Linchpin: My 3 Favorite Excerpts From the Book

I am an ardent fan of Seth Godin’s books and have read many of his books over the years. So when Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? was released I had high expectations of the book.

The key idea behind Linchpin is that you need to take “ownership” your job, life, and demonstrate the value of what you can offer, by becoming "indispensable".
People will not be indispensable because of power or position, but because of the way they work. Seth terms this as "emotional labor", and what I like to call engagement and passion.
Seth’s compassionate plea is for everyone to “be” an artist – be a Linchpin rather than a cog in the wheel.

I personally found the book to be brilliant and very inspiring; it was really a wake-up call for me. Probably, a wake-up call for most professionals because Seth let's them know that they are heading towards a cliff if they continue “being” who they are!

Here, are a few of my favorite excerpts from the book.

Where Were You When the World Changed?
I grew up in a world where people did what they were told, followed instructions, found a job, made a living, and that was that. Now we live in a world where all the joy and profit have been squeezed out of following
the rules. Outsourcing and automation and the new marketing punish anyone who is merely good, merely obedient, and merely reliable. It doesn't matter if you're a wedding photographer or an insurance broker; there's no longer a clear path to satisfaction in working for the man.

If You Want . . . If you want a job where it's okay to follow the rules, don't be surprised if you get a job where following the rules is all you get to do.
If you want a job where the people who work for you do exactly what they're told, don't be surprised if your boss expects precisely the same thing from you. If you want a job where you don't need to be creative because the company's cost structure is so aggressive that customers just materialize, don't be surprised if the low cost structure costs you your job. If you want a job where you get to do more than follow instructions, don't be surprised if you get asked to do things they never taught you in school. If you want a job where you take intellectual risks all day long, don't be surprised if your insights get you promoted.

You Can't? At the age of four, you were an artist. And at seven, you were a poet. And by the time you were twelve, if you had a lemonade stand, you were an entrepreneur. Of course you can do something that matters. I guess I'm wondering if you want to. There may be a voice in your head that is ready to announce that you can't possibly do what I'm describing. You don't have what it takes; you're not smart enough or trained enough or gifted enough to pull this off. I'd like to ask for a simple clarification. You can't--or you don't want to? I'll accept the second.
It's quite possible that you don't want to. It's possible that making this commitment is too scary or too much work. It's possible that it appears too risky to put yourself on the line and make a commitment to becoming indispensable. A commitment like this raises the bar, and for some people, that might be too high.

Related Posts

• Thinking About Money The Rich Dad, Poor Dad Way (Book Review)
• Reaching Your Potential By Norman Vincent Peale
• Book Review:Who’s Pulling Your Strings? (How to Break the Cycle of Manipulation ...)
• Book Review: Eat That Frog- Get More Done In Less Time

The One Minute Manager: Highlights From The Book

The One Minute Manager, was my week-end reading (last week). I thought of sharing my reading notes as a blog post.

"Once there was a bright young man who was looking for an effective manger. He wanted to work for one. He wanted to become one. His search had taken him over many years to the far corners of the world." Finally he met the "One minute Manager" who shared the secrets of "one minute management". He was neither autocratic nor democratic; neither tough nor nurturing. He taught three secrets of the one minute management to the young person.
So here we go...

Secret #1 : One minute Goal Setting

People who feel good about themselves produce good results

One minute manager sets each goal and its performance standards with his subordinates in paper with less than 250 words; something that can be read in less than one minute!
Occasionally, people can spend a minute of their time and read the goal and see whether their behavior matches the goal.

When you go for bowling and if there are no pins standing, would you ever roll the ball?
When there are pins but if they are covered with a paper screen, you would try rolling and might hear some sounds which makes you happy. But you would not enjoy the game much.
So the manager's responsibility is to make the pins visible!

Secret #2 : One Minute Praising

Help People to Reach Their Full Potential. Catch Them Doing Something Right

The book argues that managers often "catch" people when they do something wrong. They are watching behind the paper screen so that they can see the pins well. They would say that you missed eight pins instead of telling that you hit two.

That's where the second secret of one minute management is "One Minute Praising". Good work should be praised immediately and it should be specifically about the particular work and not a general praise.

