seth godin

Does a Leader Care?

If you think about Seth's recent post about loving customers in the context of leadership, a leader has two customers. There' s the external customer who ends up paying for the experience. And then there's the internal customer, the staff...all the people under the leader's care.

I've seen many managers totally miss the point of "who serves who" inside the organization. They have this idea that employees are there to serve them, to do what they say and follow their "lead". Great leaders recognize the opposite is true. They know they are there to serve everyone else, to inspire, to remove obstacles, to comfort, to teach...to create leaders.

Best plan for a leader is to always treat employees like customers. Failure leads to distrust, disgruntlement and finding someone else to buy from. 

Reading This Might be Better Than College

College is a great experience. But for most of us...we didn't learn things we could take into a job. Turns out practical experience wins out over Quantitative Methods of Business and Macro Economics. So, even if you go to college, you might try reading this anyway. At least start with the 30 posts that are available if you click through.

Thanks Seth.

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There's No Perfect Time...

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to start something. There's always a reason not to go, to present the idea or change the plan. The indecision of decisionmaking is what holds us back time and time again. And therein lies the subject matter of Seth Godin's newest work, Poke the Box.

Poking, starting and shipping something...it's a simple idea that's brutally hard to execute. Along with the book is a free downloadable PDF workbook...which you can get here. I hope you enjoy and find the materials as useful as I did.

Linchpin Meetup Next Tuesday, December 7th in Little Rock

I've agreed to host the second (first one was last June) Linchpin Meetup, this time in Little Rock at the Capital Hotel. Details and sign up can be found here. I attended the last one when I was in Munich...a very interesting group and good discussion.

If you don't know what this is about...read this. Having read Seth Godin's book, Linchpin, is a real plus, but not required. The only prerequisite is wanting to discover new ideas, connect with like minded people and have fun.

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Powerful Marketing Message

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Picked up this nugget from Seth's latest post...

"marketing involves effectively communicating a story about benefits to (and among) the people who will appreciate them"

That's it in a nutshell...all the rest of the stuff you hear about marketing is fluff. Of course there's a lot that goes into it. But, that's called work. Best get busy.

 

 

 

Why Do It at All

Go here to be inspired with a list of 16 questions you should ask yourself if you're starting a new project, setting out on your own, etc. I'll add my own...What happens (to you, the market, etc. ) if you decide not to do it?

Does someone else replace you? Do you a leave a void in the lives of prospective customers? How does the world not change? In other words, what's the consequence of not doing it?

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First Hospitality Linchpin Award

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At least as far as I know it's the first. Inspired by Seth Godin's latest book, Linchpin, I was determined to replace the traditional and tired "employee of the month" award with something more meaningful. We awarded the first one yesterday...