Linchpin by Seth Godin
Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
by Seth Godin
Portfolio (2010)
Linchpin is about what the future of work looks like. As you read the book you realize it’s already happening. There are those people around you who have decided that a new kind of work is important and are retraining themselves to do it. These are workers who want to do something that matters. I have tried to extract some of the main points Godin makes in Linchpin.
Linchpins leverage something internal and external to create a positive value. There are no longer any great jobs where someone tells you precisely what to do. Successful organizations are paying people who make a difference: A group of well-organized linchpins working in concert to create value.
A linchpin brings passion and energy to the organization, resulting in getting the job done that’s not being done. This is essential. “Not my job” is not in their vocabulary. Being pretty good is extremely easy; Just meeting expectations is not remarkable.
A linchpin has a skill, not a gift. Linchpins are made, not born, by making internal choices, not being controlled by external factors, using self-determination and hard work. Almost any job can be humanized with mindful awareness.
Linchpins solve problems that people haven’t predicted, haven’t seen and connect people who need to be connected.
Work is a chance to do art. Your art is what you do when no one else can tell you how to do it. It is the art of taking responsibility, challenging the status quo and changing people.
Emotional labor is the task of doing important work even when it’s not easy. Not willing to do emotional labor is a short term strategy.
Linchpins know the rules but break them. Successful people are successful for one simple reason. They think about failure differently. It is essential to learn directly and correctly from your mistakes.
Our system is broken. Being a linchpin is about making a difference, standing for something and earning respect and security you deserve. Work should be fun and it is not something you can fake.
Linchpin: noun: a locking pin inserted clockwise (as through the end of an axle)
Written by John
3 responses so far ↓
1 Teresa Rolfe Kravtin // Apr 10, 2010 at 9:33 am
I like this, John. I think we reps view ourselves already as linchpins. Or concierges (!). We challenge the status quo every day on the behalf of independent booksellers. We connect people who need to be connected. We bring passion and energy to our jobs and we get results. We make internal choices, are not controlled by external factors, we use self-determination and we work hard. To be successful at what we do, it’s imperative. Independent booksellers have to do this every day, too, to survive.
Great review.
2 Pat Coggin // Apr 10, 2010 at 6:24 pm
How do you subscribe to this great blog?
A blog reader is a good place to start. Google has one that’s easy to get started on. Or just google (hah) RSS reader or blog reader. For Macs the best I think is NetNews Wire, and the download’s free. If you have a smart phone you can also download an app that will feed you the RSS from any blog you subscribe to. On my iPhone I have our blog and some others that I like to read update through an RSS app. Any of these are set up so that you can go to one place and get updates on all the blogs you like.
Ours being number one, of course.
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