Secret #3 : One minute Reprimand

We are not just our behavior. We are the person managing our behavior

There are times, when bad things happen due to mistakes. That's where you need to go for one minute reprimand. As in the previous secret, this should be done immediately. Divide your minute into two. In the first 30 second, tell what went wrong and tell how you feel about it. During the second half you should remind them how valuable they are to you and to the organization. Re-affirm that you condemn the behavior but you value the person and that the person is not just the behavior!

Finally, ensure that an agreement is made not to repeat the same mistake.

Worthy quotes
"The best minute you spend is the one you invest in people"

"Everyone is a potential winner. Some People are disguised as losers, Don't let their appearances fool you"

"Goals begin behaviors. Consequences maintain behaviors."

Finally, our young guy became an effective manager by learning and practicing the above secrets and came up with a new principal.


"Share it with others"

And the last principal forced me to write this :-).

Related Posts

• Book Review:Who’s Pulling Your Strings? (How to Break the Cycle of Manipulation)
• Reaching Your Potential By Norman Vincent Peale
• Thinking About Money The Rich Dad, Poor Dad Way (Book Review)
• 80/20 Individual By Richard Koch (Book Excerpt)

Attitude Is Everything Or Is It?

An excerpt from the book, The Winner's Way : A proven method for achieving your personal best in any situation

Attitude is everything or so they say. Attitude is on everyone’s lips and everyone’s mind. We even have shorthand cue to spur ourselves and others on. "Get over it!" "What’s your problem", "What do you mean you just can’t do it?"

Ask any kid playing on a sports field or competing in the classroom. They will tell you that attitude is the key. And they will probably tell you that you just have to get over yourself and do it. Still, in their hearts, they know it isn’t quite so simple.

Pick up any book on improving your life. Whether it's in the personal or business realm, you will find more than a thousand and one ideas on how to change your attitude. Many of them say the same things –recite positive mantras and tell yourself you can do it. They include everything from looking in the mirror and mindlessly repeating that you like yourself to firing yourself up to scurry over hot rocks with hundreds of people that you will never see again. These are instances in which these equations might work- especially you are already feeling good when you catch a glimpse of yourself in the looking glass, or if your work or home life involves scrambling over steamy boulders- not the metaphorical rocky shores. But there are other circumstances when I have seen affirmations create false expectations and disappointing results. It takes more than words and just striving for a positive attitude to get you where you want to go.

How true is the above for your life?

Related Post
If It Is Meant To Be – It Will Be
Are We There Yet?
To thine own self be true-but to which self should you be true to?
Everything Depends On The Lens You Use To See Life

How To Become A Total Failure (Book Review)

In my lifetime, I think I might have read over 100 personal development books. They all promise to lead the road to success. How To Become A Total Failure - The Ten Rules of Highly Unsuccessful People (written by Bill Guillory and Phil Davis) stood out, purely because it didn’t make such claim.

The book describes in detail the habits and attitudes of unsuccessful people. It gives appropriate examples to highlight how such habits and attitudes, negatively effect their environment.

A Deeper Look At How To Become A Total Failure

Rule #1: Resist learning anything new that could lead to more responsibility
The more you learn, the more people will expect.

This chapter states the case by providing some funny yet educational examples of day-to-day life. Amongst these, is the story of how one author made French toast for breakfast! Not all examples are family related. There are a couple of stories from the corporate world as well.

All in all, these examples highlight that

• New learning, one way or the other, is unavoidable.


• We let our fear of new learning (and possibly more responsibility), lead us down a road to failure.

Rule #2: Don’t share what you know with others
Knowledge is power; don’t give away your power.

Reading this chapter I realized, as long as I am creative, I never have to worry about running out of knowledge. It also draws attention to the importance of understanding the difference between information and knowledge.

Rule #3: Be a jerk!
Jerks get what they want because decent behaviors are not expected.

Reminds us that the advantages of being a jerk are short-lived. We should focus on quality relationships; it is the interpersonal glue that holds any human endeavor together through difficulties and trying times.

Rule #4: Always look out for Number One
It’s a zero-sum game.

