With just a few weeks left in 2009 you have no-doubt spent time thinking about the events of the past year and the growth and changes that have resulted.
What matters in 2010? Seth Godin, marketing guru and thought leader, did a cool project where he brought together more than seventy “big thinkers” to write the ebook What Matters Now. His purpose: “Now, more than ever, we need a different way of thinking, a useful way to focus and the energy to turn the game around.” Here are a few of the thought-provoking ideas:
“If you make a difference, people will gravitate to you. They want to engage, to interact and to get you more involved.” -Seth Godin
“Leadership is more than influence. It is about reminding people of what it is we are trying to build—and why it matters. It is about painting a picture of a better future. It comes down to pointing the way and saying, ‘C’mon. We can do this!'” –Michael Hyatt
“Here’s the final measure of your success as a speaker: did you change something? Are attendees leaving with a new idea, some new inspiration, perhaps a renewed commitment to their work or to the world?” –Mark Hurst
“The road to sustainability goes through a clear-eyed look at unsustainability.” –Alan M. Webber
“After a decade of truly spectacular underachievement, what we need now is less management and more freedom – fewer individual automatons and more autonomous individuals.” –Daniel H. Pink
“The future belongs to people who can spread ideas.” –Guy Kawasaki (read Guy’s ‘ten things to remember’)
“You can earn attention by creating something interesting and valuable and then publishing it online for free.” –David Meerman Scott
“You’re probably trying to change things at home or at work. Stop agonizing about what’s not working. Instead, ask yourself, ‘What’s working well, right now, and how can I do more of it?'” –Chip Heath & Dan Heath
“You grow (and thrive!) by doing what excites you and what scares you everyday, not by trying to find your passion.” –Derek Sivers
“Winning businesses have a common trait, an obvious and divisive point of view. Losing businesses also have a common trait, a boring personality alienating no one and thus, sparking passion from no one.” –John Moore
“My eyes have been opened to the value of regularly closing them.” –Arianna Huffington (on the value of sleep)
“The secret learned by technology providers is to spend less time providing services for citizens, and to spend more time providing services to developers…This is the right way to frame the question of ‘Government 2.0.’ How does government become an open platform that allows people inside and outside government to provide better services to each other?” –Tim O’Reilly
“Declare war on passivity. Hush the inner voice that insists you’re over the hill, past your prime, unworthy of attaining those dreams. Disbelief is now the enemy, as is the notion of settling. Get hungry — hyena hungry. Get fired up. Find your backbone, and your wings.” –J.C. Hutchins
Seth and his coauthors are trying to get five million downloads of the ebook. Help them out; you will be the beneficiary. Read Seth’s post about the ebook here.
Lead on Purpose 