I’m a big believer in selfish creation.
Making art for yourself and nobody else.
Not the critics, not the masses, not the powers that be, not the mainstream media, not the competition, not the gallery owners, not the distributors and not the cool kids.
For you.
And in my experience, there are two ways to approach this process.
One path is to work from an achievement orientation, focusing on impressing and improving yourself.
For example, every time I write a song, I always try to incorporate at least one lyric or chord or strumming pattern or vocal variation that I’ve never tried before. It’s execution to the power of elevation, and it always makes me feel proud because I topped myself, albeit on a small scale.
The other path to selfish creation is adventure oriented, focusing on delighting and surprising yourself.
For example, every time I write a book, I always try to include one sentence or paragraph or footnote or obscure reference that nobody will understand but me. It’s execution to the power of elation, and it always makes me feel gitty because I charmed myself, albeit on a small scale.
Either way, it’s all for me.
Are you productively selfish?
Energy is interactional currency.
If you want to lead the people around you, pay attention not only to what you do that gives you energy, but what you do that gives others energy.
I learned this lesson busking in the park.
Turns out, playing and singing music as loud as you possibly can in a public space with amazing acoustics gives people energy. It’s the coolest thing. As folks walk past, you can literally watch their faces and bodies changing. They dance and hum and smile and wave and sometimes drop a dollar in the case, and it makes you feel warm inside for having participated in the energy exchange.
Which is helpful when it’s thirty fucking degrees outside.
The point is, being a leader isn’t about how people experience you; it’s how they experience themselves when they’re around you.
I believe in a few things.
First, I believe in contributing meaningfully to the growth and well being of every person connected to me. Second, I believe the greatest contribution you can make to someone’s life is to help that person love themselves more.
Here’s what might work:
Instead of encouraging people to become more of what they are, empower them to become what they never thought they could be. Help them believe that something bigger is possible for them. They will love themselves more.
Instead of giving people a list of books to read, make a meaningful contribution to their cognitive life diabetes drugs. Deliver insight in a way that it becomes fundamental to someone’s worldview. They will love themselves more.
Instead of demanding people change who they are into somebody different, invite them to channel who they are into something different. Help them see where they’re already successful and how to translate that into another arena. They will love themselves more.
Instead of being the voice of counsel, be the voice of vision. When you breathe the same air as someone and look them in the eye and say, I believe in you, talk about their future like it’s right around the corner. They will love themselves more.
In short, infecting over affecting.
I recently did an extensive interview with Travis Jenkins from The Entrepreneur’s Radio Show.
We dug deep. The topics we explored include:
How to make a name for yourself, creating a business around your brand, making connections, the writing process, finding balance between brand and business, speeding up your success and dealing with stress.
Oh, and I also sang a song about hippopotamuses.
You can stream the interview here, download it here or read the transcript here.
My mentor used to have a saying:
They are never going to do it, but they will love that you did it for them.
I’ve found that mantra be true in almost every area of business, from public speaking to sales and marketing to client service to mentoring relationships. The trick is keeping your antennas up for new ways to leverage it.
A few months ago, I was doing research for a strategic planning project when I came across a goldmine of a website. Glassdoor listed over a thousand anonymous employee reviews for the very company I was auditing.
The best part was, most of them were scathing.
And I thought to myself, wow, there is no way human resources has read any these.
Why would they? They’re busy professional with millions of dollars to protect, thousands of employees to manage, hundreds of tasks to accomplish and dozens of meetings to attend. They simply don’t have the time.
I do.
So I started reading, annotating, classifying, synthesizing and interpreting every one of the thousand reviews. The work was tedious, but by the end of the week, I had accumulated a massive collection of valuable insights and strategic recommendations. And that document became a leverageable asset to be used subsequent meetings and presentations.
Now that’s what I call big data.
The lesson is, if you know they’re never going to do it, why not do it for them? Sweat, diligence and volume, combined with surprise, delight and generosity makes for one hell of an interactional combination.
Show people you’re willing to find the needle in the haystack.
Then poke them in the ass with it.
Sentences are my spiritual currency.
Throughout my week, I’m constantly scouring and learning and reading and inhaling and annotating from any number of newspapers, blogs, online publications, books, articles, songs, art pieces, podcasts, eavesdroppings, random conversations and other sources of inspiration.
Turns out, most of these sentences can be organized into about eleven different categories, aka, compartments of life that are meaningful to me. And since I enjoy being a signal tower of things that are interesting, I figured, why not share them on a regular basis?
In the spirit of “learning in public,” I’ve decided to publish a weekly digest of my top findings, along with their respective links or reference points. Sentence junkies of the world unite!
Creativity, Innovation & Art
“I’m blessed with some pretty deep files,” from an interview with George Carlin.
Culture, Humanity & Society “The world turns to us because of the ideals we stand for and the burdens we bear to advance them,” from Obama’s State of the Union Address.
Identity, Self & Soul “A gift you cannot escape no matter how hard you try,” from an overheard conversation on the subway.
Lyrics, Poetry & Passages
“I haven’t had white sugar since my first birthday,” from Kick Ass 2.
Meaning, Mystery & Being
“What is the beautiful thing that’s drawing us forward?” from a stranger on the street.
Media, Technology & Design
“Facebook isn’t watching out for our kids, they’re just watching them,” from Pysch Today.
