Linchpin Review

  I have read a lot of business related books in my time and up until recently only one has changed the trajectory of my professional career.  That book was "First, Break All the Rules" by Marcus Buckingham.  The book taught me to focus on my strengths and not beat myself up over the things I couldn't do.  It not only transformed how I managed me, but changed the way I managed and hired my employees.  That was ten years ago and it wasn't until now that I have read a book that has the potential to be just as transformative.  The book is Linchpin by Seth Godin.  If you read this blog you will realize that I am a fan of his and have already read several of his books and am a daily reader of his blog.  That being said, it was not until I read Linchpin that I had had a series of Aha moments that if I follow through on in execution could fuel my career and yours as well for the next ten years. 

The premise of Linchpin is a relatively simple one.  For years, there were two groups, management and labor.  Labor did everything they could do to fit in and be a faceless cog in the machine.  Godin now describes a third group, the Linchpin. These are the people that own their own means of production(laptop, internet connection), who can make a difference and connect us. The Linchpin steps out from the faceless masses and makes things happen.  The Linchpin connects, creates, and invents.  Godin states that by bringing your whole self to the workplace and giving of yourself in ways that you never considered before and really trying to make a difference is the only way to become indispensable. How many of you have a job where you think you can bring positive change, but you don't because rocking the boat is scary and could get you in "trouble"? Godin would say that the Linchpin not only rocks the boat, but this is the only way to create a semblance of security at work.  These are the people that create things where there is no rule book. As a matter of fact, the biggest lesson I took from the book was if you have a job where someone tells you what to do next, you have given up the chance to create value.   You may ask, what stops us all from being Linchpins? Fear and anxiety.  Get past it and be great!  His follow up to Linchpin recently came out.  It is titles the Icarus Deception.  I will give you my thoughts on this book in the near future.

I highly recommend you read Linchpin and once you have, please add your comments as I would love to hear what you have to say.

Appreciate your employees

I was thinking today how much I appreciate my kids.  You might think that sounds a bit trite, but for those of you with children you know you spend half your time adoring them and everything they do and half your time suffering from PTSD symptoms and wanting to dive under your blanket while watching them and everything they do.

This got me thinking about management.  How much do we appreciate our employees? You are with them everyday, either virtually, or in person.  You probably get so bogged down in your day to day that you forget the specialness of the people who work for you.  You probably can tell me the things they have to work on much faster than you can tell me their strengths.  You probably take them for granted.  Take some time each week to think about your team members and what they add to your team.  Then tell them.  They will appreciate the feedback and will be newly motivated. People want feedback and are more used to getting negative feedback, or none at all.  In the connection age it is imperative you make connections with your employees regularly, or they will not be your employees anymore.

Rich Goldberg

The Future of For Profit Education

  I've spent a lot of time recently studying the for profit higher education field.  For those of you that aren't aware, for profit schools have been under tremendous scrutiny by the government over the last couple of years.  Let me catch you up by linking to THIS article.  Have you read it?  Good.  As a generalization, the problem the for profit education sector has run into is the same problem any business has when they get away from focusing on their customers(students) and their product.  When profit is your number one goal you are doomed to fail because there is no substance to your business to fall back on.

The Late Steve Jobs talked about always putting products over profits.  Not that being profitable isn't important, but that being profitable gave you the ability to make more great products. How many of you are reading this on an Apple product?  I promise that Apple made a nice profit on your purchase.   In the Higher Education field, being profitable gives you the ability to train and graduate lots more students and make their lives better and the country richer.  Our industry needs to focus on our mission, our courses of study and our students success.  That's what will lead to long term profitability, as opposed to shady selling tactics.  To be clear, an admissions advisor focused on "sales" is important.  A great admissions advisor will properly qualify a potential student, and then it is his/her job to "enroll" them in the possiblility of what this educational opportunity will provide.  Any sort of higher education program is a big commitment and students do need help seeing the big picture.  It's not only a schools job to help students with this, it is their obligation to have a great academic program that will then back up what the admissions advisor has promised.  

