Recently I had the chance to learn at the knee of the incredibly smart Seth Godin. After spending hours with his words, I picked up 15 insights that I wanted to share with you today.
- On art and work: Seth spent a lot of time talking about this subject. He believes that all great work is art. Which is pretty cool when you stop and think about it. Do your work right and your art can and will change the marketplace and that changes the world. In fact, Seth believes it's an artist's job to change us. He talks a lot about how if you see your job as pleasing your boss then you're a cog. But if you see your job as changing your boss (and others) for the better, to help them expand their field of vision, to go places they're maybe a tad scared to go, well then you're an artist and today and in the future, artists will be far more valuable than cogs.
- What is art? Art is what you do when no one can tell you exactly how to do it. It's when you take personal responsibility, challenge the status quo and change people. It's when you navigate without a map.
- On blogging: if you're going to do it with an eye for growing your business -- then write a blog so compelling and insightful that prospects have no choice but to follow up with you. This might be the best blogging advice I've ever received.
- On projects: projects are the new resumes. We live in a world of show not tell so shine a light on what you've done. Take the time to write up a case study or something else that Google can find.
- On passion: ask yourself if you're hooked on passion and deriving your sense of self from the act of being passionate. Too often we derive our self from what we do (projects) as opposed to our passion for doing... I found this point particularly interesting. It's a really deep question when you stop for a moment and contemplate it.
- What is passion? Passion is caring enough about your art that you will do almost anything to give it away, to make it a gift, to change people. Now that's a definition. Think about that. What do you care so passionately about that you'd give it away with no expectation in return?
- On success: Successful people are successful for one simple reason -- they think about failure differently. They become winners because they're good at losing. They learn from it and grow stronger, faster, better.
- On repaying gifts: Heck this one could be a blog post in it's own right. One of the great "free" gifts many of us receive is information delivered at conferences, luncheons, etc. Sure we pay to attend but we pay a fraction of the value we receive when a truly great speaker delivers real knowledge. In those instances, don't just circle the 5's on the speaker review form. Instead, give him/her a standing ovation, thank them after the talk, tell 10 friends what you saw and tell the conference/luncheon organizer how valuable you thought the speaker was. I'd add one more to this -- go on that speakers Facebook Fan Page or blog or website and leave a keyword rich review equal in quality to the talk you just heard so that Mr. Google can hear your words of praise too.
- On choice: Choose to change your perspective. Don't let your circumstances or habits rule your chocies today. Beocme a master of yourself and use your willpower to choose.
- On selling new ideas: Seth thinks it is important to understand that there's a difference between the right answer and the answer you can sell. Often great ideas are shot down not because they're the wrong idea, but because the person selling them doesn't have the stature in the organization to sell them. I think many folks will find this advice difficult to follow. We all want to be the star but sometimes you may not be the right person to sell your idea up the ladder or to a client. In those cases, find the person who can and make them a convert to your idea.
- The power of "NO": I especially liked this train of thought. Godin believes there is a certain kind of person that understands how to use the word "no." This use of "no" is what allows them to disappoint you today in order to delight you later.
- The internet knows more than you do: So if you're relying on depth of knowledge to set you apart from the competition -- maybe think again.
- Lean into your work not away from it: this will create energy around your work and energy is contagious.
- The only purpose of starting is to finish: this one is pretty self explanatory I think.
- Figure out what your superpower is: Seth talked about possessing a unique talent and how valuable that is in the world today. But more importantly, you need to be able to frame that superpower. You have to be able to meet someone and tell them what your superpower is, otherwise your just another handshake. They need to know your superpower so they can understand how they can help you or you them.
By now you have probably figured out I didn't actually meet or spend time in person with Seth. And if you too have read his book, Linchpin [amazon link], then many of the thoughts above probably sound very familiar to you. But if you haven't, then I'd highly suggest you do. It's a great read and truthfully I only scratched the surface of great ideas and insights that Seth shares via the book.
For those of you that have read it, what were your favorite parts? What did you underline or highlight or bookmark to remember? I'd love to hear in case I missed something.
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photo by Joi