Hi. Yeah, I have yet another one that’s funny. “Why not you? Why not now?” And why won’t my hair cooperate? Well, I haven’t washed it, so …
Why not you? Why not now? The barriers to leadership have fallen. There are tribes everywhere, many in search of leaders, which creates a dilemma for you without a barrier. Why not begin? Simple example: 10 years ago, if you wanted to publish a book, you needed a publisher that would say, yes. No publisher, no book.”
I’ll get back to that in a second.
Today, of course, you can publish a book all by yourself. Just visit lulu.com and you’re done.”
Yeah, you’re done publishing the book, but that doesn’t mean you’re done, done. And this guy knows that. Also, self-publishing existed before there were these things called ebooks, believe it or not, I know someone who self-published back in the days before ebooks. He published his own print books. He even got nominated for an Edgar because he published them under the name of his own imprint and they thought it was a traditional publisher. Well, it wasn’t, and he ended up though getting picked up by a traditional publisher. So he was able, ultimately, I think, to qualify for that Edgar, under the rules of Mystery Writers of America who still don’t recognize self-published authors. Well … and also lulu.com. Well, my, that takes me back to when I first self-published—2009, so this book was published in 2008. That’s one thing you have to keep in mind with this book.
You will find references to things that are no longer in existence or no longer talked about much, which makes it somewhat amusing. It’s kind of a cultural artifact in that way, which is fine. There’s nothing wrong with looking back at history, especially the history of 10 years ago compared to today. Anyway, I won’t go on. I’m having fun reading this, as you can tell, and I think everybody should read it. It’s a great book. That’s all. Thanks. Talk to you later.
Yeah, it couldn’t be that easy, could it? No, I’m at the end of the book now.
What exactly should you do now? You made it to the end and it’s possible you missed the checkbox, the checklists, the detailed how to lists, the For Dummies style instruction manual that shows you exactly what to do to find a tribe and lead it. I think that was the point.
I can tell you that I’m going to get a lot of flack from most people about what you’ve just read. People might say that it’s too disorganized or not practical enough, or that I require you to do too much work to actually accomplish anything. That’s okay. In fact, criticism like that almost always accompanies change. Every tribe is different, every leader is different. The very nature of leadership is that you’re not doing what’s been done before. If you were, you’d be following, not leading. All I can hope for is that you’ll make it a choice.” I’m sorry. “All I can hope for is that you’ll make a choice. Every leader I’ve ever met has made the choice and they’ve been glad they did. You can choose to lead or not. You can choose to have faith or not. You can choose to contribute to the tribe or not.
Are there thousands of reasons why you of all people aren’t the right one to lead? Why you don’t have the resources or the authority or the genes or the momentum to lead? Probably. So what? You still get to make the choice. Once you choose to lead, you’ll be under huge pressure to reconsider your choice, to compromise, to dumb it down or to give up. Of course you will. That’s the world’s job, to get you to be quiet and follow. The status quo is the status quo for a reason. But once you choose to lead, you’ll also discover that it’s not so difficult, that the options available to you seem really clear and that yes, in fact,, you can get from here to there. Go.
One last thing. May I ask you a favor?
I am reading this from the book.
May I ask you a favor? If you got anything out of this book, if you highlighted or circled or Post-It it, I’m hoping you’ll do something for me. Give this copy to someone else. Ask them to read it. Beg them to make a choice about leadership. We need them. We need you. Spread the word. Thanks.”
You’re welcome. That’s it. Talk to you later.
