1. Tribes: We Need You to Lead UsBy Seth Godin Presented By Jeff Carter
2. Biography Has written 10 best selling novels Godin’s books have been translated in over 20 languages Responsible for words in a marketer’s vocabulary Known for his renown speaking CEO of Yoyodyne Author of the #1 business blog
3. What I Learned From Tribes Tribes are a group of people Reinforces Maslow’s theory The barriers of leadership are changing. The web makes it easier to form tribes The window of opportunity The various sites tribes are forming on The 3 things needed to form a tribe
4. Surprising Things I Found You don’t need permission to lead It’s ok to be a “Heretic” Got to have Faith Charisma
5. I Need More! Leadership on the web The current tribe status of the internet and the future.
Seth Godin has changed the way people think about marketing, change and work. Godin’s books have been translated in over 20 languages and his ebooks are among the most popular ever published. Some of the words he contributed to the marketer’s vocabulary include permission marketing, ideaviruses, purple cows, the dip and sneezers. Godin is consistently rated among the very best speakers by the audiences he addresses. Yoyodyne is the industry's leading interactive direct marketing company, which Yahoo! acquired in late 1998. Godin worked as VP Direct Marketing at Yahoo before leaving to become a full time speaker, writer and blogger.Godin’s business blog was rated #1 by AdAge.
Tribes are a group of people aligned around an idea, connected to a leader and each other. Just like Maslow, Godin suggests that tribes exist because of people’s need for belonging. People often seek the feeling of belonging and usually adapt to groups for this feeling. Godin wrote, “to be part of a tribe, to contribute to (and take from) a group of like-minded people. We are drawn to leaders and to their ideas, and we can't resist the rush of belonging and the thrill of the new.” Due to the increasing popularity of the web, it is becoming it’s becoming easier to setup tribes by way of the internet. The issue with this is that there are a lack of leaders. Tribes are formed almost daily but most still don’t have that one “true” leader. This creates an opportunity for those who may not be the ideal leader in person, but on the internet they could “rally the troops.” Gone are the days where a tribe is limited by its location. With the internet tribes can now be formed world wide. Godin writes “there are literally thousands of ways to coordinate and connect groups of people that didn't exist a generation ago.” It is not surprising that the lead example of a site where tribes are formed is Facebook. Recently there have been added sites such as Twitter and even Craigslist. Godin writes that the only things missing from forming a tribe are vision, passion, and you.
Often in life, many of us have a desire to lead but never fulfill that desire because no one has said it’s ok. Godin argues that the only person that can keep you from being a leader is yourself. Godin refers to those who have the guts to assemble a tribe heretics. He explains that because the world has changed so much that, no longer will a person be punished for forming tribes. “The world has changed a lot. There are heretics everywhere you look,” Godin writes. “Heretics are engaged, passionate, and more powerful and happier than everyone else.” In order to be a successful leader you have got to have faith. Without faith you will never succeed. After all, if you don’t believe in your own tribe, do you think anyone else will? On page 126 Godin listed the elements of leadership. In that list was charisma. He said that leaders use charisma to attract and motivate followers. Godin also went on to say “Being charismatic doesn't make you a leader. Being a leader makes you charismatic.”
Currently I have been studying on the different leadership styles and approaches. I now have a stronger desire to relate more of these online tribal leadership concepts into the styles in which I have studied. He touched on the current way in which tribes are forming on the internet. It makes me wonder what the current success and failure rate are of tribes formed on the internet. Also it leaves me to wonder how much stronger these tribes will get as technology advances.
I have every intention of recommending this book to my Principles of Leadership professor as well as to the whole class. This book is hitting on so many level in which have been discussing in class and would greatly benefit our leadership discussion.
