m-cause

What tribes are you a part of?  Do you belong to several tribes on Facebook?  At work?  And why do you join these “tribes”?  Most of us probably don’t think of our social groups as “tribes”, but Seth Godin–ever the prolific marketing writer–convinces us in Tribes:  We need you to lead us that we should “think native” and examine tribal dynamics deeper to learn how to become stronger leaders, marketers & change agents.

So, I asked myself the question I am asking you above.  Why do I join certain groups (tribes)?  As I logically thought of my own group behavior, I surmised that I join certain groups because I believe in the core ideas of that group or that I am searching for connection with like minded people.  This seems to be pretty close to Seth Godin’s description of a tribe: a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea.

MyOwnTribe.com?

There are tribes everywhere.  Every one of these tribes yearns for leadership.  So why should we lead our own tribes now? (not tomorrow, not when we have more industry knowledge, not when our kids get out of the house, etc.)  According to Seth: 1.  For the first time ever, everyone is expected to lead in the workplace. 2.  The structure of today’s workplace means it is easier than ever to change things.  3.  The marketplace rewards change agents who create phenomenal goods & services.  4. Its engaging, thrilling fulfilling, profitable 5.  There are people out there waiting for you to connect them and help them become their best.

I really like Seth’s emphasis on leadership in his new book.  Seth calls everyone to develop their leadership & vision.  He does not just focus on the cool new web tools (Facebook, Meetup, LinkedIn, Twitter, MySpace, etc.) that make it easier than ever to create movements and connect with your tribe in the internet age.

If we are interested in creating tribes, we need to stand for something.  And that “something” needs to be clear and compel others to connect.  If we send out contradictory messages or people aren’t really clear on what our intended key messages and reasons for existing are, we won’t be very successful.

Tribes are not like crowds…

A few weeks back I wrote about crowds and crowdsoucing.  Crowds are not tribes because crowds are missing strong leaders and communication channels. In a recent promo for the Tribes book, Seth used an example from Whole Foods to make this point.  Seth criticizes Whole Foods because they have (so far) failed to provide consumers with the chance to connect & communicate with each other.  Whole Foods does not provide meet ups in stores or online communities, or anything else. Seth believes that Whole Foods has only created “amusement parks for food”.  Net:  According to Seth, Whole Foods has served a crowd, but not developed a tribe.  While I agree in general with this example, I am not sure how many people want to connect deeper with a place where they basically only pick up their groceries (even if they are “sexy groceries”).

I will leave you with a simple nugget from Seth in Tribes:  “The secret of leadership is simple: Do what you believe in. Paint a picture of the future. Go there. People will follow.”

P.S. If you want to know how Seth Godin has built-up his marketing, business and entrepreneur tribe across his career, here is a good article from BusinessWeek.