If you don’t know Tony Robbins, you are among a rapidly dwindling group.

The leadership heavyweight and inspirational guru to the powerful and famous just published the second book of his dynamic and storied career. Money Master the Game contains lots of great investment principles but, more than that, it contains lots of advice for living life and being a great leader as well as a gracious human being. And for our purposes here, as I poured over it during a long holiday weekend, I found that the book lives as a stellar example of how to interview and get the most out of subject matter experts.

In this 600+-page tome, Robbins interviewed “more than 50 self-made billionaires, Nobel Prize winners, investment titans, bestselling authors, professors and financial experts” including 12 of the top investors in the world to learn the strategies employed by them to manage the portfolios of high-net-worth individuals and share those strategies with us – the hoi polloi.

Although I read the book to better understand investing, it became clear to me that this book stood as a testament to great gathering and organizing complex content from subject matter experts. MONEY Master the Game demonstrates some of the most important strategies for working with subject matter experts, and as a result, Robbins wrote what is truly a must-read book for investors, leaders and just about anybody else who wants to know how the financial world works.

Robbins described his interviewing process within the pages of the book, which makes it a wealth of information for people who work with subject matter experts.

1. He prepared thoroughly before meeting with each expert. He learned about their background and studied what was already written about them and by them. He didn’t waste their time.

To be able to sit with yet another of the great investment legends of our time was truly a gift. I spent close to 15 hours studying and preparing for my time with Ray [Dalio], combing over every resource I could get my hands on (which was tough, because he typically avoids media and publicity). I dug up some rare speeches he gave to world leaders at Davos and the Council on Foreign Relations. I watched his interview with Charlie Rose of 60 Minutes (one of his only major media appearances). I watched his instructional animated video How the Economic Machine Works – in Thirty Minutes (www.economicprinciples.org). It’s a brilliant video I highly encourage you to watch to really understand how the world economy works. I combed through every white paper and article I could find. I read and highlighted virtually every page of his famous text Principles, which covers both his life and management guiding principles. This was an opportunity of a lifetime, and I wasn’t going to walk in without being completely prepared.

2. He had a prepared set of questions that he asked each expert so he had a baseline of information as a springboard to ask more specific questions tailored to each SME.

[I asked] them some of the same questions you’d ask if you were in the room with me. Here’s a sampling…

…If you couldn’t leave any of your money to your children, but only a portfolio or set of financial principles to pass on to help them thrive, what would it be?

3. He set up short interviews (an hour) and then, by asking great questions and engaging his subjects, he managed to get three to four hours of their time after the interview began.

Most of the interviews were scheduled for an hour or less but turned into three- and four-hour sessions. Why? Because each of these financial giants was interested in going deep when he or she saw that I wasn’t there just for some shallow questions.

4. He recorded and transcribed the interviews.

…you’ll see only five to ten pages for each interview as opposed to the average 75-page transcript.

5. He curated complex information to make it valuable and accessible to the reader.

To keep this section under 9,000 pages, I’m including highlights from just 11 of the interviews. Well, 11 plus one bonus.

6. He cared about his subject and his subject matter experts.

Their answers excited me, shocked me, sometimes made me laugh. Other times they moved me to tears.

7. After he collected and digested four years’ worth of work, he boiled it down and made it useable for the reader.

My mission has been to synthesize the best of all they’ve shared into an integrated, simple 7-step financial blueprint.

Only one of his interview targets, Warren Buffet, declined a formal interview. He told Robbins, “Tony, I’d love to help you, but I’m afraid I’ve already said everything a person can say on the subject.” In a brief biographical sketch, Robbins shared the highlights of Buffet’s career and toplined Buffet’s investment strategies drawing on public information. He added color by describing his personal interactions with The Oracle of Omaha.

Most importantly, Robbins treated his subject matter experts with respect. He delivered their content with the same care that you would use shipping your grandmother’s china across the country – it’s packaged very carefully. For any number of reasons, not least among them as a great example of working with subject matter experts, it is well worth picking through the bubble wrap to unpack the immense value of this book.

How well prepared are you to speak with your subject matter expert?