Episode 56 - Review and Summary of Linchpin - Are you Indispensable by Seth Godin

Booked Morning Podcast

We hear it all too often when we turn on the news today, jobs getting shipped out to other countries and millions find themselves out of work. Earlier in the century, during the industrial revolution, work changed dramatically. The high skilled work that dominated the century prior started being replaced by processes and machines. And so came the production line and factory mindset where productions were split into simple processes that even the most unskilled people could do. This drove the cost of labor low and was extremely profitable for companies, but created the problem we have today of people loosing jobs to outsourcing and more and more robots. Even previously thought to outsource proof white collar careers like banking jobs, assistants, stock brokers, analyst, those who just show up and followed instructions are finding their hours cut and having their jobs replaced and outsourced. Best selling author and one of my favorite marketing thought leaders offer us the idea, that to be irreplaceable, we need to be indispensable and remarkable, or what he calls the Linchpin. Seth says “The only way to get what you’re worth is to stand out, to exert indispensable, and to produce interactions that organizations and people care deeply about.” Linchpins don't need a set of instructions, they create opportunities and apply their vision without being told what to do. They humanize and connect their artistic problem solving to their daily work. We all have what it takes to bring this out and become a linchpin, we simply need to fully understand what goes into being a linchpin and start applying it to our works today. Allow me to leave you with this In today’s modern workplace, being a good team member, following instructions and being able to do things that everyone else can makes you very replaceable. The key to succeed and get the best jobs today, we need to become indespensable and be that linchpin for every company. We need to be the catalyst for members of our company, deliver our domain knowledge and contribute generously. Manage complex situation with clear judgements, lead our customers and inspire our staff. We cant allow our lizard brain and fear stop us from getting out of our comfort zone and embracing our inner artist in solving problems. We need to lay our heart on the line and make our work a platform for our art and get things done outstandingly and become an indespensable linchpin.