Finding and Leading Your TRIBE
“Desire is the difference between where you are now and where you want to be in the future.” - James Clear in Atomic Habits
Last week we discussed the importance of considering the culture we live in and the people we surround ourselves with. Both of these factors impact the way we perceive the world around us and the ways in which we interact with it. They make up our “tribe.”
Finding the TRIBE
Tribes originally formed as a way of trying to improve the odds of survival. As we have become a more sophisticated society, tribes have become a way to help us increase the odds of our success. These groups form all of the time, and being dialed in as a leader means having an awareness of those formations. Observing and listening to how the group talks, tapping into its common language, and watching how it naturally interacts is key.
According to Dave Logan and Halee Fischer-Wright, tribe members fall into one of five stages of development:
Stage One – tribes distinguished by hostility and despair. Their attitude, “life stinks!”
Stage Two – tribes characterized by apathy and a sense of futility. Tribe members lack effort, refuse to innovate, refuse to be accountable, and revel in their disengagement. Their attitude, “my life stinks!”
Stage Three – tribe members are selfish, in it for themselves and averse to collaboration. Their attitude, “I am great…and you are not!”
Stage Four – tribe members have a sense of shared values and a willingness to share and collaborate. They are extremely competitive, but the focus of that competitive spirit shifts from internal to external. Their attitude, “we are great…and they are not!”
Stage Five – tribes that attain this rare level are characterized by a sense of what Logan and Fischer-Wright call “innocent wonderment.” They apply themselves to the creation of things no one has ever dreamed of and find an incredible level of success. Their attitude, “life is GREAT!” (The Five Stages of Workplace ‘Tribes”, Gallup.com: May 8, 2008)
Let me ask you a question - where is YOUR tribe right now on that scale?
Is it where you want to be?
What can YOU as a leader do to LEVEL UP?
Leading the TRIBE
Leading our tribes does not necessitate having us play the role of the storied hero. Our tribes need a guide. Great stories that make sense have both. And it is the clarity of the roles within that story that give the plot meaning. Rocky had Apollo Creed. Frodo had Gandalf. Bruce Wayne had Alfred.
All of these stories have certain things in common. The hero wakes up every morning just like all of us – troubled by internal, external, and philosophical conflicts. Flawed. The defining moment of the hero’s journey occurs when some mystical creature or person shows up to encourage and equip – a guide who has been there and done that. It is this guide, not the hero, that is the most authoritative and empathetic voice in the story.
As leaders in our organizations, we are not called on to be the “hero” of the story. Ours is not the role of Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars saga. That is not what leadership is about.
True leadership…the kind that has a lasting legacy impact, takes on the role of the “guide.” Ours is the role of good old Yoda!
Charles Spurgeon once commented, “a man’s life is always more forcible than his speech. When men take stock of him they reckon his deeds as dollars and his words as pennies.”
How a leader does their work is significantly more important than simply talking about it. It is all about intentionality and authenticity. THAT is what a guide does so well. They lead with purpose and transparency, seeing to the growth of the “heroes” they are blessed to serve.
If we want to lead our tribes towards success, we must take on the role of the “guide.” That is how we LEVEL UP together!
Next week, let’s talk about connecting the tribe….and SNOZBERRIES!
See you soon!