From Seth Godin’s Linchpin, page 202:
In a world with only a few indispensable people, the linchpin has three elegant choices:
1. Hire plenty of factory workers. Scale like crazy. Take advantage of the fact that most people want a map, most people are willing to work cheaply, most people want to be the factory. You win because you extract the value of their labor, the labor they’re surrendering too cheaply.
2. Find a boss who can’t live without a linchpin. Find a boss who adequately values your scarcity and your contribution, who will reward you with freedom and respect. Do the work. Make a difference.
3. Start your own gig. Understand that an organization filled with linchpins is itself indispensable. Hire appropriately.
If you are not currently doing any of these, refuse to settle. You deserve better.
Leave aside the fact that your world, in fact, contains more than three choices. 😀 Still, Seth Godin’s list of choices is sobering.
What do I want for myself? What makes me happiest? Choice 1 makes my soul die a little when I think of it. I’ve never tried Choice 2 but I’ve always imagined that I would thrive there. Choice 3 makes me a bit scared because it’s so hard to pull off, but at the same time makes me a bit thrilled because I would be surrounded by people I admire.
Unless Choice 2 comes along, Choice 3 it is.
Surround myself with Linchpins. Do so by pushing for excellence, pushing for 100%.
Let’s do this.