Product Description

The classic motivational parable (over 500,000 copies sold worldwide) that shows you how to make your own opportunities in life, updated for the modern reader by bestselling business author Alan Axelrod Ever since its first printing by William Randolph Hearst in 1921, The Go-Getter has inspired employees and entrepreneurs to take initiative, increase their productivity, and excel against the odds. Now, more than half a million copies later, Alan Axelrod, bestselling author of Patton on Leadership and Elizabeth I, CEO, updates the tale to address today's most pressing work issues.In The Go-Getter, Bill Peck, a war veteran, persuades Cappy Ricks, the influential founder of the Rick's Logging & Lumbering Company, to let him prove himself by selling skunk wood in odd lengths-a job that everyone knows can only lead to failure. When Peck goes on to beat his quota, Rick hands Peck the ultimate opportunity and the ultimate test: the quest for an elusive blue vase. Drawing on such classic values as honesty, determination, passion, and responsibility, Peck overcomes nearly insurmountable obstacles to find the vase and launch hia career as a successful manager.In a time when jobs are tight and managers are too busy for mentoring, how can you maintain positive energy, take control of your career, and prepare yourself to ace the tests that come your way? By applying the timeless lessons in this compulsively readable parable, employees at all levels can learn to rekindle the go-getter in themselves.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1095584 in Books
• Published on: 2002-12-17
• Formats: Audiobook, Unabridged
• Original language: English
• Binding: Audio CD

From Publishers Weekly
Although Kyne's tale of business smarts has been around for some time (it was first published by William Randolph Hearst in 1921), it doesn't feel dated. Indeed, lumber wholesaler Cappy Ricks's situation (he "had more troubles than a hen with ducklings") mirrors that of many business leaders today. It's a straightforward parable about a young war veteran who's handed an opportunity that will either make or break his career. If he accepts the job and pulls it off, he's a go-getter; if he fails, it's curtains. The kid's motto-"It shall be done"-sums up Kyne's point: even if you're unsure, say you can do it. Then figure out how to do it and make sure you succeed. Go above and beyond. The 82-year-old story gets some slight spiffing up by business book writer Axelrod (Everything I Know About Business I Learned from Monopoly), and the afterword is especially helpful in pinpointing Kyne's main ideas.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Focus and determination are the subjects of this 1921 parable about a "never-say-die" salesman who is given a challenge and gets it done. Updated by business writer Alan Axelrod, the tale moves quickly with vivid characters and well-timed suspense. By the time the parable ends, the listener is ready for the moral of the story, which is offered in the form of old-fashioned advice. The premise of being tested by a strict boss and succeeding may seem outdated in the current climate of free-agent entrepreneurial thinking. But the real lesson is the timeless one of how to identify what's important on a job--independent of what we're told--and succeed through a flat-out desire to get it done. T.W. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Book Info
A humorous and fast-paced story on how to be successful in business. By applying the timeless lessons in this compulsively readable parable, employees at all levels can learn to rekindle the go-getter in themselves. Softcover.

Customer Reviews

Be a Go Getter at all costs?
The one good thing I learned from this book is that to be successful you have to live with the motto "it shall be done".

While the author thinks this is a great motto to live by, I question if this is really a good motto for someone to live by.

For example if you want to make 10 sales each day, and you work 14 hours a day to make it happen every day for years on end - thereby forgetting about your family and relationships, you may have attained wealth, but you will not have a balanced life.

Ok. You get my point. It's good to be a go-getter, but you need a balance too.

I highly recommend you read Cheryl Richardson's book, Take Time For Your Life, together with this one.

Zev Saftlas, Author of Motivation That Works: How to Get Motivated and Stay Motivated

Great Motivational Audio Book
A great little book that is a sort of "pick me up." I borrowed the book from the library on audio CD. It is a short little book, so even an unabridged audio was not very long. The Go Getter is a fanciful parable about the payoff of being a hard worker and being determined to get things done. The story is simple, direct, and motivational. It raises the listener's spirits without preaching. It was great fun and appropriate for any audience. The reader spoke clearly and with a feeling appropriate to the material. It was very comfortable listening.

a must for every personal library
ever failed to complete a task or project? did you have a good excuse? i am sure that you did... first, for yourself. then for others. when you are ready to stop making excuses and start achieving results, buy this book. if i could only have ten books on my bookcase, this would be one of them!