your next billing cycle.
Added Opensearch as a vector search database option for AI searching | v2.202 #650351 | 22:23
Halo now supports Opensearch for AI semantic search.
- Better AI matching & contextual understanding
- Powers more accurate AI triage & article suggestions
Entering v2.204
Halo Remote MCP Server for AI integrations now available | v2.204 #979569 | 24:37
Halo’s MCP server enables AI systems to take real action via the Halo API.
- Requires tight guardrails
- Future update adds bearer tokens for stable authentication
- Enables smarter Halobot and AI-driven automation
Improvements to the Dynamics Business Central integration | v2.204 #882737 | 30:36
Improvements to the Addigy integration | v2.204 #787185 | 30:48
A setting has been added… to disable asynchronous search | v2.204 #1005031 | 32:54
Allows fallback to synchronous sequential search.
- Use cautiously — unclear scenarios for enabling
Custom Tag Category mapping via ID or "~" for N-Central | v2.204 #1004123 | 34:15
Changes to the "Allow actions to be translated…" | v2.204 #1003051 | 35:22
Better translation toggles for multi-language communication.
New "Get Report Data" custom function for MCP & Virtual Agents | v2.204 #1003042 | 37:19
Allow Sales Opportunities to be invoiced | v2.204 #1002257 | 37:44
IT Glue Location Sync | v2.204 #1000835 | 40:55
Ticket Sources can be disabled | v2.204 #1000775 | 41:21
Edit Prepay time allocated to an action | v2.204 #1000603 | 41:38
Expense review process improvements | v2.204 #1000311 | 45:02
- Bulk actions
- Clearer UI
- Better handling for reimbursement flows
Quotes & Orders default sorting fix | v2.204 #999825 | 47:11
Allow items to be added to approved POs from Sales Orders | v2.204 #999609 | 50:45
Add Additional Agents as Attendees on Appointment creation | v2.204 #999225 | 51:40
Rich Text Custom Fields will now populate the $ variables on PDFs & Emails | v2.204 #998883 | 53:38
Chapter-by-Chapter Discussion Questions for The Go-Giver by Bob Burg: Chapter Seven - Rachel
In this chapter guide to “Rachel” from The Go-Giver, we explore what great coffee, storytelling, and human needs have in common. From “survive, save, serve” to Maslow and “meat computers,” this piece invites MSP leaders and service pros to rethink how they scale excellence without burning people...or the beans!
Read post
About this Series
This discussion guide is part of Rising Tide’s Fall 2025 book club, where we’re reading The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann.
If you’re just joining us, here are a few pages you’ll likely benefit from:
- Chapter One – The Go-Getter for an introduction on how to use these Discussion Questions
- Book Clubs, Conversations, and Curiosity for why we started a book club for a technical team here
Chapter Summary
In Chapter 7, "Rachel," we learn more about Rachel and about the characteristics that Pindar finds valuable.
Discussion Questions
Use these open-ended prompts to guide reflection and conversation. Remember, there are no right answers!
- How do you feel about the commentary about Pindar’s age? Do you know people who are younger than they seem? What characteristics contribute to that perception?
- Can you relate to Rachel? Is her story believable? What do you think the authors seek to elucidate about her? What about Pindar’s view of her?
- We’re yet again hearing Pindar described as a storyteller. What does that make you think the authors are trying to say about Pindar’s skill set?
- Survive, save, and serve. Where do you find yourself landing? Where would you like to invest more?
- What do you think is Rachel’s “secret” to good coffee? The author describes many aspects of her craft, surely it’s not just because she’s one-eighth Colombian!
Rising Tide Input for your Consideration
- Making coffee well is an interesting metaphor! There is so much care, precision, and repetition in making coffee, it’s as much a science as it can be considered an art.
- Consider Starbucks beans: to produce a consistent product at a scale, they roast their beans very hard, eliminating the unique characteristics of a specific variety of coffee bean in lieu of a product that will hold up to their regularly heavy-flavored and sugared drinks. (See: Why Starbucks Coffee Has That Burnt Taste) Is it possible to truly scale excellence with care? Is there a limit?
- As you're growing YOUR business, which parts of your business are you burning off as you clarify your mission and vision? If you're not burning with care and wisdom, you can burn off exactly what makes you and your team special, and you can even deter your ideal clients because of a lack of care, precision, and intention.
- Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs suggests humans must have their basic needs met before they have the space to pursue “more advanced” needs.
- If that’s too academic, El gave a talk at MSPGeekCon about how we’re all basically meat computers with Hardware, Software, and Networking built into us. Does that perspective change how you can handle other humans and even take care of yourself? (Watch part 1 of “The Care and Feeding of Meat Computers” here: https://youtu.be/yRcs5XYI8LQ?si=J3Q_VGenSHaKutOR)
About Rising Tide and our Book Club
Rising Tide helps MSPs and service-focused teams build better systems: the kind that align people with purpose.
Every Friday at 9:30 AM ET, we host Rising Tide Fridays as an open conversation for MSP owners, consultants, and service professionals who want to grow both professionally, technically, and emotionally. In Fall/Winter 2025, we’re walking through The Go-Giver, chapter by chapter.
If that sounds like your kind of crowd, reach out to partners@risingtidegroup.net for the Teams link.
Bring your coffee and curiosity…no prep required.