The Daily Optimist
February 15  ·  Hope

What Did Seth Godin Say Is the Secret of Leadership?

The secret of leadership is simple: Do what you believe in. Paint a picture of the future. Go there. People will follow.
— Seth Godin
Seth Godin, 'Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us' (2008). Travis's Apple Books highlight, October 23, 2011. Travis's personal note: 'Big idea #4.'

Seth Godin calls it a secret, but it's not hidden. It's just harder than it sounds.

Do what you believe in. That's the first step. Not what your industry expects. Not what your résumé says you're qualified for. What you actually believe in.

Paint a picture of the future. Not a strategic plan. A picture. Something vivid enough that someone else can see it too. Something that makes the present feel smaller by comparison.

Go there. Don't announce. Don't wait for consensus. Don't ask for permission. Start moving.

People will follow.

Not everyone. Not immediately. Maybe not the people you expected. But some people have been waiting their whole professional lives for someone to actually go somewhere real — and when they see it, they recognize it instantly.

Travis highlighted this line in 2011, while living halfway around the world with no salary, no safety net, doing something he believed in.

He had already started going. He just didn't have the words for it yet.

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