I’m notorious for giving crappy gifts. It just isn’t my strength. I tend to give people things I think they need rather than things they might really enjoy. I give books, not chocolates. It makes me feel good to be useful, but it really doesn’t gain me many friends. I’m coping.

The gift to give to your employees (and maybe you should wrap it up with some chocolates or something) is a copy of Seth Godin’s book Linchpin. It’s a great book. You might enjoy it yourself.

The subtitle Are You Indispensable? is exactly the question I’d like my people to ask themselves. I’m all for indispensable. I win; they win. It’s all good.

If you give the book, I hope you have better luck than I do getting the recipient to read it. Even getting people to take books home has proved challenging.*

Seriously, you’d better stick some chocolate in the box with the book.

* You know who you are, and you know I’m talking to you. Maybe you could take it with you when you travel over the holidays? You could read it when they make you turn off your electronic devices on the plane.