Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #301524 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

Customer Reviews

By far, the best book I have read this year!
If you want to change the world, or change your bit of it, this is the book for you!

Seth Godin focuses on the role that LEADERSHIP plays in change and makes some powerful observations about the difference between MANAGEMENT and LEADERSHIP. Management is about maintaining stability, about perpetuating the status quo, it is about ensuring that things are done the same way that they have always been done. It is about avoiding change. For managers, change equals risk. Leadership, on the other hand, is about creating change that people can believe in. Leadership doesn't avoid change, it thrives on it. For leaders, change equals opportunity.

The book is incredibly well written. It feels as if every page has been handcrafted. Some many find the lack of chapters disconcerting. For me, it just helped the whole flow of the book. Ironically, it almost reads as a set of blog entries (no surprise for anyone that has read "Small is the new Big" or Seth's blog). I find it amusing that many said that the online world would kill off traditional publishing. Well, here is an example of the online world inspiring traditional publishing!

It is very easy to read. I read it in a couple of sittings and the only thing that slowed me down was the fact I made so many notes in it! I highly recommend it. If you are interested in leadership, then you MUST read this book. You will not be disappointed.

I wish I could think and write like Seth Godin. However, I suspect the only thing we have in common is our initials! Great book. Inspiring reading. Thank you, Seth.

Seemed a bit light on content...
I feel the whole book could basically be summed up as: "People need leaders. You're a leader. Go lead." Sure, there's a few other interesting ideas here and there, but it felt like there was too much filler and not enough revelations. Sorry Seth.

It could have been so much better
The difference between a book and a blog is that a book has a narrative or an argument; whereas a blog is a series of thoughts, not necessarily connected.

And narrative is what's lacking in this book. Like Seth's other works, it seems to have been taken from blogs written over time. Many of the headings cover similar ground, so the book becomes repetitive.

And because there's no argument, the central idea of the book never really develops. Seth just keeps looking at the subject from different angles.

This is frustrating, and it's a shame, because Seth Godin is an original thinker and this book is a good example of the clarity with which he can see 21st issues, especially as they relate to the online world.

Seth also shies away from making any practical suggestions about how to create a Tribe.

However, the book is good on Leadership. If you're interested in that subject, it's not a bad read.