Tribes
I love the notion of tribes. It’s a gut-level ancestral haul back to ancient times. It’s also hot right now. Seth Godin, marketer extraordinaire, extols tribes as key to effective marketing. We all want to belong, fit in, be a part of.
David Logan, co-author of Tribal Leadership and The Three Laws of Performance, breaks tribe culture into five stages as summarized in his 2009 TED talk.
FIVE STAGES OF TRIBES:
- Life Sucks
- My Life Sucks
- I’m Great (and you’re not)
- We’re Great
- Life is Great
Logan says that tribes are comprised of between 20 and 150 people, but that the goal for managers, leaders, and marketers, among others, is to help people move from the lower stages up to the next higher stage. In fact, as I see it, moving people to the highest level should be the objective for all of us as humans.
I would love to be a part of a tribe/group in which everyone in it could genuinely say “Life is Great” all day long. Logan says that only 2% of tribes reach stage five. How could we increase the percentage of “Life is Great” tribes to 3% or 4%? That fifth stage is the world-changing, innovating, creating springboard to a better life. Start by moving your tribe up by inviting more people into yours. Then move yourself and them up. If you’re at stage five, congrats. Can I join?