Categories
leadership Management

Seth Godin on “Leaders vs Managers”

I have always been a great fan of Seth Godin. Awesome ideas. Straight forward. Talks from the gut. Passionate.In this short pitch, he talks about how different management and leadership is.

seth

Watch the video by clicking on the below link. (Embed permissions are restricted by the owners).

Exclusive interview with Seth Godin from Leadercast on Vimeo.

(via MichaelHyatt.com)

(image courtesy: screen grab from above interview)

Categories
design productivity

Great Wisdom from Seth Godin

seth1

I read this great FastCo article about 4 Bullet points that Seth gave in a talk to Creatives on how to do Design that matters. I personally feel that, these are great points for even non-creatives. For that matter, these are great for anybody who ‘produces’ as part of their job. And yes, I count software lines of code as production. I count efficient management of projects as production too.

The four points are:

  1. Do it in purpose
  2. Tell stories that resonate with those in charge
  3. Demand responsibility, and do not worry at all about authority.
  4. Reflect credit but embrace blame.

I agree with all of these points a 100%. I have actually practiced some of these points in different points in time in my career, and they _work_.

Seth apparently ended the talk with a great quote:

“I have no doubt the people in this room are going to succeed. The question is: Are you going to matter?”

Love the quote.

Read the full article here.

Image courtesy: http://startupquote.com/post/528945569

Categories
misc

What is school for?

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXpbONjV1Jc&w=560&h=315]

Awesome talk by Seth Godin.

Categories
misc

Should I listen to your opinion ?

I have been reading Seth’s blog for a while now. Most often than not, his short posts are enlightening. But today’s post just hit the nail on the head. A little harsh, but 100% truth. An excerpt:

If you are not a customer, a stakeholder or someone with significant leverage in spreading the word, we will ignore you. And we should. When you walk up to an artist and tell her you don’t like her painting style, you should probably be ignored. If you’ve never purchased expensive original art, don’t own a gallery and don’t write an influential column in ArtNews, then by all means, you must be ignored.

An opinion needs to be based on experience and expertise. I know you don’t like cilantro, but whether or not you like it is not extensible to the population at large. On the other hand, if you have a track record of matching the taste sensibility of my target market, then I very much want to hear what you think.

Read the full post here.

Categories
hyderabad

Seth Godin Inspiration

Hair transplant clinic in Jubilee Hils, Hyderabad. Looks like inspiration from Seth Godin. This is exactly the way he looks up with his bald head in most books, blog etc [see here].

 

Categories
Management misc

Luxury vs Premium

Seth Godin has a nugget of a post in his blog about Luxury vs Premium. The post itself is small, and hence I am paraphrasing it here. All credit to Seth ofcourse.

Luxury goods are needlessly expensive. By needlessly, I mean that the price is not related to performance. The price is related to scarcity, brand and storytelling. Luxury goods are organized waste. They say, “I can afford to spend money without regard for intrinsic value.”

That doesn’t mean they are senseless expenditures. Sending a signal is valuable if that signal is important to you.

Premium goods, on the other hand, are expensive variants of commodity goods. Pay more, get more. Figure skates made from kangaroo hide, for example, are premium. The spectators don’t know what they’re made out of, but the some skaters get better performance. They’re happy to pay more because they believe they get more.

A $20,000 gown is not a premium product. It’s not better made, it won’t hold up longer, it’s not waterproof or foldable. It’s just artificially scarce. A custom-made suit, on the other hand, might be worth the money, especially if you’re Wilt Chamberlain.

Plenty of brands are in trouble right now because they’re not sure which one they represent.

[link to original article]