Seth Godin pisses me off

I can usually see how much I enjoy a business book on how many pages are folded. As you can see from above I liked this book a lot.

The new book is Linchpin by Seth Godin. A Linchpin is the little pin that holds the wagon wheel on a wagon. Basically, a Linchpin is an indispensable part of a wagon and Seth wants you to be a Linchpin in your life and your career.

We are in a really interesting and exciting time in our history. Last year frankly sucked ass for business and life in general. Lots of bad deals and stress on everyone.

But this year has been fantastic and now I have read Linchpin and I want to up the ante.  Seth Godin pisses me off because now I am rethinking how I am doing things.

I left the security of my old job at InVision Communication where I had some manager title and spent my days staffed meetings, new media and video projects all overt the world. I reported to the executive committee of sorts who seemed to waste my time.

I was surrounded by some great coworker friends who I could sit back in my office and have “white board” meetings.   A white board meeting was when I would bring in a producer and we would go over his/her schedule talk for an hour or so maybe go get coffee. I wanted to set aside time to connect and make sure it wasn’t all about business.

Then I got fired. Well, I started a company. I had a run in with one of the owners. All water under the bridge at this point.

That was 7 years ago and I wish I had left my comfortable seat there much earlier. Why?  Because I was kind of a faceless cog in the machinery there.  It was really easy and safe existence. Switch to now and my life is a crazy roller-coaster at Grass Shack Events and Media. I still could be crusiing along at my old top down Cadillac of a job but I choose the herky jerky thrill ride of my own business which I started with two partners. It was exciting, thrilling and really scary.  But it has made me a much richer man in every way you can imagine! I get to be in every part of the Grass Shack machine.  I work with all the most talented folks in the meetings industry directly. I now speak at large conferences, have collegues which are making a huge difference in the world, started in social media which opened up a world  of the bubble that InVision kept everyone in.

At Grass Shacks first big project we did 6 meetings 2 customer events in one week for Seimens Medical Solutions which I produced myself.(also with Ede my client and great friend in Germany)  One meeting was even held on a huge boat in the middle of the San Francisco bay.  At the end of the week I remember sitting in the corner of the Exploratorium in San Francisco where we had just completed the very last  gala event. I just sat down and cried.   I couldn’t get the smile off my face as I cried. That is what linchpin is all about.

So Seth Godin you have pissed me off because this book Linchpin has got me thinking that my journey is just starting again.

I haven’t cried in a corner like that in 7 years. It felt really good and I want to do it again.

Read this book

Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?

Free Ebook How to put on a hybrid event v.2 Resource/Case study

• Linchpin by Seth Godin – Video Book Review (chrisbrogan.com)
• What do you think about Seth Godin´s new book Linchpin? (startups.com)
• Interview With Seth Godin: Linchpin (mpdailyfix.com)
• Interview with Linchpin Author Seth Godin (coolhunting.com)
• http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2010/01/26/talking-linchpin-with-seth-godin/
• http://www.marketingovercoffee.com/2010/01/25/special-interview-with-seth-godin/