Linchpin_ Are You Indispensable_ - Seth Godin [91]
You've calmed yourself in the face of anxiety, or done something for no compensation, or
solved a problem with an insight. Then, most of the time, the world steps in and
relentlessly unteaches you how to do it again.
If you've done it once, you can do it again. Every day.
Ishita's Meditation
Ishita Gupta wrote,
Every day is a new chance to choose.
Choose to change your perspective.
Choose to flip the switch in your mind. Turn on the light and stop fretting about with
insecurity and doubt.
Choose to do your work and be free of distraction.
Choose to see the best in someone, or choose to bring out the worst in them.
Choose to be a laser beam, with focused intention, or a scattered ray of light that doesn't
do any good.
The power of choice is just that. Power. The only thing we have to do is remember that
we control the harnessing of that power. We choose.
Don't let your circumstances or habits rule your choices today. Become a master of
yourself and use your willpower to choose.
Linchpins Can't Merely Grind It Out
Most of what people do all day is roach stomping. The little tasks that distract us from the
art of the work, that slow us down and wear us out.
The good news is that plenty of people are happy to stomp the roaches for you. Your job
is to hire someone to clean your brushes, organize your papers, and clear the way. Your
job is to make art the best you can, to change the status quo, and to become
indispensable. If you burn out along the way, you're not doing anyone a favor.
It's not merely about hours worked. It never has been. Do the work and get whatever help
you need to do it as well as you are able to.
Notice I used the word "merely." Linchpins often work a lot of hours. Nora Roberts
writes three books a year, writing six hours a day, every day. She's putting in the hours,
but doing something more. Hours aren't enough.
Corporations are tempted to squeeze as much apparent productivity as they can out of
each employee. That's the factory mindset at work. If you work on an assembly line, of
course it matters how many hours a day you stand there. This new model is very
different. Ji Lee is a provocateur and artist famous for his street art. He also happens to
work at Google. I have no doubt that he's added millions of dollars in value to the
company through his orthogonal thinking and big ideas. And I also have no doubt that if
he stopped doing his external projects and showed up at work more often, his
productivity would plummet.
This Is What Hard Work Looks Like
No self-respecting salesperson complains about spending seven hours to fly to a prospect,
give a twenty-minute pitch, and fly home.
No brave utility lineman complains about climbing a high-power tower to fix an
insulator.
And no hardworking assembly-line worker hesitates about killing a hundred chickens an
hour on the slaughterhouse assembly line.
That's because it's work. We're used to it and we know how to do it. Yet the work of
inventing, brainstorming, and overcoming the fear of shipping appears too difficult to
bear. The work of getting over an emotional reaction, seeing a situation as it really is, and
caring enough to provide a gift--that's beyond the pale.
Nothing about becoming indispensable is easy. If it's easy, it's already been done and it's
no longer valuable.
What will make someone a linchpin is not a shortcut. It's the understanding of which hard
work is worth doing. The only thing that separates great artists from mediocre ones is
their ability to push through the dip. Some people decide that their art is important
enough that they ought to overcome the resistance they face in doing their work. Those
people become linchpins.
The Gifts That Matter
Dignity is more important than wealth. Everyone needs "enough." But once we have
enough (and enough may be less than you think), what we crave and want is dignity.
Given a choice between dignity and "more," most people choose dignity.
Respect matters. Respect in all things--for your