Nature, Health & Science
“The shortest distance to the heart is through the body,” from my stomach.
People, Relationships & Love
“People should never have to ask why you care so much,” from my workshop at Nestle Purina.
Psychology, Thinking & Feeling
“Never put your self worth in anyone else’s hands,” from Susan Biali.
Success, Life & Career“The status quo is doing fine without you,” from The Complete Guide to Not Giving a Fuck.
Work, Business & Organizations
“The brand wasn’t the star of that moment, it was a supporting character,” from Spike.
See you next week!
Sentences are my spiritual currency.
Throughout my week, I’m constantly scouring and learning and reading and inhaling and annotating from any number of newspapers, blogs, online publications, books, articles, songs, art pieces, podcasts, eavesdroppings, random conversations and other sources of inspiration.
Turns out, most of these sentences can be organized into about eleven different categories, aka, compartments of life that are meaningful to me. And since I enjoy being a signal tower of things that are interesting, I figured, why not share them on a regular basis?
In the spirit of “learning in public,” I’ve decided to publish a weekly digest of my top findings, along with their respective links or reference points. Sentence junkies of the world unite!
Creativity, Innovation & Art
“Solitude is a precondition for creativity,” from Sherry Turkle.
Culture, Humanity & Society “Religious institutions could always rely in the past on the relative ignorance of their flock,” from Planet Ivy.
Identity, Self & Soul “I don’t think anybody who’s ever done everything hasn’t been considered an asshole by the general populace,” from Slacker.
Lyrics, Poetry & Passages
“Instead of waiting to be hit by the light, I decided to become the light instead,” from Gaping Void.
Meaning, Mystery & Being
“The existential threats worthy of your worry engine,” from Edge.
Media, Technology & Design
“We’re paying companies to beta test their technology,” from Art Alexakis.
Nature, Health & Science
“We should worry less about our species losing its biosphere than losing its soul,” from Douglass Rushkoff.
People, Relationships & Love
“This idea of a soul mate, of someone who will come to complete us and save us from having to take care of ourselves,” from Before Midnight.
Psychology, Thinking & Feeling
“Someone who has inconvenient feelings,” from Feelings Schmeelings.
Success, Life & Career“Instead of telling people what you want to do, show them who you are and let them fill in the blanks,” from a job interview.
Work, Business & Organizations
“The artifact isn’t just a product of an exercise, but a rubric for operable behaviors at all levels of the organization,” from a brandtag.
See you next week!
Sentences are my spiritual currency.
Throughout my week, I’m constantly scouring and learning and reading and inhaling and annotating from any number of newspapers, blogs, online publications, books, articles, songs, art pieces, podcasts, eavesdroppings, random conversations and other sources of inspiration.
Turns out, most of these sentences can be organized into about eleven different categories, aka, compartments of life that are meaningful to me. And since I enjoy being a signal tower of things that are interesting, I figured, why not share them on a regular basis?
In the spirit of “learning in public,” I’ve decided to publish a weekly digest of my top findings, along with their respective links or reference points. Sentence junkies of the world unite!
Creativity, Innovation & Art
“Develop muscles and routines and practices to consistently generate compelling messages that first move you deep in your bones so that you then have something worth telling others about,” from Craft Lab.
Culture, Humanity & Society “Those who seek peace above all else will always deceive to keep the water calm,” from Divergent.
Identity, Self & Soul “A man with a habit ain’t hard to find,” from Kick Ass 2.
Lyrics, Poetry & Passages
“Let me heal your eyes,” from Jim Henderson.
Meaning, Mystery & Being
“You have bitten into something, your own chewing drowns out the world’s chatter,” from Brainstorm.
Media, Technology & Design
“It’s not technology, it’s what companies are doing to people through technology,” from Generation Like.
Nature, Health & Science
“Healthy means not driven by anything unwholesome,” from Jerry Seinfeld.
People, Relationships & Love
“God went on vacation and put you in charge,” from an overheard conversation.
Psychology, Thinking & Feeling
“Be the one who redefines toughness as restraint,” from Jen Lemen.
Success, Life & Career“You can still make a full commitment without taking yourself too seriously,” from Michael Port.
Work, Business & Organizations
“You can hire people to do everything but hire people,” from David Rosenblatt.
See you next week!
Recorded at the famous Sheldon Theater in St. Louis, Scott Ginsberg tells the story of how he built an iconic brand, a profitable business and a fourteen year career out of wearing a nametag everyday.
To watch the movie on TEDx, click here.
To see pictures from the event, click here.
To download Scott’s original slide deck, click here.
To book Scott to speak at your next event, click here.
“What are you looking to do here?”
I think that’s a trick question.
And I’m not so presumptive to try and answer it with the limited information that I have about you and your organization.
So instead of telling you what I want to do, let me show you who I am.
Let me to take you on a guided tour of my history, my engine, my values, my anthology and my assets, and then let me ask you if that’s the kind of person who can plug into your organizational machine.
Let me tell you about the life situations have brought me to my knees, exposing my journey to become what I aspire to be, and then let me ask you if that’s the kind of rare and valuable resource who might make a real difference here.
Because I didn’t come here to hit the bullseye.
I came here to fashion new arrows, raise the target, change entire field upon which the target rests and redefine what it means to hit it.
Cool?
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