A Teacher's Guide to The Go-Giver: A Curriculum for Making a Difference

The Go-Giver tells the story of an ambitious young man named Joe who yearns for success but is frustrated in his efforts. Over the course of one week, through encounters with an enigmatic consultant named Pindar and a series of Pindar’s friends, Joe learns that changing his focus from getting to giving—putting others’ interests first and continually adding value to their lives—ultimately leads to unexpected returns. Imparted with wit and grace, The Go-Giver is a classic bestseller that brings to life the old proverb “Give and you shall receive.”

Originally intended for adult readers, The Go-Giver touched a chord in readers from all walks of life—including avid young readers, from middle school through college age. Shortly after its 2007 publication the book was picked up by Randy Stelter, a high school English teacher and athletic director in northwest Indiana, and Randy has taken his school’s senior class through the book every year since. Soon other educators began adopting the book as part of their curricula at every level from high school through graduate school.

Now Randy has teamed up with Go-Giver authors Bob Burg and John David Mann to create this Teacher’s Guide, a detailed lesson plan that includes vocabulary lists, assigned readings, questions for comprehension and critical thinking, extensive topics for class discussion, and a set of final projects designed to deepen students’ understanding of the book and to ground its lessons in their own everyday experience. Designed as a high school curriculum, the Guide’s content and approach can also be readily adapted for use by college professors in higher-education settings.