I had the pleasure of sitting down with Seth Godin in a recent interview in SoCal to talk about Seth’s new book Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? While I’ve exchanged an email and phone call or two with Seth in the past, this was my first time talking to him in person. I found him to be incredibly approachable and outgoing. In the book Linchpin, Seth says, “This time it’s personal.” He told me that he writes books not because he has to to make a living but because the message needs to get out there. He seems to be speaking, and sometimes pleading, in the book to anyone who will listen that it’s okay not to fit in. It’s okay to resist the status quo. Because after all, as he has said, “The reason they want you to fit in is because once you do, they can ignore you.”
It strikes a chord with me and I’m sure many others who have felt at times like they don’t always fit in-perfectly. I’ve always been an entrepreneur of sorts and preferred action over “analysis paralysis” and learned most of what I know through (sometimes painful) trial and error. Like the traveler from one of my favorite poems by Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken” I seem to prefer the unexplored roads.
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
Seth talked to me about not worrying about fitting in, but standing out. Becoming a linchpin is about doing work that matters, giving gifts (metaphor) and being memorable.
One of my favorite quotes regarding the current economy that came from Seth’s 1-hour keynote, not this interview is, “Just because the tide is out, doesn’t mean there’s less water in the Ocean.” Seth’s new book Linchpin is very different from his other books like The Dip, Purple Cow, and Tribes. It’s a timely message about being an artist in your respective profession, shipping (metaphor) and doing it consistently. It’s about reinventing yourself (if it’s necessary). Seth says not to worry if you’re not the best that ever lived at your job. Very few will ever achieve what Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and other icons of business have done. But that doesn’t matter. Whether you serve coffee or serve on the Supreme Court, Linchpins find a way to do things others cannot or will not. They literally keep things running smoothly in a company and they are not to be overlooked or lost.
True or False…. Seth Godin answers every email he gets. The answer is True (I think). Seth told me that he tries to reply to everyone because it’s about being a citizen for him. And I believe him. Seth really struck me as a champion of the little guy. In many ways I think he has been and still feels like the underdog fighting big corporations, years of dysfunctional status quo. And his wears it like a badge of courage. Incidentally, it’s a fight that he is winning. But he would never take the credit. He understands the value, power and leverage of rallying communities-in fact he wrote the book on it (see Tribes if you haven’t read it).
In this segment I asked Seth about his favorite book. What book of his does HE like most and why? Before you watch this video, can guess? Seth also explains the writing process of one of the most read blogs in the world; Seth’s Blog. He told me he writes about 2,000 posts a year and only a few hundred ever make it online. Seth said that he’s often inspired with ideas when he discovers a need or something that can be done better but a solution doesn’t yet exist. Like the many App ideas he’s challenged anyone to create…or why expensive hotels make you pay for WiFi and less expensive hotels offer it for free…
Seth says, “Fear is the most important emotion people can feel.” He talks about the lizard brain in his book Linchpin. The lizard brain is the “natural man” our animal instincts, our worst side-procrastination, fear and other obstacles preventing us from being successful.
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