Message of the Day - Linchpins - Standing Out, Making Art and Changing the World Around Us

Good Morning,

My current read is Seth Godin's newest book, "Linchpins: Are You Indispensible?" (http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/) which is due out for general release next week. This book, like "Tribes" before it is a call to action. Seth Godin is calling on us to be remarkable, to stand out, to lead, and to make a difference.

He starts this off by sharing with us how modern corporatization has continued to reduce individual employees to mere replaceable 'cogs' by working safe jobs, being obedient automatons. Further, he shows how by becoming an Artist (not just painting, but doing nearly anything which benefits others and comes from the heart as a gift) opens the doorway to our becoming that remarkable, standing out and being that indispensible person.

To be a Linchpin, we must overcome, or more accurately, outsmart our fears and mental inertia (our lizard brain) and do what we and others are afraid of doing. We must put our efforts into that which we love, what we are passionate about.

We must also change the way we look at our motives and activities. For years whenever we found we had a new skill, or ability, we would ask ourselves 'how can we make money with this'. This is actually pretty small-minded in we seek an audience willing to pay us for these skills and abilities. A Linchpin is looking for ways to share these skills and abilities in the form of gifts to their community, across the internet, everywhere and anywhere. From the gift of our artwork, doors can open to many who would willingly pay for the artwork. There are many great examples of this within the book. My favorite is the section on Keller Williams.

So what is our artwork?

It is what we do, coupled with the flashes of brilliance we all receive from time to time.

These flashes, if realized, can unlock the power of our artwork. Here's a kicker, Seth Godin shares how most people, even some of the most successful people do average activities most of the time just like you and me. It is their flashes of brilliance which they capitalize on which make the difference.

A Linchpin then is someone who loves to give of themselves to help their organizations, their companies by doing what is uncommon through the gift of their artwork. They become artists and share what others are too fearful, unwilling or otherwise unable to share. In this activity, the Linchpins make themselves much more valuable to the organizations they work with and for.

I highly recommend this book, and if you have read other Seth Godin's books, "Purple Cow", "The Big Moo", "The Dip" and "Tribes" you may see Seth Godin solving a macro-scale jigsaw puzzle which implores us to stand out within the landscape of the 21^st Century by sharing how to navigate it more intelligently.

Enjoy!

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://www.berenberg.net

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