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you are and who you want to be.

So bring that gift to work.

And what do you get in return? As we saw in the case of JetBlue, there are companies

that now value this sort of labor and encourage it. More organizations (regardless of the

state of the economy, or possibly because of the state of the economy) are embracing this

idea and hiring for it and rewarding it.

In most cases, though, you get little in return. At least, little in terms of formal entries in

your permanent file or bonuses in your year-end pay. But you do benefit. First, you

benefit from the making and the giving. The act of the gift is in itself a reward. And

second, you benefit from the response of those around you. When you develop the habit

of contributing this gift, your coworkers become more open, your boss becomes more

flexible, and your customers become more loyal.

The essence of any gift, including the gift of emotional labor, is that you don't do it for a

tangible, guaranteed reward. If you do, it's no longer a gift; it's a job. The hybrid

economy we're living in today is blending the idea of capitalism ("do your job and I won't

fire you") and the gift economy ("wow, this is amazing").

Artists Who Can't Draw

Roy Simmons coined that phrase and I like it a lot. "Most artists can't draw."

We need to add something: "But all artists can see."

We can see what's right and what's wrong. We can see opportunities and we can see

around corners. Most of all, we can see art.

Art isn't only a painting. Art is anything that's creative, passionate, and personal. And

great art resonates with the viewer, not only with the creator.

What makes someone an artist? I don't think it has anything to do with a paintbrush.

There are painters who follow the numbers, or paint billboards, or work in a small village

in China, painting reproductions. These folks, while swell people, aren't artists. On the

other hand, Charlie Chaplin was an artist, beyond a doubt. So is Jonathan Ive, who

designed the iPod. You can be an artist who works with oil paints or marble, sure. But

there are artists who work with numbers, business models, and customer conversations.

Art is about intent and communication, not substances.

An artist is someone who uses bravery, insight, creativity, and boldness to challenge the

status quo. And an artist takes it personally.

That's why Bob Dylan is an artist, but an anonymous corporate hack who dreams up Pop

40 hits on the other side of the glass is merely a marketer. That's why Tony Hsieh,

founder of Zappos, is an artist, while a boiler room of telemarketers is simply a scam.

Tom Peters, corporate gadfly and writer, is an artist, even though his readers are

businesspeople. He's an artist because he takes a stand, he takes the work personally, and

he doesn't care if someone disagrees. His art is part of him, and he feels compelled to

share it with you because it's important, not because he expects you to pay him for it.

Art is a personal gift that changes the recipient. The medium doesn't matter. The intent

does.

Art is a personal act of courage, something one human does that creates change in

another.

The thing about the paintings called modern art is that seeing them leads to a lot of

discussion about the nature of art. "I could do that" is something you hear a lot.

If Jackson Pollock is art and Andy Warhol is art and performance art is art . . . then what

is art? It's not about the craft, certainly. If Shakespeare is art and Sam Shepard is art, and

Eric Bogosian is art, then Jerry Seinfeld must be art, too, right?

Is it art when Harvard scientist Jill Bolte Taylor holds us spellbound for eighteen minutes

talking about her near-fatal stroke? Certainly.

And I think it's art when a great customer service person uses a conversation to convert

an angry person into a raving fan. And it's art when Craig Newmark invents a new

business model that uses the Internet to revolutionize the classifieds. Or when Ed Sutt

invents a