Sooner or later we all realize that being self-centered and looking out for number one, doesn’t take us far. Joint effort based on honesty, integrity and trust will result in value and success for everyone involved.

Rule #5: It’s all about the money
Money equals success.

All too often people let money and other perks of their position corrupt their ethical judgment. This chapter talks of Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey and what distinguishes them from all other rich and famous people.

Rule #6: Promise things you have no intention of doing
The more you promise, the more responsible you look.

Gives several examples to highlight that if you don’t keep your promises others will perceive you as unreliable and less credible.

Rule #7: It’s always someone else’s fault
Success is dependent on your ability to CYA!

We need to be willing to own the results that occur in our life; irrespective of reasons or excuses.

Rule #8: Truth is in the mind of the beholder
The truth is what benefits you most.

Being true to yourself and others, includes both honesty and truth in not only what you say but also in what you do.

Rule #9: Do the least that’s necessary for success
Be all you can be but do as little as possible.

Go beyond what’s expected to be successful in life.

Rule #10: The customer is someone you have to put up with
Customers are never satisfied no matter what you do.

Employees exist because of customers. Keeping that in mind, they need to put needs of someone else first.

My favorite excerpt

Have you every thought of the number of promises you make on a daily or weekly basis? For example, if you meet a friend you haven’t seen in months or even years, you promise to give him or her a call to set a date for lunch or a drink, when you know you have absolutely no intention of doing so. And you don’t! Why? It takes time, energy and effort, particularly, with someone who has not recently been on your radar screen. Somehow, we feel guilty about the long absence and the best way to assuage our guilt is to promise some form of follow-up contact.
The same is true for people you go to school with, worth with or, are forced to be around (like relatives). After all, you have a busy schedule; places to go, things to do, and people to see. Just think what life would be like without your cell phone. And with text messaging it makes it easy to get out of obligations you made without any telephone or direct contact.

Overall

*I like the technique of using stories to elaborate a point. In this case, the message the authors were trying to get across came through with the example stories.
* Each chapter was headed with a bold and blunt heading. I loved it! It gave me a feeling that the book had an attitude, of its own. However, the book title doesn't entice me to gift it to someone else. What would you think if someone gave you a book titled, How To Become A Total Failure as a birthday gift!
*The simplicity of the book makes it appealing to a wider audience.

Related Posts
Thinking About Money The Rich Dad, Poor Dad Way (Book Review)
First Break All Rules By Marcus Buckingham (Book Review)
Book Excerpt:The Heart Of A Leader By Ken Blanchard
Book Review: Re-imagine By Tom Peters

Thinking About Money The Rich Dad, Poor Dad Way (Book Review)

Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money--That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! is Robert Kiyosaki's and Sharon Lechter's first best-selling book.It has been on The New York Times Best Seller List for five years and was USA Today's No. 1 money book for 2004.

Given Robert Kiyosaki’s popularity, some readers might disagree with the opinions stated in this post. However, this is my unbiased thoughts on the book, regardless of its popularity.

The entire book is wrapped around a story of how he learned, observed and distinguished two people making money; rich dad and the poor dad.(I wonder why this book wasn’t titled, “The tale of two dads”! )
His real dad who was highly educated, is called the "Poor Dad". The other, was his best friend Mike's dad, who was an entrepreneur with very little school education. Kiyosaki calls him the "Rich Dad".

Browsing Through Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Lesson 1: The Rich Don’t Work For Money
The book starts off with some appealing stories about two little boys (Kiyosaki and Mike)who are trying to make money. Rich dad teaches the boys priceless lessons on money, by making them learn through experience. Kiyosaki's Poor dad also gave him advice; contradicting advice to Rich Dad. Kiyosaki talks about how he struggled as a kid to choose between the two very different ways of dealing with money.

Lesson 2: Why Teach Financial Literacy? makes his case by stating, the growing gap between rich and poor is rooted in the antiquated educational system. Later he helps the reader understand the difference between an asset and a liability.

Lesson 3: Mind Your Own Business relates his experience of selling photocopiers on commission at Xerox and how he used his earnings to buy real estate. Basically, the message Kiyosaki gives in this chapter is to keep your day job, but start minding your own business!

