Seth Godin Disagrees with Me!
I feel like a little school girl, someone pinch me cause I think I might be dreaming. Seth Godin, I am sorry, I think I should refer to him as Mr. Godin actually mentioned my name with a link to this site on his The Dip blog today. If it was not obvious enough already, I am a big fan of Seth Godin. I think that every marketing blog out there is working towards the incredibly high bar set by Seth with his books and blogs. I find Seth’s writing intoxicating at times and he absolutely has been a huge influence on me when it comes to the creation of this blog and my writing. I know you probably can’t tell that, but that is not Seth’s fault, it’s mine. 
Anyhow, Seth not only mentioned me, but he also “completely” disagreed with me… Seth felt that Paul the singer in the video I posted yesterday absolutely had confidence and as Seth said, “His posture on stage makes it clear that he has completely mastered his craft.”
Seth, I agree with your point that once he started singing he was absolutely in the zone, but making it through the Dip includes more than just when Paul was on stage. The Dip includes Paul actually having the guts and courage to go down to the competition, sign up, wait for hours till his turn, get up on that stage and then finally show off his incredible talent. And if you watch the whole video, the actual getting to that stage, I believe was the bigger challenge for Paul not the actual singing. He knows he has talent absolutely, but I don’t think he knew until that moment when he starting singing whether he had what it takes to actually make it up to that stage.
Let me know what everyone thinks and Seth thanks for your thoughts.
Technorati Tags: Seth Godin
I got to say, I’m with Seth on this one. Sorry :p
Cord
I’m with you, and plenty of other people (if you look around the blogosphere). Firstly Paul states that he has problems with confidence and he looks scared witless as if he’s about to cry any second.
Whilst he might “switch” (or as you aptly put it, was “in the zone”) once he started singing, the pure fact that a 36 year old guy with such an amazing talent is still selling phones to me indicates that he lacks confidence.
“It takes one to know one”, as they say – which could well be why Mr Godin is missing the point.
Like you, I’m also a fan of Seth’s, but this time he has got it very wrong. Not just in disagreeing with your comment on confidence, but also on the judges reaction. The guy does lack confidence, but this just lowers our expectations and his amazing talent combined with his humility leave everyone gobsmacked. As I sate in my blog on this, if this doesn’t move you, check that you have a pulse. Still, it just goes to prove that even Mr Goddin is human and misses the mark occasionally.
Wow! Well in this world of manipulation who is to really say whether Paul is the real deal or not. The reality (pardon the pun) either in this case or the millions of other cases that don’t get on air, or YouTube, is that everyone looking for recognition deals with demons. Those demons can manifest themselves as a lack of confidence, blinding ego, or a variety of insecurities that can shape one’s behavior.
And with all due respect to eveyone, Cord who cares whether Seth agrees with you or not? It’s a conversation not a debate. His name is spelled Godin not God! (yesI bought 5 copies of the Dip to give as gifts and read several of his other books, so it’s not like I don’t drink his Kool-aid)
Maybe next time you two will see it from the same perspective. Enjoy what moves you.
Pete – No apologies necessary… As my Dad use to say that is why there are 31 flavors. Thanks.
Meg – Thank you, great thoughts. I think this is one instance that there is not necessarily a right or wrong answer, it is up to the interpretation of each individual.
Paul – I agree if this video does not move you, it is time to seriously rethink who you are as a human being.
Albert – I think you missed my point. I have no issue whatsoever that Seth and I disagree. Having Seth even mention me with a link I feel is a great honor. And you are absolutely right, this is a conversation. I not only welcome Seth’s thoughts, I welcome everyone’s thoughts and opinions. Usually I learn a whole lot more from people disagreeing with me than agreeing with me.
Thank you all for your great thoughts and comments.
I think my disagreement with you was to make a point, not to denigrate yours. Sure, he’s quaking in his boots before hand. I’d be too! I just wanted to highlight that key moment of mastery.
As for the koolaid, it is actually Flavor-Ade. They never drank Kool aid at Jonestown.
Ok, I can die a happy man… Seth has commented on my blog… Lord, take me now, my work is done here.
Seth – I never took your point as denigrating at all. And you are right, once he got up there, he was truly a master.
Thank you for your thoughts as always and I truly enjoyed The Dip!
