Quotes About Tribe

The first thing a leader can focus on is the act of tightening the tribe. It's tempting to make the tribe bigger, to get more members, to spread the word. This pales, however, when juxtaposed with the effects of a tighter tribe. A tribe that communicates more quickly, with alacrity and emotion, is a tribe that thrives. A tighter tribe is one that is more likely to hear its leader, and more likely still to coordinate action and ideas across the members of the tribe.

If you're trying to persuade the tribe at work to switch from one strategy to the other, don't start with the leader of the opposition. Begin instead with the passionate individuals who haven't been embraced by other tribes yet. As you add more and more people like these, your option becomes safer and more powerful—then you'll see the others join you.

If religion comprises rules you follow, faith is demonstrated by the actions you take. When you lead without compensation, when you sacrifice without guarantees, when you take risks because you believe, then you are demonstrating your faith in the tribe and its mission. Of course it's difficult. But leaders will tell you that it's worth it.

Great leaders create movements by empowering the tribe to communicate. They establish the foundation for people to make connections, as opposed to commanding people to follow them.

So a leader can help increase the effectiveness of the tribe and its members by • transforming the shared interest into a passionate goal and desire for change; • providing tools to allow members to tighten their communications; and • leveraging the tribe to allow it to grow and gain new members.

Most leaders focus only on the third tactic. A bigger tribe somehow equals a better tribe. In fact, the first two tactics almost always lead to more impact. Every action you take as a leader can affect these three elements, and the challenge is to figure out which one to maximize.

Senator Bill Bradley defines a movement as having three elements: 1. A narrative that tells a story about who we are and the future we're trying to build 2. A connection between and among the leader and the tribe 3. Something to do—the fewer limits, the better Too often organizations fail to do anything but the third.

In order to lead a tribe, no such rule applies. All you need to do is motivate people who choose to follow you.

Marketing changed everything. Marketing created leverage. Marketing certainly changed the status quo. Most of all, marketing freed and energized the tribe.

Today, marketing is about engaging with the tribe and delivering products and services with stories that spread.

As we saw earlier, it takes only two things to turn a group of people into a tribe: • A shared interest • A way to communicate

The communication can be one of four kinds: • Leader to tribe • Tribe to leader • Tribe member to tribe member • Tribe member to outsider

Curious is the key word. It has nothing to do with income, nothing to do with education, and certainly nothing to do with organized religion. It has to do with a desire to understand, a desire to try, a desire to push whatever envelope is interesting. Leaders are curious because they can't wait to find out what the group is going to do next. The changes in the tribe are what are interesting, and curiosity drives them.

Through your actions as a leader, you attract a tribe that wants to follow you. That tribe has a worldview that matches the message you're sending.

This leads to an interesting thought: you get to choose the tribe you will lead. Through your actions as a leader, you attract a tribe that wants to follow you. That tribe has a worldview that matches the message you're sending.

The difference between backing off and doing nothing may appear subtle, but it's not. A leader who backs off is making a commitment to the power of the tribe, and is alert to the right moment to step back in. Someone who is doing nothing is merely hiding. Leadership is a choice. It's the choice to not do nothing. Lean in, back off, but don't do nothing.

What you won't find in a factory is a motivated tribe making a difference. And what you won't find waiting outside the factory is a tribe of customers, excited about what's to come.

When you are leading a tribe, a tribe that you belong to, the benefits increase, the work gets easier, and the results are more obvious.

Senator Bill Bradley defines a movement as having three elements: 1. A narrative that tells a story about who we are and the future we're trying to build 2. A connection between and among the leader and the tribe 3. Something to do—the fewer limits, the better

But is David doing it for the glory, or is he doing it for the tribe? I think you know the answer—great leaders focus on the tribe and only the tribe.

It's easy to hesitate when confronted with the feeling that maybe you're getting too much attention. Great leaders are able to reflect the light onto their teams, their tribes. Great leaders don't want the attention, but they use it. They use it to unite the tribe and to reinforce its sense of purpose.

I know only, like, five Indians in our whole tribe who have never drunk alcohol. And my grandmother was one of them. Drinking would shut down my seeing and my hearing and my feeling, she used to say. Why would I want to be in the world if I couldn't touch the world with all of my senses intact? (158)

Years ago, homosexuals were given special status within the tribe. They had powerful medicine. I think it's even more true today, even though our tribe has assimilated into homophobia. I mean, a person has to have magic to assert their identity without regard to all the bullshit, right?

You have to get very comfortable with the idea of being lonely. For all of human history, we've always run away from being lonely and now there are even more distractions. But that's the thing—if you're going to make the decision to rebel against your tribe, you're going to get very lonely.