The indispensability of me

I have been listening to Seth Godin’s Linchpin audio book most of this week and I must admit that I have NEVER had such an emotional reaction to a book. It has literally turned everything I thought I knew about myself upside down and it’s been difficult to face at times.

You see, I have spent most of my life (school, career, friends, etc.) trying desperately trying to fit in – BE like everyone else.  Well, I don’t fit in and never will.  I thought that was a bad thing. Turns out NOT a bad thing at all.

I am currently the Community Manager and Creative at FundScrip and I do my work with little or no guidelines, I have no one looking over my shoulder and I certainly have no book of instructions to do my job.  I just do it.  I am free to discover, build and strengthen a fundraising community (which is doing well by the way).

But this week was different, I discovered that I am in the emotional labor business – which is exactly where I should be.  Now I realize that I have always been in this ‘business’ even when it wasn’t the way things were done.  I am not a cog nor would I ever tolerate being one.  I have discovered because of Seth (thank you), that I AM A LINCHPIN and I AM AN ARTIST and have been for a very long time.  My then boss at the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, Isabelle Hudon, used to call me an artist all the time and I never quite understood what she meant by it.

It explains why employers never really knew what to do with me.  Don’t get me wrong, I did get a job description and my bosses knew that whatever they gave me I would run with it at 1000 miles an hour.  They knew that I would give everything and they knew that I would do with all my heart. I saw things they didn’t, I pushed my ideas forward relentlessly (sometimes to their frustration).  I didn’t always get what I wanted but I did make my mark where ever I worked. I did “the work” without even knowing it.

So I say – Shut up Resistance!  I know who you are now, and especially what you sound like. Make no mistake I will not let you rule me ever again.

P.S. I really really really recommend this book. 🙂

Addition: To be truthful, FundScrip is almost fully staffed by Linchpins.  Our poor Boss! 🙂