Are You Indispensable?
It’s been a while since my last readings. It took me quite a while to read this book with all sort of the changes going on. Linchpin, will be the last book to be printed on papers by Seth Godin. I bought this book out of curiosity. To find out if I am indispensable.
In his book, he mentioned the word “artiste” or in his term – linchpin. Seth is right in a way that linchpins are to make a difference, to stand for something. Being a linchpin means that someone is remarkable by bring the emotional labor to their work. Linchpins pour themselves into their job or what they do because they know it is the right thing to do. From there, they become better people. This makes linchpins very scarce, and that scarcity makes them valuable – indispensable. They go all the way out, to do things and create a better for living.
The act of selfless is truly hard to achieve. Seth defines the act as art or “the intentional act of using your humanity to create a change in another person” (p. 99). Why can’t we do things within expecting something in return? That is because we been programmed that way. Often, I heard the word “reciprocity” as in expecting something in return. If I do this, what’s your obligation?
There are two part that makes me thinking the decision I made was correct. Although indebted in a way to my immediate boss, I know that the stressful part is hoping. Hoping for a change. Hoping against hope that the people up there realized something, make changes, and the list goes on. It’s too late. All they want are DRONES. Perhaps I fall in love with the desired outcome, and at every stage that come along the way.
The second part was the gift. Act of giving. It somehow irked me to read the sentence, “When I make an interest-free loan to you, I’m trusting you and giving you a gift at the same time. This interaction increases the quality of our bond and strengthen the community. Just as you wouldn’t charge your husband interest on a loan, you don’t charge a tribe member.”
And after I finish the book, yes… I need to change. =)
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