The Courage to Be Indispensable

I’ve never hidden the fact that I’m a huge fan of thinker, blogger,entrepreneur and change agent Seth Godin. I’m an unapologetic Godin Fan Girl. His blog, is one of the few blogs I read every single day. He’s one of the few business thinkers for whom I have every single book and not a soul can borrow them from my library or pry them from my hands. His thinking, his ideas, his words have transformed how I think about business and influence the way I do business every day. He’s in part, like the Oprah for Entrepreneurs. The Deepak Chopra for our Digital Souls.

So why this ramble for Seth Godin? . He has a new book out today, his 12th and it’s called LinchPin- Are you indispensible? I believe you should buy it and read it. What is it about? He says it best in his the recommended interviews below this post.  Other of his must read books I’d recommend – MeatBall Sundae- Is Your Marketing Out of Sync,  Tribes- We Need You to Lead Us and of course Purple Cow- Transform Your Business By Being Remarkable.

Seth Godin’s ideas I believe are relevant and necessary especially in the Caribbean and Jamaica where I live for the most part. Why? Because many of the companies- especially the big ones, the family run ones, the traditional ones are bent on holding on to the former way of doing things – how they treat customers, how they develop products, how they market those products and how they perceive competition- local, regional and global.

I have a short list of companies and brands I expect to fade soon simply because of this. They are the ones who are yet to have a website or refresh it on a yearly basis. They are the ones who don’t get the idea of involving consumers in the product development process by creating an interactive online community of fans and followers, instead they cling to the old school process of focus groups. Lawwks! They are the ones that even when you show them how and serve up success stories, lack the courage to act on the truth in the trends of their industry, product category, country or region.

Additionally, I have a long list of small to large, smart thinking, innovative Caribbean companies around the world who I expect to dominate because they have recognised that the rules have changed and have made choices accordingly. For them, their consumers and the marketplace have already begun to reward them for it. I’ve aligned my company with the latter group. That decision was challenging as it meant leaving at times big money on the table, but I sleep better at night knowing I’m not creating anymore Meatball Sundaes, instead I’m staying true to the vision and ideas of my company to solve interesting problems, always with what’s best for the client and what’s valuable to the marketplace in mind. That approach I know still gets you to profitability. In what category does your tech idea, product or company fall ?

Linchpin Interviews I’d recommend

Art and Plumbling: The Indispensable Interview with Seth Godin

Seth Godin’s Linchpin: An Unsettling Call to Be Indispensable

Talking Linchpin with Seth Godin ( Podcast)

Seth Godin Has a Big Brain and a Big Heart.

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