It seems a simple question: “What matters now?” The wide variety of complex answers Seth Godin compiled is symbolic of the challenging future ahead – especially since the economic landscape has been permanently changed by the Great Recession.
“What matters now?” is one of many creative approaches Seth Godin takes in getting people to bring their thoughts and gifts to the table….a table quite changed in business from even five years ago.
While Godin puts a lot of emphasis on individual genius (“you are not a faceless cog in the machinery of capitalism anymore”), he has a great deal to say about the new leadership, too. Here is how Godin summarizes the average organization in terms of the conditions today: “The working middle class is suffering. Wages are stagnant; job security is, for many people, a fading memory; and stress is skyrocketing. He adds, “There is no-where to run, and apparently no-where to hide.”
Godin says the mantra of “replaceable cogs in a vast machine” is no longer applicable in an organization. Instead, to move into the Information Age, we need “linchpins” and leaders of linchpins, Godin asserts.
A “linchpin” is a person who brings humanity, connection, and art to his or her organization….someone indispensable and unique. There is a huge challenge with linchpins, Godin points out: they cannot be managed, only led, often interchanging as the leader themselves.
“If you build a business filled with rules and procedures that are designed to allow you to hire cheap people, you will have to produce a product without humanity or personalization or connection,” Godin says. “The groups and connections needed for success today are ‘tribes.’”
“A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea,” he says.
Godin’s bottom line for the bottom line: “The old American dream is permanently in the past: keep your head down; follow instructions; show up on time; work hard; suck it up and you will be rewarded … as we have seen, that dream is over,” Godin declares.
“The New American Dream, though, the one that markets around the world are embracing as fast as they can, is this: be remarkable; be generous; create art; make judgment calls; and connect people and ideas. People who can do these things will be valued and rewarded.”
On a leadership level, it is obvious it will not be business as usual, either. “For the first time ever, everyone in an organization—not just the boss—is expected to lead,” Godin says. “Leadership is not management. Management is about manipulating resources to get a known job done. Leadership, on the other hand, is about creating change that you believe in. Movements have leaders and movements make things happen.”
In 10 international bestsellers that fearlessly take on these and other issues about change, Godin has created some helpful navigational tools for leadership in these turbulent seas of change. We have distilled some of the best from books like Tribes, The Dip (A New York Times bestseller), Meatball Sundae, and his most recent book Linchpin to present Seth Godin’s Linchpin Leadership Tips:
Heretics are the new leaders - the ones who challenge the status, who get out in front of their tribes, and who create movements.
Leaders are change agents. Leaders do not care very much for organizational structure or the official blessing of whatever factory they work for. They use passion and ideas to lead people, as opposed to using threats and bureaucracy to manage them. Leaders must become aware of how the organization works, because this awareness allows them to change it.
Creating movements and making connections . Great leaders create movements by empowering the tribe to communicate. They establish the foundation for people to make connections, as opposed to commanding people to follow them.
Organizations are more important than ever before . But, organizations do not have to be factories; not anymore. Factories are easy to outsource….factories can slow you down. The organizations of the future are filled with smart, fast, flexible people on a mission. This requires leadership.
Leaders engage their organizations . In unstable times, growth comes from leaders who create change and engage their organizations, instead of from managers who push their employees to do more with less.
Leaders are humble ….but strategic. Great leaders are able to reflect the light onto their teams, their tribes. Great leaders do not want the attention, but they use it. They use it to unite the tribe and to reinforce its sense of purpose. When you abuse the attention, you are taking something from the tribe. When a CEO takes the spoils of royalty and starts acting like a selfish monarch, he is no longer leading. He is taking.
Discomfort is a leadership opportunity. Leadership is scarce because few people are willing to go through the discomfort required to lead. When you identify the discomfort, you have found the place where a leader is needed. If you are not uncomfortable in your work in as a leader, it is almost certain you are not reaching your full potential.
Leaders fill in gaps. Leaders can figure out how to step into the vacuums created by groups: vacuums where nothing is happening…no energy, no motion, or excitement.
Leadership is a choice . It is the choice to not do nothing.
Leaders do not enter popularity contests . Great leaders do not try to please everyone. Great leaders do not water down their message.
Leaders give . Leaders who set out to give are more productive than leaders who seek to give.
Leadership takes tremendous courage . “Changing things—pushing the envelope and creating a future that does not exist yet—at the same time you are criticized by everyone else—requires bravery,” Godin says. “Ordinary thinking and ordinary effort are almost never enough to generate leadership.”
Godin is an author, and also the founder and CEO of squidoo.com, and has been called “the most popular business blogger in the world.” For more information on his work and for book ordering information, visit his website at www.sethgodin.com.