Lesson 4: The History of Taxes and the Power of Corporations advices you to do your own research and find out what tax laws will bring the best advantages.

Lesson 5: The Rich Invent Money highlights that self-confidence coupled with a high financial IQ, can earn more rather than merely saving a little bit every month. It also urges you to make good use of your time and find the best deals.

Lesson 6: Work to Learn –Don’t Work for Money brings to light, five obstacles to financial independence; Fear, Cynicism, Laziness, Bad Habits and Arrogance. Unlike other chapters this chapter offers you some actionable suggestions on how to deal with it.

My favorite excerpt

Most people never study the subject [money]. They go to work, get their paycheck, balance their checkbooks, and that’s it. On top of that, they wonder why they have money problems. Few realize that it’s their lack of financial education that is the problem.

What this Rich Dad, Poor Dad is NOT

Before I bought this book, I read a fair amount of reviews. Even though the book was a best seller, there were quite a number of critiques. Here's my 2 cents ...

• This book doesn't tell people what to do

If you're looking for 'how to get rich' instructions, you won't find specific step by step instructions in Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I think Kiyosaki intentionally does not give specific instructions, because he believes that everyone must find their own way. As he continues to say "My books and games are not designed to tell you "how to do something", but are designed to teach you how you must think and who you must become.


• Fact or fiction

When I initially began reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad, I wondered whether the story portrayed by Kiyosaki was true. Did he really have a “Poor Dad” with such an attitude? I suppose I will never know. The more I read of this book, it didn't really matter whether the story was fact or fiction. He tells a very good story! There is a moral in the story and it definitely teachers you something.

Overall

I found Rich Dad, Poor Dad to be very inspiring. Somehow, I felt that I was reading this book, a few years too late! The book doesn’t overwhelm people with technical jargon. It simply concentrates on the inner being of what it takes to be rich.

I’d recommend this book as an good way to challenge your thinking about work and money, in ways you haven't thought before. However, if you need technical "how to's" and "to do's" in personal finance, this book is not for you.


Related Posts
Make Money, Not Excuses!
10 Questions that Determine your Financial Fitness
Building A Better Business (Book Excerpt)
Reaching Your Potential By Norman Vincent Peale

Your Inner CEO: Unleash The Executive Within

It was really a pleasant surprise when I received an email from Allan Cox himself. He had stumbled upon Enhance Life, and the email contained several compliments about the blog. Coming from a best-selling author, it really meant a lot to me. I was on a natural high that day! (I still haven’t deleted that email. Every time I need a boost of motivation, I read it.)

That was not all. He asked for my address so that he could send a copy of his eighth book, Your Inner CEO: Unleash the Executive Within.

Here was this great, accomplished author and he wanted to send "little me" his latest book. I couldn’t believe what I was reading! It was indeed very generous of him and I am truly grateful for the book.

Allan Cox never asked for a review. However, I wanted to do something in return. I know this is not much, but here is my honest review of the book.

"CEO, um.. I have a long way to go" were my initial thoughts based on the title. All that changed when I read the first sentence of the introduction.
Every time you start a new job, you go back to square one.

Don’t I know that too well!Having switched to a new job a few months ago I could relate well to what he was talking about.

Browsing Through - Your Inner CEO: Unleash the Executive Within.

Chapter 1 Goals sets a foundation by urging you to recognize lost dreams and desires. In doing so he asks you to look deeper into our style-of-life.

Chapter 2 Changes prepare you to connect goals to those beliefs and desires. You are asked to traverse the boundary that separates the fear and self-doubt from courage and conviction.

Chapter 3 Facades looks into the importance of continually excavating your organization’s style-of-life. It also focuses on how to discover the overlap between your organization’s ideal and real personalities. Towards the end it talks of the importance of mastering the art of meditation.

Chapter 4 Boundaries reminds you that you are always moving away, toward or against someone or something, and that knowledge has great significance for you and your world. It advises you to distinguish between the apparent and the real purpose of a boundary, thereby giving you the means to define accurately any situation you face.

Chapter 5 Boards helps you gain awareness of the new board accountability that has emerged. You’ll learn how to prepare, plan and execute good board meetings.
It also highlights that you will accomplish more with less control, by relinquishing illusion of control.

