PEOPLE LIKE US DO THINGS LIKE THIS with Seth Godin

Audio production by James Ede, Be Heard

This is the 50th episode of the CultureLab podcast, and we have a guest I’ve been waiting to interview for almost two years – Seth Godin!

Seth is the author of 19 books that have been bestsellers around the world and have been translated into more than 35 languages. He’s also the founder of altMBA and The Marketing Seminar, online workshops that have transformed the work of thousands of people, including mine.

He writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership, and most of all, changing everything. You might be familiar with his books Linchpin, Tribes, The Dip and Purple Cow. His latest book, This Is Marketing, was an instant bestseller around the world. If you look carefully, you will find my picture on the inside cover of it!

Seth has been a huge influence on me. I read all of his books and participated in a few of his seminars, and he’s even inspired me to leave my cushy corporate job and strike out on my own.

In the early days of the CultureLab, I approached Seth and invited him to come on the show. He told me, “Sure, I’d love to. I’ll be your 50th guest.”

This is what Seth does. He finds ingenious ways to help us keep going, do the work that matters, and persist in the face of adversity and our own resistance. He shows us how to hone our craft and show up with integrity every single day.

Seth is also an incredible source of practical wisdom about how to shape cultures around us so that we can make a dent in the world and bend history in the right direction.

It was such a privilege to pick his brain and learn from him, and it is such a joy to bring this conversation to the audience of CultureLab!

If you care about the place where you are and the impact you want to make, this interview is for you.

Episode Highlights

In this interview, Seth and I discuss:

• The benefits of being a free-range kid
• The relationship between marketing and organizational culture
• The impact of small daily choices on the culture we create and why the difficult choices shape culture more than anything else
• How Seth and his team cultivate a learning culture in his seminars and workshops
• Seth’s definition of culture
• How we can help others reconsider their identity, worldview, and habitual patterns of behavior
• What it means to be “enrolled in the journey” and why this is key to the “people like us” part of culture
• The importance of knowing what change we want to make in the world
• Why we tend to ignore mission statements and what we tend to focus on instead
• Crystallizing the cultural message by the appropriate use of rewards and disciplinary action
• Ways of dealing with resistance and getting people on board
• The importance of language in shaping culture
• Addressing the need to change fast

Listen to the interview in the player below or on iTunes. If you like what you hear, please leave a review, and it may be featured on a future episode.

Audio production by James Ede, Be Heard

More About Seth Godin

In addition to his writing and speaking, Seth has founded several companies, including Yoyodyne and Squidoo. His blog (which you can find by typing “seth” into Google) is one of the most popular in the world.

In 2018, he was inducted into the Marketing Hall of Fame. More than 10,000 people have taken his powerful workshops, including altMBA and The Marketing Seminar.

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Akimbo
• AltMBA

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

Linchpin by Seth Godin

Tribes by Seth Godin

The Dip by Seth Godin

Purple Cow by Seth Godin

This Is Marketing by Seth Godin