I will soon be finishing Seth Godin’s masterpiece Linchpin. This is a book that teaches a person how to become indispensible to their organization. In an ever-changing world, I cannot recommend this enough to anyone involved in leadership. It is changing how I view not only leadership, but also myself.
I will probably dedicate several posts to this over the next few weeks. However, here are 25 initial leadership quotes to ponder:
- “A genius looks at something that others are stuck on and gets the world unstuck.”
- “Every organization needs a linchpin, the one person who can bring it together and make a difference.”
- “Artists are people with a genius for finding a new answer, a new connection, or a new way of getting things done.”
- “Linchpin – is a person who’s worth finding and keeping.”
- “There are no longer any great jobs where someone else tells you precisely what to do.”
- “Leaders don’t get a map or a set of rules. Living life without a map requires a different attitude. It requires you to be a linchpin.”
- “Linchpins are the essential building blocks of tomorrow’s high-value organizations.”
- “Linchpins are indispensable, the driving force of our future.”
- “Linchpins leverage something internal, not external, to create a position of power and value.”
- “The internet has raised the bar because it’s so easy for word to spread about great stuff.”
- “Almost no one puts in the work to create or invent.”
- “The only way to be indispensable is to be different.”
- “The only way to get what you’re worth is to stand out, to exert emotional labor, to be seen as indispensable, and to produce interactions that organizations and people deeply care about.”
- “The linchpins among us are not the ones born with a magical talent. No, they are people who have decided that a new kind of work is important, and trained themselves to do it.”
- “If you believe that great talent leads to more innovation and more productivity, which then lead to more demand, generosity is the best strategy.”
- “The linchpin sees the world differently. Exceptional insight, productivity, and generosity make markets bigger and more efficient.”
- “Everyone is a person, and people crave connection and respect.”
- “The world works too fast for centralized control.”
- “What the boss really wants is an artist, someone who changes everything, someone who makes dreams come true. What the boss really wants is someone who can see the reality of today and describe a better tomorrow. What the boss really wants is a linchpin.”
- “Studies show us that things learned in frightening circumstances are sticky.”
- “Leading is a skill, not a gift. You’re not born with it, you learn how…While schools provide outlets for natural-born leaders, they don’t teach it.”
- “Everyone successful organization has at least one linchpin.”
- “Entire corporations are built around a linchpin, or more likely, a scattering of them.”
- “This is our leader, our marketer, our linchpin. She creates forward motion.”
- “Expertise gives you enough insight to reinvent what everyone else assumes is the truth.”
Leaders, what statements of Seth most resonated with you and why?
To get future posts on leadership sent directly to you, please take advantage of the many subscription options on this site.