As a the little guy in the room, figuratively and literally, it’s tough being an Ant, I think you and Seth are both correct. What I see is a guy who lives two lives or roles. What we saw first was the everyday Paul, who clearly lacks confidence, has no, to little self esteem, which, I am sure has been continually attacked most of his life. This part of Paul is real and most likely his day to day. The second life of Paul is his singing. I have no evidence (if someone does please share) but I would be willing to bet that Paul has practiced his craft in complete anonymity. I bet he does it in the privacy of his own home and few people if anyone (maybe his mom, family and a few EXTREMELY close friends, which maybe the only friends he has) actually know he has the talent. I bet he has been practicing in anonymity for years, probably obsessively pretending he is many of the great opera singers. Over the years this “private” commitment to his voice and opera has developed a place he goes to escape and when he got on stage we saw him go there. It is his place to combat the less than comfortable everyday.
What you had here was two environments colliding and each of his persons playing their part. You could physically see the transition from one to the other, both before and after he sang.
Fantastic post Cord, and WOW congrats on gittin’ Godin to give ya a little love.
BTW: The judges were over their heads and had no business evaluating Paul. He was in a league all his own and they should have recognized that. Peace dawg, I’m out!
Antman – You might be small in stature buddy, but your words speak volumes.. I would love to find out how close you are to Paul’s real life, if I was a betting man, I would bet you hit pretty close to the mark.
It’s so interesting that a guy like this and his performance could spark such debate and discussion in the blogosphere and the social networks. I think no matter if he wins the competition or not, his life is going to change dramatically.
Now I have to actually find a somewhere that plays Britian’s Got Talent.
Thanks as always Antman for your great thoughts.
Ant – I ddon’t agree that the judges were over their heads. They were there to judge and Paul was there to impress them. They were totally honest when they said that they weren’t expecting such a performance. If they see 20 auditioners everyday they are lucky if one even comes close to Paul in talent. Watch the video again and pay close attention to the female judge in the middle. Watch her reactions closely. Listen to the feedback (or judgement if you prefer)… they were emphatic in their admiration for Paul. I’ve seen Simon Cowell as Seth Godin puts it “be mean”. I don’t know how anyone, anywhere could claim that Simon Cowell was mean. The evidence is just not there to support it.
Paul – You are so right, Simon is not mean, he just speaks the truth.
It has emerged that Paul Potts has played lead roles in his local opera company for years, and has toured Italy with a major opera company. I don’t think he had any issues with getting on the stage or the actual performance.
The point as I understand it is that in singing opera he finds the confidence, that eludes him in everyday life.
I have to admit I thought Antman’s speculation to be bang on the money, but it turns out that Paul Potts is no stranger to the stage, and has even performed in front of Pavarotti
Found the link to the story, where I learnt the details I posted in my previous commnet.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2001320029-2007270918,00.html
Well, well, I was wrong, it appears. I gotta have a talk with my psychology professor. I thought I was spot on and had a chance as an FBI profiler. Dang! Thanks Lach! Ya gotta love research. Check it, despite the fact he has been more in the public than it APPEARED, the comments and public backlash are absolutely unfair. He never told anyone he has never been on stage, he never made the claim to never have performed, he never said he wasn’t an aspiring singer. He actually, at one point, said he wanted to do what he felt he was born to do and that was be an opera singer.
I think the backlash is an interesting discussion in itself. We, society feel betrayed if things don’t go as we “expect” them to or “want” them to.
The story looked to be a fantastic, little guy scores big, anyone can be famous, rags to riches story we love. When it was exposed to be a little less dramatic, we reacted as if something was being done to us. We are funny like that. We don’t like our dreams being yanked out from under us. Now Paul is gonna pay the price, and he didn’t do anything wrong.
Thanks for the 411 Lach! Peace, I’m out!
Lach – Thank you very much for the info. You know I don’t feel jipped or jaded to tell you the truth. What got me so into this guy was who he was both before he hit the stage on camera and while he was singing. He, at least to me, seemed real. Now it could all be an act, but I am holding out hope that he is the real deal no matter what he has done in his life. Thanks again for the info.
Ant – I totally agree with you, but as I said in my comment to Lach, let’s hold off on the backlash until we really peel the onion as it were on Paul. Either he is going to be for real or not, but I am not ready to make up my mind yet.
Thanks for the comments as always!!
Hey Cord
Did you hear he won?
http://www.whatsontv.co.uk/news/1150
Meg – Hey, I hadn’t heard that yet, I have been out of town. That’s great news!! Thank you very much for sharing!
I agree with you Cord, I feel he deservedly won. Whatever he had done in the past there was no question that he was anything other than an amateur prior to this competition. I think any backlash was unfair, but it clearly was not to bad, as the public voted him the winner. I watched the final and he performed the same song ‘nessun dorma’ and was once again awesome.
I think it is pretty clear that entering this show was a big leap for him. For a guy who lacks confidence he took a huge risk and it paid off. I am sure there is a lesson in there somewhere.