TRIBES by Seth Godin
Without leaders, there are no followers. You're
a leader. We need you.
In this fascinating book, Seth Godin argues that
today everyone has an opportunity to start a
movement - to bring together a tribe of like-mineded
people and do amazing things. And yet too many
people ignore the opportunity to lead because
they are 'sheep-walking' their way through their
lives and work, too afraid to question whether
their compliance is doing them - or their
company - any good.
Tribes is for those who don't want to be sheep
and instead have a desire to do fresh and
exciting work. If you have a passion for what
you want to do and the drive to make it happen,
there is a tribe of fellow employees, or
customers, or investors, or readers, just
waiting for you to connect them with each other
and lead them where they want to go.
The book is an fascinating read, it has no chapters, but is rather a collection of random thought provoking ideas on how to go about creating and leading a tribe.
Some of the ideas that caught my attention and had me thinking included the following:
- “Heretics are the new leaders. The ones who challenge the status quo, who get out in front of their tribes, who create movements. The marketplace new rewards (and embraces) the heretics.”
- “Leaders lead when they take positions, when they connect with their tribes, and when they help the tribe connect to itself.”
- “People yearn for change, they relish being part of a movement, and they talk about things that are remarkable, not boring.”
- “If leadership is that ability to create change your tribe believes in, and the market demands change, then the market demands leaders.”
- “There doesn’t seem to be a shortage of ideas. ordinary folks can dream up remarkable stuff fairly easily. What’s missing is the will to make the ideas happen. in the battle between two ideas, the best one doesn’t necessarily win. No, the idea that wins is the one with the most fearless heretic behind it.”
- “Great leaders are able to reflect the light onto their teams, their tribes. Great leaders don’t want attention, but they use it. They use it to unite and to reinforce its sense of purpose. When you abuse the attention, you are taking something from the tribe… When a CEO takes the spoils of royalty and stars acting like a selfish monarch, he’s no longer leading. He’s taking.”
- In fact, in nearly every case, trying to lead everyone results in leading no one in particular… So great leaders don’t try to please everyone. Great leaders don’t water down their message in order to make the tribe a bit bigger.”
- “Generous and authentic leadership will always defeat the selfish efforts of someone doing it just because they can.”
- “No one anoints you as leader.”
- “Organizations that destroy the status quo win.”
- “Boring ideas don’t spread. Boring organizations don’t grow.”
- “We choose not to be remarkable because we’re worried about criticism. We hesitate to create innovative movies, launch new human resource initiatives, design a menu that makes diners take notice, or give an audacious sermon because we’re worried, deep down, that someone will hate it and call us on it.”
- “The art of leadership is understanding what you can’t compromise on.”
- “The secret of leadership is simple: Do what you believe in. Paint a picture of the future. Go there. People will follow.”
- “The easiest thing is to react. The second easiest thing is to respond. But the hardest thing is to initiate.”