The advantage of a for profit organization is that nothing gets in the way of innovation and improvement.  Theoretically, the more you improve, the more success your business will have.  Recently, one of my children needed academic intervention which my wife and I felt wasn't as robust as necessary to solve the problem.  We were told by the school system that they are doing what is mandated.  A for profit business doesn't think that way.  It thinks, what do I have to do to get the job done as that is the only way to be profitable and stay in business.

Lastly, the schools that will survive are the schools that are commited to offering programs that are better than their competitors.  These competitors are both for profit and not for profit.  Price isn't as much of an issue when you offer a better product.  That being said, schools need to charge tuition that makes sense for the economic times that we are in.  I'm not talking about a race to the bottom, but tuition that makes financial sense for both the business and the consumer.  I personally believe all the scrutiny of our industry is ultimately good.  The education companies most committed to their student focused missions will not only survive, but ultimately thrive, while the rest of the companies will slowly fade away.  Capitalism at its best.

Rich Goldberg

Random Thoughts

  It's been a while since I have posted and I have had lots of thoughts.  So in the tradition of Larry King's old USA Today column's Let's get started.  

I'm not sure why The IPad Mini is so popular.  I would not be happy with the smaller screen.  Why can't LinkedIn make their IPad app more like their website?  I tend to just go through safari than use the app.  I really want to see the new movie This is 40 when it comes out.  Does anyone recommend an online education platform?  I've taken a couple of online courses recently and I haven't been impressed.  Ultimately, it still will come down to the teaching and the content.  I've never been there, but I've always felt I should live in Denver.  I have been to Northern California and I think I should live there too.  By the way, I need a job in either Denver, or Northern California....Chicago would be fine too.  I'm really tired of hearing about the fiscal cliff.  Sometimes it feels like congress thinks it is just "playing" government and that their actions don't really effect the country.  I love the library.  If you don't visit regularly you are missing out.  I hope everyone is having a great holiday season.  Take some time of and spend it with loved ones, they will appreciate it.

We must change the meaning of education

As some of you know, I'm a big fan of Seth Godin.  He is an incredible thinker and has profound thoughts on many subjects.  Earlier this year he wrote a 30,000 word manifesto on the future of education.  Here is a Link to the book and a TedX talk he gave on the subject.  Please share with as many people as possible.  I think the topic of education reform is very important.

It's Hard to Find a Job

I know most of you read the title of the post and thought....Duh!  Of course it's hard to find a job.  Let me explain.  I spent 15 years working for the same organization consistently getting promotions, achieving success, and being a highly respected leader.  I assumed because of my previous success, and everything I feel I can bring to an organization, it wouldn't be that hard to find a new role.....Ok, stop laughing.  I've never really been involved in an in depth job search before.  I didn't know how hard it can be.  The frustrating part is when they pass on you it's difficult to find out why.  I totally get from an HR perspective why they don't want to discuss it, but as someone who's trying to learn how to find a new job it's not very helpful.  

Here is the takeaway for me.  I still think when a company passes on me they are making a mistake, but I also think it's my fault that I wasn't able to present myself in a way to make them understand why I should be hired by them.  I also will be much more empathetic when I do find a new job and have to hire people.  I will keep working on that and keep you updated.  Feel free to comment and share any stories you may have.

The new IPhone

This past Friday the iPhone 5 was released to record-breaking sales and favorable reviews, yet what I have been hearing from a lot of people is about all the things the iPhone can't do, or is a year late being able to do.  Yes, LTE, I'm talking to you.  Every year a new iPhone is released and people are surprised that the improvements are evolutionary and not revolutionary.  Just to be clear, you can only invent the iPhone once.  After that it's just how can we make it better. Samsung took some shots at Apple this week in regard to how much allegedly better the Galaxy S III is.  In full disclosure, I have never used an android phone.  I'm even willing to bet they have some good phones, but there are new android phones all of the time and only one iPhone a year.  Apple is going to make the best overall phone they can make where their competitors make phones in all shapes and sizes and hope one sticks with consumers.  The iPhone, and all Apple products for that matter, speak to people who like things that just work.  You either buy in to the utopian world Apple is trying to create, or you don't.