Seth Godin talks about leadership, business, and the next generation
Seth Godin is a successful, famous man. Often described as a marketing genius, he is a sought-after guest on business talk shows, has a wildly popular blog, and is a New York Times bestselling author with 18 titles under his belt.
In 1986, he started the book packaging business Seth Godin Productions with $20,000 in savings. Later he founded Yoyodyne, an internet-based direct marketing company, which was acquired by Yahoo! in 1998. In 2005, he started Squidoo, a revenue-sharing article-writing website that was acquired by HubPages in 2014.
“I won the lottery with two amazing parents. My dad was a lifelong entrepreneur and my mum, who was community and civic aligned, was also an entrepreneur. They challenged us to become who we needed to be as long as it was part of the community; as long as it was challenging and interesting.”
Seth Godin is wise and infectiously curious about life, the internet, and everything. He was one of the first people to name the “connection economy.” And even as we’re seeing its dark side, he helps us hold on to the highest human potential the digital age still calls us to. Here are some of his thoughts about a leader, ability, business, and the next generation.
Who will be the next leader?
The world is waiting for leaders and for those people who are willing to raise their hand a little higher and break the cycle of trying to fit in with everyone else, the benefits are enormous. “The Beatles didn’t invent teenagers but they showed up to lead them,” he says.
Godin says as a society, we teach individuals not to fly too high or too low but the world needs more leaders with hubris. “We’re told not to be a tall poppy.” “[But] you don’t have a job; you have a platform. A microphone is being given to us.
What ability a leader should have to lead others?
Gone are the days of mass production, says Godin. Now consumers want exciting and generous “art”. The artist, or entrepreneur, is prepared to say “this might not work” but they will give it a go anyway, says Godin. “If you’re just painting copies, we can find someone to paint cheaper copies,” he says.
What role do you believe business should play in making a difference in the world?
We’re here to increase community value, and if capitalism and public markets are taking that away, we should stop them. CEOs make short-term decisions and justify them based on pressure from the market. The CEO who is willing to play the long game is doing the right thing. And the CEO who is giving in to short-term pressures is not being a leader, they are just doing the easy thing.
How do you think we can inspire the next generation of businesspeople?
The only thing that changes the world is culture. It always has, that’s the only thing – not money, not the government, but culture. So, we have to create a culture where the way to be popular, the way to fit in, and the way to feel good is to do the right thing. Fortunately, the younger generations have had that mindset. The question is, do we have enough young people, and will the old people get out of the way so that we can do the right thing?
Sources:
- https://youtu.be/Vv6upW8qeh8
- https://buffalonews.com/business/local/marketing-genius-seth-godin-is-a-fearless-believer-in-buffalo/article_05e08b12-8eba-504f-9bee-b073ecf634f8.html
- https://onbeing.org/programs/seth-godin-life-the-internet-and-everything-sep2018/
- https://www.smartcompany.com.au/marketing/think-differently-10-nuggets-of-wisdom-from-marketing-guru-seth-godin/
- https://www.theceomagazine.com/business/management-leadership/seth-godin-talks-leadership-and-making-a-difference/
- https://medium.com/the-ascent/10-things-i-learned-from-seth-godin-4cd931273f9e
- https://us-east-2.console.aws.amazon.com/polly/home/SynthesizeSpeech