Seth Godin’s new book, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
launched yesterday, Jan. 26, 2010. It’s quite a piece of work - and a great read if you haven’t read much of Seth before. I wrote a lengthy review of it earlier, but wanted to sum it up in a different way today. Linchpins, according to Seth, are not only those tiny pieces of cotter-pin that hold a machine together - they’re the critical and most important pin. Usually unnoticed until they fail, they make the rest of the machine, or in this case - the organization - run smoothly.

Linchpins are the people who love their jobs because they love what they do. They truly enjoy whatever task it is they perform simply for the love of doing it.

Call it endorphins. Call it “juice.” Call it the nectar of kindness, but there is a joy that is released when we love what we do and do it for the pleasure of doing it.

In sports parlance they say, “He/she loves the game. He’d play even if he wasn’t getting paid.” In medicine they say, “He/she is such a humanitarian.”

But the reality is, people dig ditches, wait tables, cut hair, fix engines, deliver mail, drive trucks, bartend, farm, and yes, join the military because they take pride in a job well done. The sad thing is this used to be the rule, not the exception. People were craftsmen, not employees. Moving from apprentice to journeyman (sound and experienced) to craftsman (brilliant, skilled journeyman) was a rite of passage and status that everyone understood.

In our rush to get rich, become an American Idol or be worshiped we’ve forgotten how to connect with each other and our work. Those pursuing that connective path we call entrepreneurs. Those walking the path we call artists. Those cutting the path we call unicorns. Those embracing the path we call Linchpins.

Celebrate those people in your life today who have found this special niche and embraced it. It may a parent, a partner, a friend or the store clerk who went the extra mile to ensure your satisfaction. Usually unnoticed unless you are the recipient of their passion for a job well done, they will appreciate your appreciation. And if you are a linchpin? Then know that you are celebrated in Seth’s book.