Originally I had hoped to attend Seth Godin's event today at the Pantages, especially since there was a killer Groupon deal, but it just wasn't doable. I did, however follow some of the #SethGodinMpls tweets on Twitter.
Back in March & April of the year while reading Seth's book "Linchpin - Are You Indispensable", I had written a couple of blog posts. My first thought was to re-post, but instead, I settled on a re-mix/re-write of those posts.
Linchpin gets to the heart of where the culture of the workforce started & where it's evolved to. It makes you reevaluate the career choices you make & why you are the type of employee you are. It also provides a vision for changing things if you don't like what you see & want to become someone with "gifts" to share - someone with "passion, discernment, dignity, humanity & generosity." There are so many truths in this book that you can put in your leadership "toolkit" and use to become a better manager, a better employee & a better developer of self and staff.
Back in March & April of the year while reading Seth's book "Linchpin - Are You Indispensable", I had written a couple of blog posts. My first thought was to re-post, but instead, I settled on a re-mix/re-write of those posts.
Linchpin gets to the heart of where the culture of the workforce started & where it's evolved to. It makes you reevaluate the career choices you make & why you are the type of employee you are. It also provides a vision for changing things if you don't like what you see & want to become someone with "gifts" to share - someone with "passion, discernment, dignity, humanity & generosity." There are so many truths in this book that you can put in your leadership "toolkit" and use to become a better manager, a better employee & a better developer of self and staff.
Back then, Erica Mayer introduced her twitter universe to an unemployed & homeless man named "D J" who we now know as Chris, who had been blogging about his experiences. Erica took attention away from her own fundraiser efforts for clean water in order to ask people to follow this man on twitter. She knew how much we could all learn from his plight, as well as how much might be accomplished if people came together to support his goals. Chris still aspires to raise awareness about & find solutions for homelessness. He even completed a very successful charity "water drive" of his own. We are now very familiar with Homeless Help Network.
"...there's some correlation between the passion and the effort that people bring to a project and the outcome." - Seth Godin
Seth coins new terms. He reintroduces old concepts in new ways so that you visualize them in entirely new contexts. He really paints a new vision for his audience. One of those terms is "the resistance" which more often than not prevents us from staying on course and seeing our goals through to the end. There are also those endless personal to-do lists that we all continually add to, but never seem to fully complete.
"Whichever way the wind of resistance is coming from, that's the way to head - directly into the resistance. And the closer you get to achieving the breakthrough your genius has in mind, the stronger the wind will blow and the harder the resistance will fight to stop you." - Seth Godin
Life is all about Choices. This is a book that makes you really take a look at how you have been approaching your life & more specifically, your work life & career. Most people have this vision of the things they strive to accomplish, but perhaps are not as deliberate when considering the process or the journey. Things just happen & most people are unaware of the specifics of what got them from point A to point B. Most of us have done the things asked of us & have been rewarded for doing so. Or so we thought.
"Optimism is the most important human trait, because it allows us to evolve our ideas, to improve our situation, and to hope for a better tomorrow." - Seth Godin
Reading this book, made me reevaluate my own life's journey. With fear comes an almost primal need to make a transfer of power, to free up the resistance and to keep driving towards accomplishing goals, even if it means swimming in uncharted waters. Maintaining optimism in my thoughts - a key to making positive things happen. It's an effort to develop & share works of art with the world in whatever form they may be.
"Where do you put the fear." "The linchpin feels the fear, acknowledges it, then proceeds." - Seth Godin
Whether you agree with every assertion Seth makes in his writing is besides the point. You can pick & choose among the tools he presents, then begin to change your daily interactions & achieving some really exciting things. If he gets you to alter your traditional mindset & think and act in new & empowering ways, I'd say Linchpin is worth the read.
If you liked this, you might also enjoy: How Relevant Are You? ...In the 21st Century Workplace
1 comment:
You would have enjoyed seeing Seth today, but you've done a great job capturing the essence of his book here! I got new insights reading your post -- thanks.
I'm in marketing, too, and wish you the best.
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