Godin’s New Book and Seminar Outstanding!

This morning, I set my alarm for 5 am, got ready, packed up lunches for the kids and was on my way to NYC by 6 am. My friend, Matthiew Weiss, President of EO-NYC, told me about an event in NYC where Author, Seth Godin was speaking. Since I had never seen Godin and am an avid reader of his books, I wanted to go.

“You need to be there by 8 am the latest to get a good seat,” he said.

So there I was at 7:30 am at a local McDonald’s getting coffee eager to enter the hall in which Godin was speaking. I had just finished his latest book, TRIBES, last night and was anxious to hear his views on the subject. As I entered the hall, I met some business owners from Boston and New Jersey who were pretty interesting. I also got to meet the author and have him sign my book. (I bought three of his books for my staff and as a result was able to get free admission.)

In my book, he wrote, “Hilary! Lead us” and signed his name. I read that and smiled. It was well worth the long drive to get a nice endorsement like that!

The seminar was fantstic! Seth Godin talked about how the world is changing and how we used to buy ads in print, radio and tv and even developed viral marketing programs to interrupt people over and over again until they made a purchase. He said that those days are over. The good news, he says, is that organic systems are resurging — who will be there and who is going to lead? He also said that there is a dramatic shortage of leaders.

“Why do people buy?” he asked the crowd. “After they get food and shelter, in this economy people need to feel good!”

He talked about how tribes share common interest and explained that tribes and crowds are different because tribes are much more powerful, he said. “Tribes are longer lasting because they take longer to stick.”

In a tribe you just need a few dedicated people, he said. “You need to care only about the passionate ones!”

Seth Godin also discussed the difference between religion and faith saying that religion has far too many rules and faith is what you believe in.

He said if you want to be a leader, you need to:

* Challenge People

* Create a Culture

* Have Curiousity

* Be Charismatic (being charismatic does not make you a leader, if you are a leader you are charismatic)

* Connect people to each other

* Finally Commit to the Movement

The best take away that I got from the book, Tribes was this quote:

“The secret of leadership is simple: Do what you believe in. Print a picture of the future. Go there. People will follow,” Godin writes.

Thanks Seth Godin for your inspiration… And of course, I purchased another two books that I hadn’t previously read…I’m excited to delve into these too!