books - Linchpin, Seth Godin

This was interesting to me.  I'm a huge fan of Seth Godin.  I love the way he thinks, and even though he's not really a "community" guy, he's a genius marketer who follows a lot of the basic ideas that go along with community - transparency, invite people to opt in, find ways to have a generous position. 

It was kind of funny to me to read this one and realize it's my least favorite of the work he's done.  It's still smart, but it veers toward self help in a way that I didn't expect from him.  I had a long conversation with my sister about it, and we realized that part of the problem is that he's basically preaching to the choir. 

The idea is that the Linchpin person is the one person who is necessary to get things done in an organization or group.  The Linchpin is respected, has a lot of soft power, and is usually characterized by some level of generosity - being willing to take on a thing nobody else will or help out when needed regardless of whether it's part of their job title. 

The thing is, my sister and I are already there.   Or I should say, I was there.  I'm not now and need to get back there as soon as I can.  I knew that before I read the book, I just didn't have a name for it.  That's the problem when a vital person is forced to step away from the job for a while, you lose that status.  Rebuilding is harder than it was to start from scratch. 

I'm iffy on recommending this one - if you feel like you're stuck in a drone position at work and want to break out of that rut this could be useful advice - some practical ideas about how to get involved in bigger decisions and take on an appropriate amount of responsibility for the projects you want to pursue. 

If you are already where you want to be - influencing the areas you want to be involved in around your career, I'd skip it.