Chapter 6 Visions talks of two vision faces. First, vision hear-and-now, and second vision there and then. You’ll learn that who you are as a company now, is the single best indicator of who you are going to be.

Chapter 7 Futures stresses that small decisions confirm an agenda for better or for worse. It helps to articulate your company’s style-of-life, vision, and mission in a fresh compelling way.

Chapter 8 Models suggests that you are like all other people, like some other people, and like no other person. It gives a guide to write your centering statements. That you never reach the wall; the journey never ends.

Chapter 9 Mentors states that good mentoring induces autonomy in others and that mentors can come from any background. It emphasizes that mentoring relies on full frontal contact networking, and positive grounded leadership.

My favorite excerpt

Boundaries...define every situation, even though you often have to peer behind the facade to get to it...If you can't identify the purpose behind whatever situation you're examining, you'll never know its true nature, and...it will continue to baffle you...the purpose of even a simple, everyday object may lie far beneath your initial understanding of it. Take a humble meeting room chair, for example. You know its purpose: to provide you with a seat at the conference. But that's only its apparent purpose. Look more closely at it...That chair wasn't built for you, it was built for hotel management that needs to stack hundreds of chairs in a compact space. It's lightweight, sturdy and stackable; it can be transported easily, stored with others in a closet, and it can work as well in a dining room as in a conference room. That's reality.

Overall
Allan Cox, doesn’t allow you to just read a chapter and forget about it. At the end of each chapter you will find an "Inner CEO Punch List". This list helps you look deeper and apply what you read to your life and/or your company.
In its entity, I believe this book is a cornucopia of research-proven tips, techniques, and resources to help you maximize your potential for success. It will change your life in ways that will make you a better leader.

Related Posts
First Break All Rules By Marcus Buckingham
Book Excerpt:The Heart Of A Leader By Ken Blanchard
Reaching Your Potential By Norman Vincent Peale
It's Ok To Ask 'em To Work (Book excerpt)

It's Ok To Ask 'em To Work (Book excerpt)

Problems live in the past;Solutions live in the future

Problems live in the past. It is often easy, as we journey into the land of problem solving and conflict resolution, to get so wrapped up in talking about the problem that we never look to the future for the solution. This is a mistake.

None of us is fortunate enough to have a rewind button on life. We can't simply reach up and press that button, undo the wrong and make it right. The wrong has been done.

Our only option is to make changes so the wrong is not repeated. So we look to the past only long enough to identify root causes for the problems we encounter. Then we become future-focused, realizing that the solution to the problem lies in the future, the only place we yet have a change to go, live and act.

Building A Better Business (Book Excerpt)

Building a better world

Just that..
.. in what ever way you choose.

Each of us is unique, and building a better world also means different things at various stages of life, but it’s essentially about a better life in some way for yourself, or perhaps for those you care for, for family and friends, or for the community you live in and beyond.

Everything you have ever done from the day you were born, from taking a sip of water to solving a problem or ‘saving the world’, is related to this universal human desire for a better life.

Improvement is the key- even if this is just your own feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment, or may be personal comfort right now as you adjust your position slightly while reading this book.

Related Posts
80/20 Individual By Richard Koch (Book Excerpt)
The Heart Of A Leader By Ken Blanchard
Reaching Your Potential By Norman Vincent Peale

80/20 Individual By Richard Koch (Book Excerpt)

To thine own self be true-but to which self should you be true to?

The self that spends a huge amount of time and sweat getting nowhere? The self that engages in destructive patters o behavior? The self that follows the crowd (all of us, saints and lunatics only excepted, spend much or most of our time conforming to the dictates of others)? Our automatic self? The self that achieves nothing out of the ordinary? The self that could just as well not be a self at all?

No. The self to which we must be true is our really distinctive and productive self, our unique self, our imaginative, positive and creative self, the 20% or less of ourselves that contribute more than 80% of our impact and happiness.

First we have to find this self, to be aware of the powerful vital few characteristics within ourselves. Then we have to nurture and grow this 20%. Only then can we use it to make the world and ourselves richer.

Related posts
Re-imagine By Tom Peters(Book Review)
Essential Drucker (Book Review)