Friday, April 8, 2011

Linchpin: "something that holds the various elements of a complicated structure together"

So I'm reading this book for my Integrated Marketing Communication class and it's called, Linchpin by Seth Godin. Over the course of the semester we have been reading Godin's daily blogs but this book is far different. This book inspires, it plants a seed that only continues to grow page by page. The more I read the more I want to blog and respond to its contents. The more I think about them the more I keep saying to myself, "Yes, absolutely, yes!" It's one of those books.

I want to be a linchpin. I want to be that person people depend on and look to. I no longer will simply settle to fit the status quo but go beyond. From here on out, I strive to be indispensable.

"The linchpin is the individual who can walk into chaos and create order, someone who can invent, connect, create, and make things happen. Every worthwhile institution has indispensable people who make differences like these."

The world needs more linchpins, flat out; more people that don't seek for the "9-5" job with day by day instructions. People that don't ask what needs to be done but those who look around and find ways to make something more effective and do it; people that don't wait for instructions but take action. If you are a linchpin that means you are indispensable. You no longer are simply a body performing a task, but you bring something more to the table, you become valuable. Everyone is capable of becoming a linchpin, and if you realize if you'll soon realize that it is absolutely worth it.

The law of linchpin leverage: The more value you create in you job, the fewer clock minutes of labor you actually spend creating that value. In other words, more of the time, you're not being brilliant. Most of the time, you do stuff that ordinary people could do.

But don't worry, if this idea of a linchpin is too outlandish for you, not every organization needs one, so pick a different job. Maybe flipping burgers at McDonald's sounds appealing to you, because I guarantee you will have a specific task and a manager making sure that that task is the only thing you are performing and in a very particular pattern.

Being a linchpin isn't about being perfect or brilliant every minute of every day, we're still human. But it's about putting your best foot forward all the time. You don't want to be perfect, because perfection is boring and perfection creates fear. It creates a fear inside you that maybe something you do or say won't be perfect. Fear. Fear is your greatest enemy, because as soon as you feel the fear it will consume you. You will be afraid to step out of the box, afraid to offer any idea because maybe it's not perfect. The world doesn't want perfect, the world wants different. Because those that stepped out of the box and did something different because successful, became linchpins.

"Eating ice cream is easy. Making something that matters is hard." - Seth Godin

<3

Erin.

1 comment:

  1. Erin, you are already well on your way to being the linchpin my dear. You walk into a room and demand order, people look to you, you inspire all of us more than you know. Every time I see you, you are putting your best foot forward and honestly people follow in your forward steps because you motivate them to with your amazing personality and genuine character. Keep it up baby girl, the next linchpin.

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