Linchpin, 14 Years Later

In 2012, a book made me realize my impressive resume meant… almost nothing.

I read Linchpin by Seth Godin.

It kind of punched me in the face.

At the time — fresh out of university — I thought I was hot shit. 

Magna cum laude. Student council. Recruited into an exclusive, prestigious consulting firm.

Then I read this — 

If you don’t have a résumé, what do you have? How about three extraordinary letters of recommendation from people the employer knows or respects? Or a sophisticated project an employer can see or touch? Or a reputation that precedes you? Or a blog that is so compelling and insightful that they have no choice but to follow up?

Some say, “Well, that’s fine, but I don’t have those.” 

Yeah, that’s my point. If you don’t have these things, what leads you to believe that you are remarkable, amazing, or just plain spectacular?

Ouch.

So I spent the next 10+ years fixing that. It’s why I:

• Have been writing publicly at chiaracokieng.com for over 14 years now
• Started my own business a year after graduating
• Joined tiny startups with < 15 people where there was nowhere to hide
• Did messy, ambiguous work no one had time to teach me — work measured by outcomes, not busywork

I felt misunderstood and, at times, embarrassed. After all, the guy I joined the consulting firm with was on track to becoming Partner!

But I wanted real projects and real results. I wanted to do work so impactful, it compelled everyone I work with to happily call any future employer and say, “If you get the chance to work with her, do it.”

I once read Harry Beckwith write that the best marketing is to get better reality. Yvon Chouinard calls it nonfiction marketing.

It’s true.

Don’t just tell a good story. Make the story true.

• Do the important work nobody assigns you
• Make the human connection even when it feels uncomfortable
• Exercise agency even when you don’t have control
• Build things you can show — proof you’ve done it, not promises that you can

It’s been 14 years.

Back then, factory work was getting automated. Now, AI is coming for knowledge work.

It was true then, and it’s even truer now:

Great jobs don’t go to people checking boxes. They go to people who take agency and make things happen.